During the construction of a project, a contractor is normally required to produce a report detailing, amongst other things, progress on site, together with a statement summarising whether the project is likely to finish on time. Trett Consulting’s Colin Capper considers some of the uncertainties of completing projects on time and the manner in which progress is reported.

CONTRACTOR’S PROGRESS REPORTING

A project has just commenced on site and a contractor simply reports that:
“work has progressed well during the period despite recent wet weather”. Does such a record notify a delay event, a delay to achieveable progress or that the project is on time? Without reference to a programme and the reported progress of gains and losses the above statement is fairly meaningless.

Consequently, the contractor needs to report against a programme that he is ahead or behind or on programme. However, contractors are not unique in being unwilling to report delay and there is a general reluctance to put off notifying the inevitable. In my experience, the best approach is always to let the facts speak for themselves by establishing the extent of works carried out, measured and compared against the planned programme. However, this is not always so easy.

PROGRAMME

A programme, when prepared correctly, becomes an important device not only to plan the works but also for assessing the effect of progress on planned activities. The programme is the obvious management tool to show the actual progress achieved on each operation and its effect upon the timing of the remaining work. It is also a helpful tool to show the effects of occurred events and the potential effects of issues that are developing.

PREPARING THE PROGRAMME

By creating a basic schedule or programme with resources and key milestones, the programme is more likely to be accepted by all parties. However, establishing a fully logically linked Critical Path Analysis programme capable of being rescheduled to show progress and its effect on a planned completion date is not always carried.
A contractor may also be reluctant to show too much information to a client for the fear of interrogation into lateness or potential delay on a project.

In my view, it is clear that all parties benefit if there is sufficient detail provided on a regular basis as to the progress and the effects on the critical path, of developing issues.

MONITORING THE CRITICAL PATH

As work proceeds, the critical path(s) is likely to change and new path(s) identified. In order to meaningfully monitor the critical path, regular progress monitoring and updating of the programme by rescheduling the planned activities is necessary. This provides the tool for site management to focus resources and effort into those activities which are actually affecting completion.

DELAYS

Financial and market pressures demand that projects are finished in the shortest period and completed on time, delays are expensive for both clients and contractors. In regard to any delays to a project, a contract might state:

“A delay to the Completion Date is assessed as the length of time that, due to the compensation event, planned completion is later than planned completion as shown on the Accepted Programme. A delay to a Key Date is assessed as the length of time that, due to the Compensation Event, the planned date when the condition stated for a Key Date will be met is later than the date shown on the Accepted Programme.”

Clearly, agreeing an Accepted Programme or similar is fundamental to the operation of such a clause.

ACCEPTED PROGRAMME

To some, a programme means no more than a simple bar chart showing start on site, a few construction activities, snagging and final clean before the client accepts facility.

However, too little information does not provide the necessary tool for proper management of the work. To others, a detailed programme containing many thousands of activities may be so complicated, it is difficult to understand and will not be followed nor used as a management tool. One possible solution is the identification and introduction of key milestones to the programme.

PROGRESS MILESTONES

Examples of key progress milestones include:
• Completion of outline design
• Major equipment procurement dates
• Completion of infrastructure
• Structural completion
• Energisation
• Commissioning start
• Individual facility completions.

UPDATING THE PROGRAMME

As the project matures, plans change and the original programme quickly becomes out of date. The critical path can become redundant, not necessarily because of inaccurate logic but due to unforseen events and reactions to these as well as greater knowledge of the demands of the project.

When measuring the effect of progress on a programme, a contractor will often rely on the drop down line, or ‘jagged line’. A line is  identified on the programme and activities are shown either in advance of or behind the line. This methodology does not rely on a rescheduled programme and therefore gives little information to identify a revised forecast date for completion.

However, by simply opting to reschedule, a function available in the computer software options menu, planned activities are rescheduled instantaneously, thereby providing a forecast date for completion.

THE PERSISENT 99% COMPLETE SYNDROME

Analysis of an as-built programme after completion shows that many activities get to 95% to 99% complete and remain at this status for a significant duration. In in some cases, this may be the correct logic of the activity and work, but in most instances it is confirmation that the earlier reporting was inaccurate and has overstated the progress being made. This is referred to as the persistent 99% complete syndrome. When assessing progress, a properly referenced photographic record
supported by contemporaneous as built drawings provides the tools for good management practice.

SUMMARY

Controlling the timescale on a project must be a top priority for any manager.

A manager should ensure that his or her project is efficiently and sensibly planned from the start and produce a reasonable and realistic programme showing critical activities and key milestones.

Throughout the period of a project, it is important to reschedule the planned programme at regular intervals and update the remaining activities.

A record of work carried out on site, with regular progress monitoring, correctly reported, will expedite the resolution of issues relating to time.

When a contractor makes a clear commitment at the beginning of a project to plan and monitor projects in a reasoned manner, he stands a much better chance of completing projects on time, minimising his costs and complying with the provisions of the contract.

Colin Capper is a Senior Associate Director based at Trett Consulting’s Coventry office. He can be contacted at colin.capper@trett.com