Project Management Information System And Contract Management

PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM AND CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

Bassam Samman CMCS 4/17/2020

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Table of Contents Disclaimer ........................................................................................................................................................................1 Article #051 How Can Technology Bring the Much-Needed Transparency and Objectivity in Assessing Engineering Consultants and Contractors Prequalification Submissions on Capital Projects? ............................................................3 Article #054 Managing FIDIC 2017 Early Warning Provisions in Construction Projects ...................................................8 Article #055 Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal on Capital Projects ....................................................11 Article #058 Managing the Letter of Award for Design and Construction Contracts Process in Construction Projects 14 Article #064 Tracking Contractors Insurance and Bond Certificates on Construction Projects .....................................18 Article #066 Documenting the Construction Contract Kickoff Meeting ........................................................................21 Article #080 How to Ensure Issuing the Performance Certificate for Construction Contracts in Accordance with the Relevant Contract Clauses? ...........................................................................................................................................24 Article #101 The Need to Formally Review Contract Drawings for Construction Projects Before Releasing to Tender 26 Article #118 How to Have a Comprehensive Contract Management Checklist for Capital Projects? ............................30 Article #128 How Can Project Management Information Systems Support Contract Administrators in Performing Their Roles and Responsibilities as Detailed in the RICS Contract Administration Guide? ............................................32 Article #129 Generating the Contractor’s Monthly Progress Using Real-Time, Auditable, Traceable and Trust-Worthy Information ...................................................................................................................................................................47 Article #142 How Can Technology Reduces the Risk of Fraud and Corruption in Contract Implementation on Capital Projects? ........................................................................................................................................................................61 Article #169 How to Ensure Capturing Details of All Contractors, Subcontractors and Vendors That Can Take Part of a Capital Project Delivery? ...............................................................................................................................................69 Article #182 The Need to Maintain A Real-Time Single Version of the Truth Register of Construction Contract Documents ....................................................................................................................................................................75 About the Author ..........................................................................................................................................................79

Article #051 How Can Technology Bring the Much-Needed Transparency and Objectivity in Assessing Engineering Consultants and Contractors Prequalification Submissions on Capital Projects? For a capital project owner, one of the proven response strategies for reducing the project’s risk exposure is to outsource part of the project’s scope of work to qualified engineering consultants and contractors. Otherwise, the project’s risk exposure will increase if an incompetent entity ends being awarded the outsourced scope of work. Therefore, limiting bid invitations to qualified engineering consultants and contractors is a must and not a choice. The project owner needs to design the prequalification document to cover all requirements needed to ensure that only qualified engineering consultants and contractors will be part of the procurement process. The prequalification document needs to cover details on each company that will be subject for assessment if they are qualified or not. The document will include sections for company information, financial information, experience, quality assurance, health and safety among others. The importance that each section represents for assessing the company qualifications will be represented by a weight percentage value out of 100%. Each section could have a number of divisions that each could have different importance level than the other. The project owner might decide on whether the engineering consultants and contractors need to be made aware of those weight percentages or not.

Overall 100%

Company Information

Financial Information

Experience

Quality Assurance

Health & Safety

5%

5%

60%

15%

15%

Team Structure

Financial Capability

Insurance Limits

Relevant Experience

Relevant References

Sustainable Construction Experience

Co-ordination Experience

Control Methods

Organisational Undertakings

H&S Response

100%

90%

10%

60%

20%

10%

10%

70%

30%

100%

Each division of the prequalification document will have specific questions to be answered or information to be provided. Each one of those questions or requirements could different importance or weight percentage from the others. The response that will be provided by the engineering consultants and contractors to those questions and requirements will be scored by the project owner. The scoring could be based on a 10-point system where “0” is Unacceptable, “1” Very weak and almost unacceptable, “2” Weak or well below expectation, “3” Poor or below expectation, “4” Marginally below expectations, “5” Meets expectations, “6” Marginally exceeds expectation, “7” Good or well above expectations, “8” Very good, “9” Outstanding and “10” Exceptional. Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb the complete prequalification process can be managed. Although PMWeb has a ready-use but highly configurable module for prequalification and scoring, nevertheless, the form builder module will be used to create the customized prequalification document that will have the same fields of the prequalification document used by the project owner as well as the assessment form to score each submitted prequalification. To start with, the prequalification module needs to include all the fields that need to be filled by the engineering consultants and contractors in the prequalification template. Those could include text fields, values to be picked from pre-defined list of values (for example legal status of the company), numeric values, currency values, dates and Boolean.

