Contents

• Project Monitoring and Control: Supervision, record keeping

• Periodic progress reports, and periodical progress meetings

• Updating of plans: purpose, frequency and methods of updating

• Common causes of time and cost overruns and corrective measures

• Basics of Modern Project management systems such as Lean Construction

• Use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in project management

• Quality control: concept of quality, use of manuals and checklists for quality control

• Safety, Health and Environment on project sites: accidents

• Their causes, effects and preventive measures

Unit 4 - Project Monitoring
and Control
Project Monitoring and Control
• According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), “the Monitoring
and Control Process Group consists of those processes performed to observe project
execution so that potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective
action can be taken, when necessary, to control the execution of the project.”

• Project Monitoring and Control activities take place in parallel with Project Execution
Process Group activities so that, while the project work is being executed, the project is
being monitored and controlled by implementing the appropriate level of oversight and
corrective action.
• The project is observed and measured regularly against the project plan to ensure
that the project is within acceptable variances of cost, schedule and scope, and that
risks and issues are continually monitored and corrected as needed.

• The main purpose of monitoring and controlling activities is to be proactive in

finding issues ahead of time and taking corrective action. Corrective action can
require revisiting Planning Process Group and updating the Project Management
Plan as needed with the ultimate goal of bringing the project back in line with
project objectives and constraints and improving future execution to avoid
repeating the same issues.

• Monitoring and Control processes include:

1. Monitoring and Controlling Project Work

• The Monitoring and Controlling Project Work process collects, measures and disseminates
performance information, and assesses measures and trends to forecast potential items requiring
corrective action. This includes monitoring project risks and ensuring that they are being
managed according to the project’s risk plans.

• Outputs include:

1. Recommended corrective actions

2. Recommended preventive actions

3. Forecasts

4. Recommended defect repair

5. Requested changes
 2. Integrated Change Control
• The Integrated Change Control process ensures that changes as a result of project corrective actions and
other controlling factors are managed across the project knowledge areas. Integrated change control takes
place throughout the project, from project initiation through project closure.

• Outputs include:

1. Approved change requests

2. Rejected change requests

3. Updates to the Project Management Plan

4. Updates to the Project Scope Statement (and requirements)

5. Approved corrective and preventive actions

6. Approved defect repair

7. Validated defect repair

3. Scope Verification

• The scope verification process ensures that project deliverables are formally accepted.

• Outputs include:

1. Accepted deliverables

2. Requested changes

3. Recommended corrective actions

4. Scope Control

1. The Scope Control process ensures that changes to project scope are controlled.
2. Outputs include:
3. Updates to the Project Scope Statement and Scope baseline (this includes requirements)
4. Updates to the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and the WBS Dictionary
5. Requested changes
6. Recommended corrective actions
7. Updates to organizational process assets
8. Updates to the Project Management Plan
 5. Schedule Control
1. The Schedule Control process monitors and controls changes to the project schedule.

2. Outputs included

3. Updates to the schedule model data and baseline

4. Performance measurements

5. Requested changes

6. Recommended corrective actions

7. Updates to organizational process assets

8. Activity list and activity attribute updates

9. Updates to the Project Management Plan

 6. Cost Control
• The Cost Control process monitors and controls costs and changes to the project budget.

• Outputs include:

1. Cost estimate updates

2. Cost baseline updates

3. Performance measurements

4. Forecasted completion

5. Requested changes

6. Recommended corrective actions

7. Updates to organizational process assets

8. Updates to the Project Management Plan

7. Performing Quality Control
• The quality control performance process measures specific project results to determine whether the project is meeting quality
standards.

• Outputs include:

1. Quality control measurements

2. Validated defect repair

3. Updates to the quality baseline

4. Recommended corrective and preventive actions

5. Requested changes

6. Recommended defect repair

7. Updates to organizational process assets

8. Validated deliverables

9. Updates to the Project Management Plan

 8. Managing the Project Team
• This process tracks team member performance, provides feedback, resolves issues and
coordinates changes to maintain and improve project performance.

• Outputs include:

1. Requested changes

2. Recommended corrective and preventive actions

3. Updates to organizational process assets

4. Updates to the Project Management Plan

 9. Performance Reporting
• The Performance Reporting process collects and distributes performance information — including
status reports, progress reports and forecasts.

• Outputs include:

1. Performance reports

2. Forecasts

3. Requested changes

4. Recommended corrective actions

5. Updates to organizational process assets

 10. Managing Stakeholders
• This process manages stakeholder communications and works with stakeholders to ensure that
requirements are satisfied and issues are proactively resolved.

• Outputs include:

1. Resolved issues

2. Approved change requests

3. Approved corrective actions

4. Updates to organizational process assets

5. Updates to the Project Management Plan

Cost Overruns in Construction Projects
• To know how to address cost overruns in construction projects, it’s important to understand the
root of the problem.

• Oftentimes, overruns hint at deeper issues in project management and from schedules and
budgets being set improperly from the very beginning of the project.

