By Dustin Ramaekers
Changes and challenges are a natural part of life. This is also true for the life of an electric infrastructure construction project. It is important to plan well, but also to anticipate and have a formal process for when plans are challenged.
Acting as an Owner’s Representative, a Principle Services Project Manager (PM) monitors electric infrastructure projects with advanced management and control techniques including:
- Regular Review of Inspector Reports
- Budget Monitoring
- Schedule Tracking
- Maintaining Clear Communication with All Key Stakeholders
How We Saved a Utility Client $100K – A Real-World Example
At a key stage in project construction, the Principle Services PM received a change order from the Owner’s construction contractor. Because the PM had been actively involved in the project and had meticulous records, he was able to defend the project plan by quickly identifying a discrepancy and providing supportive details that resulted in the change order and associated charges being cancelled.
3 Components of Successful Monitoring and Control
1 – Detection
Regular Review of Project Reporting and Billing
In order to identify a scope discrepancy, one must be keenly aware of a project’s goings-on. Regular review of reports from inspectors, schedules, as well as work orders and change orders from contractors allows the project manager to clearly understand the project’s status at any given moment.
In the before mentioned example, since the Principle PM had a clear understanding of what was detailed in work orders and what work had already been completed and billed for the project, the Principle PM was able to provide supportive data to clarify and resolve the change order issue quickly.
2 – Reaction
Timely and Professional Response and Coordination
When it comes to resolving issues that naturally arise through the life of a project, the reaction determines whether the mitigation will be efficient or inefficient.
Timeliness in reacting to an issue avoids schedule delays. Sometimes work is halted in order to resolve an issue before all project components can move forward. Time and dollars are lost when a team must pause to examine a complication.
In our example, the Principle PM was timely in his reaction. After detection, our Principle PM did not require extra time retracing steps to dig into reviewing all historical work completed, all work orders and all change orders. Instead, after swift detection, our PM was able to respond to the contractor promptly and professionally with supportive data that was readily accessible and recently reviewed.
Professionalism is another very important aspect of reacting to a project issue. Every successful project requires a cohesive team of contributors that communicates and coordinates efficiently. Professionalism and respect support a constructive progression from problem to solution.
The Principle PM in our example, maintained Owner-Contractor, Owner’s Representative-Contractor, and Owner’s Representative-Owner relationships by focusing on respectful and data-driven conversations to resolve the issue.
3 – Solution
Owners need dedicated, capable, and respectful project managers and control teams to represent their best interests and to maintain efficiency. The Project Manager, as part of the Owner’s Representative team, continuously oversees:
- Project Planning
- Resource Management
- Risk Mitigation
- Quality Assurance
- Cost Control
- Communication
- Compliance
- Progress Monitoring
- Stakeholder Management, and problem-solving
This attention and dedication to the details of Owner’s project scope results in the Owner having a reliable representative who can detect issues, react in a timely manner to avoid schedule slip and cost increases, and reach solutions that are in the Owner’s best interest.
If your projects have experienced inefficiencies in the past, you know that things could have been handled better, but you may not be sure what processes to implement to make improvements. Monitoring scope to refute change orders is just one of a myriad of ways that Principle Services uses our deep electric utility experience to keep our utility clients’ projects on track. We invite you to reach out to Principle Services to learn more and discuss how we can pitch in on your next project.