In addition, the prequalification module will also include a number of tables to capture information that is relevant to the engineering consultants and contractors past years financial performance, past experience, insurance coverage, technical resources, plants and equipment among others. The fields within each table also include the options for text fields, values to be picked from pre-defined list of values, numeric values, currency values, dates and Boolean.

The next step is to use the visual designer to create the “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) prequalification form for which the engineering consultants and contractors will be given access to complete and submit. The form which is already available in MS Word or MS Excel will be saved as a HTML file format so it can be uploaded as the prequalification form to be used. Finally, the fields created in the form builder need to be mapped into the uploaded form.

Authorized engineering consultants and contractors who have been invited by the project owner to submit their prequalification documents will be given restricted and time-limited access to the prequalification form created in PMWeb. Those engineering consultants and contractors will complete the prequalification form by providing the needed data in the form which could be data that they need to add or data to be selected from predefined list of values.

The attachment tab in the prequalification form will be used by the engineering consultants and contractors to uploaded requested documents such as the trade license, organization chart, financial statements, ISO certificates, reference letters, insurance documents and other documents needed to complete the prequalification assessment.

When all is completed, the engineering consultants and contractors will submit the prequalification form using the predefined workflow assigned to the form. By submitting the form, the engineering consultants and contractors will have no more access to the prequalification form and the project owner can use the information provided in the form and the attached documents to start the prequalification process.

Should there be a requirement for the engineering consultants and contractors to formally submit a printed copy of the prequalification document so it can be wet signed and stamped, PMWeb Word module will be used to create the template by copy and paste the existing prequalification document for MS Word or MS Excel to PMWeb Word to create the HTML version. This will enable the engineering consultants and contractors to select the PMWeb Word report which will be merged to MS Word to create the output form that will printed, wet signed, stamped, scanned and then uploaded into the attachment tab before it is submitted through the predefined workflow process.

Assessing and Scoring the Prequalification Submission One of the tables that will be created in the prequalification form will be the assessment scoring table. Using the form builder permission tab, the engineering consultants and contractors will have no access to this table, that is no view and no edit privileges. The table will include fields for the prequalification section reference, weight value of the section, division and item within a division, scoring field and remarks. Of course, there is always the option of having the assessment scoring done on another separate custom form.

The data captured in the assessment scoring table will provide the information that will be presented on the prequalification assessment report. The tabular report will show the score achieved by each company who have submitted their qualification. The report will calculate the weighted score for each prequalification item depending on the related section and division weight. The report will display all score values that are “4” or less in red, “5” in cyan and all scores “5” in green.

The same data will be used to create the prequalification dashboard which provides an overall summary of the companies’ prequalification scoring. The dashboard will include two visuals. The first will summarize the weighted scoring for each company by section while the second will summarize the weighted scoring for each company by division within each section.

Article #054 Managing FIDIC 2017 Early Warning Provisions in Construction Projects

For the first time, the FIDIC 2017 Red Book introduces advance warning provisions (sub-clause 8.4), which require each Party to advise the other “in advance of any known or probable future events which may (a) adversely affect the work of the Contractor’s Personnel; (b) adversely affect the performance of the Works when completed; (c) increase the Contract Price; and/or (d) delay the execution of the Works or a Section (if any).” There is no time limit for giving an advance warning, nor is there any explicit sanction for failing to do so. This clause is similar to the “Early Warning” clause 16.1 in the NEC3 contract, often referred to as ‘the jewel in the NEC crown’, early warnings are designed to help you deliver the project on time and on budget – undoubtedly the most important KPI’s for any Project Manager! Unlike the FIDIC sub-clause 8.4, the NEC contract contains sanctions for non-compliance with the early warning process. Using Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) like PMWeb can be used to formalize the process for managing Early Warning Notifications (EWN) or Advance Warning (AW). PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create EWN form for which it will include the needed fields for the form. Those will include Description of Early Warning, details if the Early Warning likely to (a) adversely affect the work of the Contractor’s Personnel; (b) adversely affect the performance of the Works when completed; (c) increase the Contract Price; and/or (d) delay the execution of the Works or a Section (detail the work will be affected), and advise if an Early Warning Meeting is Required. The form will also include a field the name of the project entity the EWN is issued to.

