mcdonough bolyard peck construction engineering successful strategies for scheduling projects to...
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McDONOUGH BOLYARD PECKCONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING
SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIESFOR SCHEDULING PROJECTS
TO FINISH ON TIME
Presented by
Christopher J. Payne, PE, CCM
McDonough Bolyard Peck
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• Projects are frequently late
• Delays are contentious
• Schedules are contentious– Not used properly– Difficult to manage
BACKDROP
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• CPM is the best tool out there
• Highly defined requirements will encourage contractor compliance
• Schedules don’t build jobs, people do
WHAT WE ALL KNOW …or think we know
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• Specifications
• Building the Schedule– Partnering– Sub Buy-in– Cost Loading– Resource Loading
• Updating the Schedule
• Resolving Problems with the Schedule
AGENDA
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BUILDING THE SCHEDULE
UNLESS…– Specifications have too many rules
WHAT WORKS– Clear Specifications
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• Good– Activity Code Structure– Maximum durations– How time will be extended– Use for Payment
• Bad– Minimum activity requirements– Numbering rules– Restrictions on relationships– Onerous reports
BUILDING THE SCHEDULE
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• Good– Jointly working on schedule– Making sure subs are present– Understanding philosophy of how job will be built– Making a complete schedule (all activities)
• Bad– Dictatorial review comments– Contractor creating a submittal to fulfill a
requirement– Pre-claim posturing– Mismatched subcontractor input
BUILDING THE SCHEDULE
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• How to intelligently involve subs?– Subs not on board at beginning– G.C.’s practicing “mushroom” philosophy– G.C.’s running two schedules
• One Solution…– Keep schedule on the table at all meetings
with subs
CHALLENGE
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CHALLENGE
How do you get the Schedule of Values to agree with the CPM? – Build together
– It takes work
– Don’t duplicate work
BUILDING THE SCHEDULE
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• Good– Resource loading to identify manpower
needs, smooth peaks, corroborate with bid
• Bad– Hard to get real data– Is it necessary to update?– Sub reluctance– Use as a weapon
BUILDING THE SCHEDULE
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UNLESS…– Still waiting for/arguing over baseline– Schedule is unwieldy/lack of contractor help
in updating
UPDATING THE SCHEDULE
WHAT WORKS– Update at the date of the pay requisition
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• Accurate Updates– Get into a rhythm
– Have a substantive but informal review meeting
– Agree on progress first, acknowledge status
– Understand implications and deal with later
– Two-part process
STRATEGIES
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• Delay is inevitable.
• Disagreement is inevitable.
• Communication and resolution are
not inevitable.
OBSERVATIONS
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UNLESS…– Process gets behind
– Process is unwieldy
– Disagreement over impacts
RESOLVING PROBLEMS WITH THE SCHEDULE
WHAT WORKS– Time Impact Analysis
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• Develop fragnet of impact
• Run schedule before impact
• Run schedule with impact
PITFALLS– Too many changes
– Requires time to develop
– How to address an ongoing change
TIME IMPACT ANALYSIS APPROACH
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• Can you agree on an impact without agreeing on entitlement?
• Forward-looking mindset vs.
backward-looking
• Typical scenario may take 2-3 months to resolve…what to do about project in the meantime?
TIME IMPACT PITFALLS – DISCUSSION
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TYPICAL SCENARIO
TIA 1
TIA 2
DELAY
…Owner worried
about this…
TIME
$
…
…but not ready to
agree on this
DD
PLANPROJECTION
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• Acknowledge Delay Quickly
• Do TIA’s but pick milestones to cut off analysis and assess globally
• Tolerate negative float (for a while)
• Continue to insist on performance
• Allow (but discuss) minor logic changes
TIME IMPACT STRATEGIES
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Two-year project, $40 million• Baseline schedule submitted 4 weeks after NTP• Owner comments 7 weeks after NTP• Resubmit 10 weeks after NTP• Approval 12 weeks after NTP
1st update 14 weeks after NTP, shows
project 6 weeks behind
SAMPLE SITUATION
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Contractor’s narrative:– We were delayed by bad weather, late
approval of drilling plan, late availability of east access.
– We anticipate recovering time by working six-day drilling schedule and in later work.
SAMPLE SITUATION
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What should Owner do?1. Schedule unacceptable. All delays are
contractor’s. Resubmit with recovery plan.
2. Acknowledge receipt of schedule, but do nothing else.
3. Dialogue, discussion, concession, analysis…
EXAMPLE
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Outcome No. 1:
– Contractor disagrees, asserts right to file a
claim, brings up constructive acceleration…
– Schedule is now a “claims football”…but is no
longer useful as a communication tool on the
project.
EXAMPLE
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Outcome No. 2:
– Contractor submits the next update, now nine
weeks late. Cites more vague causes of
delay…
– Claims are brewing…– Job tracking late…
EXAMPLE
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Outcome No. 3:
– Grant 5-day EOT for late pile approval.
– Pay limited acceleration cost to overcome
delay.
– Cite lack of progress on other paths.
– Job in good shape going forward.
EXAMPLE
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• Schedule is a necessary tool too often overlooked.
• Cost implications are huge.
• Proper use of tool limits intimidation
and ignorance.
SUMMARY