How Implementing and Owning a Strong Master Schedule is Essential for Owners
In our work for Owners driving large, complex projects we too often identify processes that have not the resilience and consistency that would be required. This may be due to several factors and dramatically impacts the success rate of the project. In our new White Paper 2019-04 ‘How Implementing and Owning a Strong Master Schedule is Essential for Owners’ we investigate Schedule Management, in more detail with a specific focus on the overall Master Project Schedule. We describe possible reasons for oversight, consequences on the project and ways to implement a proper approach.
For most projects, the Master Schedule needs to be properly managed at Owner level. The issue is more acute when several Contractors are involved on separate sections of the scope, because interfaces between the various Contractors’ schedules multiply.
When Owners do not maintain a properly developed, technically sound Master Schedule that reflects the full scope of the project (including those activities directly or indirectly under Owner responsibility), consequences on the overall project schedule (and hence cost) can be dire. Still we often find that the schedules maintained by Owners are incomplete (they do not cover in a comprehensive manner all activities required for the project successful delivery), inaccurate, technically unsound or too complicated.
An important point is that the Master Schedule to be maintained by the Owner responds to specific Owner needs and therefore, requires a specific development. It needs to be developed early during the definition phase and updated regularly as progress information flows in from contributors and Contractors during the course of the project. Development of the Master Schedule at the right level of detail to ensure its accuracy and usefulness is an intellectual effort which requires a seasoned scheduling lead. The Owner’s overall schedule does not need to be huge in terms of size and number of activities. It needs to cover the entire scope required for the delivery of the project, identify clearly what is the critical chain and focus on interface points between contributors and Contractors.
Maintaining an accurate Master Project Schedule covering the full project scope in a comprehensive manner is indispensable for the Owner. It cannot be delegated. It is necessary to understand where lies the critical chain and where focus should be applied. Applying the right format for the Master Schedule allows to perform this activity in a fluid manner without great expenditure of resources and bringing great benefits to the team and its governance. Master Schedule management is indispensable – why is it too often overlooked by Owners? Read our new White Paper 2019-04 ‘How Implementing and Owning a Strong Master Schedule is Essential for Owners’ for some answers.
If you can’t access the link to the white paper, copy and paste the following link in your browser: http://www.projectvaluedelivery.com/_library/2019-04_Owner_Master_Schedule_Importance_v0.pdf
How to Rate the Remoteness of Project Sites
Some types of Large Complex Projects involve construction in remote areas that have low levels of pre-existing infrastructure. This can reach the point of having to include in the project scope to build some or all of the transportation, communication and accommodation infrastructure required for the project and/or the continuous operation of the facility. The challenges associated with these projects must be tackled specifically since the success of the project may lie as much in the successful delivery of these surrounding scopes as in the delivery of the core facility itself. In our new White Paper 2018-13 ‘How to Rate the Remoteness of Project Sites’ we describe how to rate the remoteness of project sites. In the next White Paper we describe to account for remoteness when planning for project execution.
From the project perspective, a remote site is a site that does not benefit from pre-existing infrastructure commensurate with the intended construction activity, size or technology of the intended facility.
Beyond obvious issues such as site access, the availability of the relevant technology level is an essential parameter that needs to be considered. For example, the implementation of advanced technology, control and monitoring systems in a country that does not have the relevant competencies creates issues related to technology transfer and availability of local support that need to be addressed.
In addition, the time required to obtain missing or additional specific tooling, consumables or spares could also have a major impact on project execution.
Rating the remoteness of the project is the first step in identifying the difficulties that have to be taken into account when planning project execution. Read our new White Paper 2018-13 ‘How to Rate the Remoteness of Project Sites’ to discover how to rate the remoteness of your project. In the following White Paper we will develop how to deal with remote projects in terms of execution planning.
If you can’t access the link to the white paper, copy and paste the following link in your browser: http://www.projectvaluedelivery.com/_library/2018-13_measuring_remoteness_projects_v0b.pdf