The attachment tab will be used to attach documents and link PMWeb records like Request for Information and other records that could be relevant to the issued Early Warning Notification. This will provide the recipient better understanding of the reported EWN.

PMWeb meeting minutes module will be used to document all discussions held during the weekly Early Warning Notifications meeting. During this meeting, all reported EWNs that were identified to as an “Early Warning Meeting is Required” will be discussed by the project team member. Early Warning Meeting will help all those attending the meeting to cooperate to make and consider proposals to avoid or reduce the impact of EWN, seek solutions and decide how to proceed.

The Early Warning Notifications report will maintain an active register of all submitted EWNs along with their details and status. The report will include visuals to highlight those EWNs that could have an impact on the project.

Article #055 Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal on Capital Projects Having a formal Performance Evaluation and Appraisal for contractors, provides project owners with valuable knowledge that is essential for future procurements. Performance Evaluations and Appraisals will be usually prepared following completion of the work associated with a contract. Performance Evaluations should include an evaluation with respect to the quality of the work; whether the work is being completed in a timely fashion; whether the work is being completed in a financially responsible and efficient manner; whether the work is being completed in accordance with applicable laws and regulations; whether the entity performing the work is interacting in a responsive, practical, and efficient manner with project owner staff; whether work is being performed with an appropriate focus on safety; and whether the entity performing the work is approaching the change order and claims adjustment process in a reasonable manner. Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb allows creating the Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal form in form and format that matters to the project owner. The appraisal form will usually have two parts. The first will be used to capture general information on the contractor being appraised such as contractor name, contractor’s project manager name, contract’s scope of work, planned and actual substantial completion, original and revised contract value and any other details that could be needed.

The second part will be to capture the performance data. This will identify the performance categories that matter most for the project owner when it comes to evaluating and appraising the contractor’s performance during the project. Each performance category could have a different weight than other categories depending on the project owner priorities. For each category, the assessor will score the performance on a 5-point score where 1= Inadequate; 2= Deficient; 3= Standard; 4= Good; and 5= Superior. The appraisal table will also include a field to capture any comments made by the assessor.

Of course, the contractor’s performance appraisal can address different performance measures depending on what matters most for the project owner. The form below also created using PMWeb custom form builder with the option of visual design assesses each contractor’s performance against ten performance measures covering Time Management, Financial Management, Health and Safety, Management of Sub-contractors, Quality of Workmanship, Progress in Making Good Defects, Collaborative Approach, Contractor Performance, Contractor Design and Customer Satisfaction. Each performance measure is assessed on 6-point score for which “5” for Excellent, “4” for Good, “3” for Average, “2” for Below Average, “1” for Poor and “0” for Unacceptable.

The attachment tab will be used to upload, store and attach all supportive documents used in the contractor’s evaluation and appraisal. Some of those documents could be specific to one or many of the performance categories used for the assessment.

The Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal form workflow will ensure that the appraisal is reviewed and approved by the right project team members. Should there be a requirement for the appraisal to be done by different project team members, different tables will be created to group the relevant performance categories to allow assigning different team members for each group. In addition, the form could include fields for the final appraisal recommendations for which access can be restricted to specific individuals who are part of the workflow.

The Contractor Performance Evaluation and Appraisal report will display the performance appraisal data captured in the form along other information that been designed in the report to provide better explanation of each performance category. The report will also calculate the overall appraisal score achieved by the contractor.

Article #058 Managing the Letter of Award for Design and Construction Contracts Process in Construction Projects Letter of Acceptance also referred to as the “Letter of Award”, is legally considered as the Employer’s formal acceptance of an offer (bid/tender) made by the Contractor, thus forming a valid and binding contract between parties when acknowledged its receipt by the Contractor. Issuance of Letter of Acceptance/Award marks the interface between the procurement stage and construction stage of the project.

Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the issuance of the letter of acceptance can become a process that could be managed and controlled. A customized checklist will be created using PMWeb custom form builder to ensure that all perquisites for issuing the letter of award have been formally completed and verified by the project manager. For each item in the checklist, relevant supportive documents will be uploaded into PMWeb document management repository and attached to the checklist. A workflow will be added to the checklist to ensure that it has been formally reviewed before it is approved. Finally, PMWeb correspondence module will be used to create a template for the letter of acceptance so the correct-worded version will be used across all projects. PMWeb document management repository will be also be used to upload and attach all documents that are related to the letter of award. PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the letter of acceptance checklist. It will list all items that the project manager needs to confirm that they have been completed before a letter of acceptance can be issued. For each listed item, the project manager will have the option the select the status of compliant, non-compliant or not applicable. A comments field will be also made available to add any notes the project manager wants to make.

PMWeb document management repository will have a folder titled “Project Initiation”. Under that folder, a subfolder for “Letter of Acceptance” will be created. Under this folder, there will be two subfolders. The first will be “LoA Checklist” and the second will be “Letter of Acceptance”. The LoA Checklist folder will be used to upload the supportive documents for the checklist while the letter of acceptance folder will be used for the documents that will be issued along with the formal letter of acceptance.

PMWeb workflow module will be used to create the workflow needed to formally review and approve the LoA Checklist. The checklist which will be usually submitted by the project manager will require review by the head of projects, legal department, finance department, procurement department and other departments that their input is needed before formally issuing the letter of award.

The Letter of Acceptance/Award should clearly indicate the Accepted Contract Amount in relevant currencies. It should also include a list of documents constituting the contract with their order of priority, if there are new documents forming the Contract, which were not envisaged at the time of preparing bidding documents, such as addenda, MOUs. The Letter of Award shall not include any new conditions unless previously agreed by parties and such agreements reached between parties have been formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). To ensure all those requirements are met, the checklist will include another table to be reviewed and approved.

PMWeb correspondence module will be used to issue the Letter of Acceptance/Award. PMWeb will have a predefined template for the Letter of Acceptance/Award ready to use. The template will highlight all sections that need to completed before issuing the Letter of Acceptance/Award.

The same Letter of Acceptance/Award checklist will also include a third table to ensure that all actions that need to be performed after issuing the Letter of Acceptance/Award are met. It should be noted that table format for each section can be modified to reflect the requirements of each section of the checklist. For example, is the table for “After Issuing Letter of Acceptance” a new field been added for the relevant FIDIC clause or sub-clause.

By having the checklist for the Letter of Acceptance/Award, shown below, the organization can enforce governance best practices to ensure correct issuance of this important communication. In addition, the letter template ensures the right wording of the Letter of Acceptance/Award as well as expedite the issuance of the letter. All supportive documents are captured and stored in the document management repository and the workflow will ensure all needed reviews and approvals had been successfully completed. The same approach could be adopted for all other critical project’s formal communications.

Article #064 Tracking Contractors Insurance and Bond Certificates on Construction Projects One of the important requirements in construction projects is the requirement for obtaining, verifying and monitoring the contractor certificates of insurance and bonds. Those documents need to be valid during the project construction’s period and some need to continue to be valid during the defect liability period. The contract documents will provide details of all required insurance and bonds certificates to be issued and maintained.

After the contractor starts the work, required insurance and bond certificates should be monitored to verify that the coverage is maintained in force, and proper renewal is obtained by the contractor and provided to the project owner. A register needs to be created capture the details of all insurance and bonds certificates as well as provide an early notification to identify which certificates will expire in the next sixty (60) days. The insurance and bond certificates required for a project could differ depending on the contract requirements. Some of the common insurance and bonds certificates that are required for construction projects include Contractors All Risks (CAR) – Building Construction, Contractors All Risks (CAR) - Civil Works and Infrastructure, Erection All Risks (EAR), Commercial General Liability Insurance, Automobile Liability Insurance, Workers’ Compensation and Employer’s Liability Insurance, Umbrella/Excess Liability, Builder’s Risk Insurance, Asbestos Liability Insurance, Installation Floater Insurance, Contractor’s Pollution Coverage policy, Professional Indemnity, Performance Bond, Advance Payment Bond, Retention Bond among others. Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb will be used to monitor and track the status of all insurance and bond certificates. PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create a document template to capture the details of each insurance and bond certificates. The form will be used to capture the Contract Number, Contractor Name, Contract Project Schedule Summary Activity, Contract Award Date, Mobilization Date, Contract Planned Completion Date, Contract Current Completion Date, Certificate Type, Certificate Category, Insurer, Certificate No., Issuance Date, Original Expiry Date and Current Expiry Date.