• Although extreme weather or forces beyond human control can impact budgets, in most cases, a
project’s overrun is a result of inaccurate analysis or planning before building even starts.

• In parallel with better planning, technology can also help to reduce the common problems or
elements that contribute to cost overruns, ensuring you can maximize efficiency and profits.

• The following are few strategies and implementation to overcome cost overruns in a project,
 1. Inaccurate Project Estimates
• While many of a project’s stakeholders are eager to get the project’s building started, if
you have faulty schedules and budgets to begin with, your project is headed for an
overrun from day one.

• Due to the competitive nature of the bidding process, estimates may suffer from wrongful
expectations of the scope of work included in the project.

• In many cases, some projects will also be estimated on a one size fits all basis, with
chances of exceeding that initial estimate high.

• Therefore, it’s vital to your project’s success to do your diligence in the preconstruction
phase and be accurate and realistic about project deadlines and costs from architects and
contractors.
• Even though preconstruction and design services may contribute up to as much as
15% of your budget if this process can successfully identify potential issues before
construction actually begins, that 15% will be nothing compared to the money saved
on the process down the line.

• Because of the opportunity for cost savings, preconstruction is considered just as

important as the building phase as it truly lays the groundwork for a complex project.

• A solid planning phase before groundbreaking ensures that you will have a better
process of documentation, less confusion between administrators, and a solid project
schedule, all helping to reduce future expenses.
2. Serious Project Design Errors
• On the other hand, even if you allocate proper time and resources for accurate budget and
schedule estimates in the preconstruction planning stage, if your design plans are defective,
you’ll inevitably be destined for cost overruns in construction projects.

• A design deficiency is a poorly designed, inaccurate, or incomplete plan.

• Deficiencies are so common and a pain point for owners and designers alike that a study from
Engineers Daily estimated that design errors accounted for 38% of construction disputes.

• At the same time, incomplete or incorrect plans almost always result in substandard work
from the contractors completing the work, which can result in legal battles down the line.
• Alternatively, to enable contractors and subcontractors to build according to the design
specifications, owners and contractors should agree on the specific Scope of Work and
performance duties in the contract phase.

• This documentation should include clear references to all project specifications on design
documents, warranties of the exact work to be completed by contractors, a risk allocation
chart or definition, and a process for unforeseen issues.

• Most importantly, this contract should define the dispute resolution and/or mediation
process, if disagreements happen during construction so hefty legal fees aren’t added in
addition to other overruns that could occur.
 3. Not Planning for Change Orders
• Often in conjunction with design errors, change orders are another very common reason for cost
overruns in construction budgets.

• A change order occurs when an owner or contractor realizes that a design isn’t working or might try
to introduce new specs, fixes, or requirements after initial models and budgets have been completed.

• Additional requirements will generally result in higher costs, which will obviously negate the
original project budget.

• The additional time, manpower, and materials required to complete a new initiative may also have
to be classified as a cost overrun if the improvements affect other aspects of the project.
• Consequently, changes can usually be best addressed in the contract phase, when a
Change Order Provision can be added to specify procedures and budget needed, should a
change occur.

• If it isn’t addressed ahead of time, contractors might increase their total cost of a contract
up front in anticipation of changes or disputes could arise if they didn’t adequately plan
for the overrun to begin with.

• Calculating different solutions ahead of time will be a much easier process, and you may
be able to find a new level of functionality while reducing the number of extra resources
used.

• Although scope changes may be necessary, they should be managed proactively and
considered ahead of time to reduce the likelihood of cost overruns in construction
projects.
 4. Administration Errors
• Even with solid designs and no project changes, your project could still experience overruns if
project administrators aren’t up to speed with your project’s progress.

• When even small errors occur between the administration team, the results can be
catastrophic.

• Furthermore, if lines of communication between administrators are limited, problems that

occur on one aspect of a project may not even become known to other project managers until
it is too late.

• Many contractors and owners believe that the best solution for bad administration is to simply
increase the size of the administration team.
 5. Poor Site Management
• Design integrity, equipment condition, and quality control are just a few of the many aspects of
a project that need to be kept on track during construction.

• Unfortunately, this does not always go as planned leading to severe cost overruns in
construction projects. Personalities clash just as often as a project’s site changes unexpectedly.

• An inherent trust gap between owners and contractors may already exist because of the natural
conflict of interest between the two parties and it can have devastating impacts on a project’s
momentum.

• That being said, even if both sides maintain a professional relationship, some projects are just
too large to keep up with every site change and news may travel too slowly across departments.
• Improving on-site communication with construction software can reduce some of the
issues with site management.

• With software, calculations and designs can be referred to digitally for a more accurate
reading and different scenarios can be tested side by side to see which will bring the better
outcome.

• Because digital calculations are assured to be precise (based on accurate inputs, of course)
and software designs can be trusted to accurately depict on-site descriptions, decisions can
be made quickly based on solid information, not office politics.
 6. Not Hiring the Right Team
• Let’s say that everything has been estimated correctly, the project plans are flawless and scope
change is being managed effectively. Outside of all of that, overruns are still likely to occur if
the team executing the work is not up to a certain level of standards.

• Poor and less experienced subcontractors can cause costly mistakes, delays and errors, even
with the most impeccable designs and plans.

• Unfortunately, when hiring subcontractors, many general contractors do not adequately

qualify their project teams. Whether they are trying to work with the lowest bid or are just
leveraging existing relationships, using the wrong team opens GCs up to massive risk.
 causes of time & cost overrun in a construction project
• Time overrun:- It is the phenomenon in which the project gets delayed beyond its expected
completion time due to certain difficulties i.e. more time is required to finish the project than
initially planned.

• Causes:-

• Plans, specifications are not received by the contractor in time.

• Adequate resources are not available on the site.

• Inadequate technical and financial management.

• Extra work has to be carried out.

• Unforeseen problems like adverse weather, natural calamities etc

• Wrong or faulty initial planning.

• Accident on site.
• Cost overrun:- It is the phenomenon in which the client/contractor has to spend more money for the
completion of the project than that originally estimated i.e. the project goes over budget.

• Causes:-

• If the contractor does not have proper technical knowledge of the jobs, cost overrun is possible.

• If the original bid by the contractor is lower than actual project cost, cost overrun is possible

• Increase in cost of materials and labour. This is more significant in long duration projects.

• Improper management and wastage of available resources.

• Adverse weather conditions and natural calamities can damage to existing work, leading to rework
and increase in cost.

• Extra items of work done.

 Methods to control Overruns
• Identification of the overrun

• Procurement cost control

• Negotiation with the vendor

• Sourcing the materials

• Optimum utilization of resources

• Reduction in wastage

• Improvement in the method

• Increase the speed of construction

• Stock reduction

• Right sizing of the project team.

• Progress Reports
• Progress reports answer the following questions for the reader:
• How much of the work is complete?
• What part of the work is currently in progress?
• What work remains to be done?
• When and how will the remaining work be completed?
• What changes, problems or unexpected issues, if any, have arisen?
• How is the project going in general?
 Purpose of a Progress Report
• The main function of a progress report is persuasive: to reassure clients and supervisors that
you are making progress, that the project is going smoothly, and that it will be completed by
the expected date — or to give reasons why any of those might not be the case. They also
offer the opportunity to do the following:

• Provide a brief look at preliminary findings or in-progress work on the project

• Give your clients or supervisors a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to
suggest or request changes

• Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn the recipients

• Force you to establish a work schedule, so that you will complete the project on time.
• Format of a Progress Report
• Depending on the size of the progress report, the length and importance of the project, and
the recipient, a progress report can take forms ranging from a short informal conversation to
a detailed, multi-paged report. Most commonly, progress reports are delivered in following
forms:
• Memo: a short, semi-formal report to someone within your organization (can range in
length from 1-4 pages)
• Letter: a short, semi-formal report sent to someone outside your organization
• Formal report: a long, formal report sent to someone within or outside of your
organization
• Presentation: an oral presentation given directly to the target audience.
• Progress meetings (generally more formal) are intended to keep a finger on the pulse
of the project:

• Schedule at regularly intervals (weekly, monthly, at specific milestones)

• Determine if project is on track

• Identify possible hurdles

• Monitor consultant progress

• Quality – Quality, as it applies to an object (product, service, process), is defined as the
“degree to which a set of inherent characteristics (attributes) of the object satisfies a set of
requirements.”

• Therefore, the quality of an object is determined by comparing a predetermined set of

characteristics against a set of requirements.

• If those characteristics conform to the requirements, high quality is achieved, but if those
characteristics do not conform, a low or poor level of quality is achieved.
Quality Management Principles
1. CUSTOMER FOCUS
2. LEADERSHIP
3. INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE

4. PROCESS APPROACH
ISO 9001 5. SYSTEM APPROACH
6. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

7. FACTUAL APPROACH
8. MUTUAL BENEFICIAL SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
• A quality control checklist is basically a written guide for your products’ contents,
packaging, color, barcodes, appearance, possible defects, functions and special
requirements. It’s also sometimes called an “inspection criteria sheet” or inspection
checklist.
• Five Key elements of check lists are
• 1. Product Requirements
• Packaging requirements
• Onsite product tests and checks
• Defect classification
• Collaboration between the importer, supplier and QC staff in drafting inspection
checklists
• What is a quality manual?

• The quality manual is a document that describes the quality management system of an
organization (ISO 15189).

• Its purpose is to:

• clearly communicate information

• serve as a framework for meeting quality system requirements

• convey managerial commitment to the quality system.

• A quality manual is a document that states the company's intentions for operating and executing the
processes within its quality management system.

• It can include policies for all areas of the business that affect your ability to make high quality
products and meet your customers' and ISO's requirements.-[