Of course, there is also the option of creating a separate document template for each insurance or bond certificate category where it will be possible to add a checklist that is specific for each certificate category. For example, for the advance payment certificate bond, the specific document template created for this bond document included two checklists. The first was for Advance Payment Guarantee Acceptance while the second was for Advance Payment Release.

The attachment tab will be used to attach copies of the relevant insurance or bond documents to the form. Those documents will be uploaded and stored in their relevant PMWeb document management repository file folder. It should be noted that for the Insurance Tracking document template there will be no workflow for reviewing and approving the process unless this is needed.

The Insurance and Bond Certificates Tracking report will be used to monitor and track the status of all insurance and bond certificates issued on the project. The most important field on this report is the Days to Expire field which is a calculated field that will calculate the difference between “Today’s Date” and the certificate “Current Expiry Date”. The field background will be colored in “Red” for those certificates that are due to expire in 60 days or less, “Cyan” for those that are due to expire in 90 days and “Green” for those certificates that have more than 90 days to expire.

Article #066 Documenting the Construction Contract Kickoff Meeting A kickoff meeting is the first meeting with the project team and the client of the project. This meeting is critical to the early functioning of the project team. It serves as an official project launch, setting the tone for the project and how the team will work together. It should be used as a team building exercise for the project team with roles and responsibilities defined, work identified, and team rules and processes defined. The meeting will also discuss other base elements in the project that involve the client such as schedule, status reporting, quality control, HSE, etc.

Using Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) like PMWeb all project’s related meetings will be captured including the kickoff meeting. The meeting minutes module is the module where design review, progress review, risk review, safety, coordination, handover, kickoff and all other meeting types will be captured. The header of the meeting minutes module will capture the specific particulars for each meeting minutes including the details of project team members invited to attend the meeting and who have actually attended the meeting.

The detail section of the meeting minutes will be used to capture the details of what was discussed in the meeting. The category field will have predefined values of the categories that are specific for each meeting type meeting minutes business items. For example, for the kickoff meeting it could include introduction, HSSE, engineering and design reviews, document control, QA/QC, procurement, construction, construction schedule, progress reporting, contract management, risk management, handover and closeout as well as any other related topic. For each captured business item, the relevant subject topic needs to be added, responsibility for taking an action and by when and link to the project schedule activity that could be impacted if the business item is not completed as planned. The actual action date and status will be updated when the business item is completed.

To ensure that all items required to be discussed during the kickoff meeting are covered, it is highly recommended to have a checklist of all those items predefined in PMWeb. This will enable using the checklist across all projects managed in PMWeb. The checklist tab will be used to drag and drop the checklist items predefined for the kickoff meeting. The completed checkbox will be used to highlight all checklist items that were completed. In addition, there is an option to assign checklist items to specific project team members if needed.

All documents that were shared during the kickoff meeting such as the project management plan, QA/QC plan, HSSE plan, risk plan, responsibility assignment matrix (RAM), project organization chart among others need to be uploaded into PMWeb document management repository under the folder that is specific for the kickoff meeting. Those documents will be then attached to kickoff meeting minutes.

The meeting minutes notes tab can be used to add different text notes that could be specific for the meeting minutes such as the meeting minutes disclaimer statement “The present minutes represent the interpretation of the person who wrote the entries in this meeting, if any of the participants of the meeting differs in the settled, please communicate it in writing immediately, to make the pertinent modifications; of no objections in the next 24 hrs. After the reception of this document, the agreed upon will be accepted as accepted.” This note will become part of the printed meeting minutes form.

When the meeting minutes is completed, it will be shared with all those who have attended the meeting as well as project team members and stakeholders that need to be advised of what was discussed in the meeting. A transmittal form will be generated from the meeting minutes module to share and distribute the meeting minutes as intended.

Article #080 How to Ensure Issuing the Performance Certificate for Construction Contracts in Accordance with the Relevant Contract Clauses? Performance Certificate is the certificate issued under sub-clause 11.9 of the FIDIC contract to constitute acceptance of the Works by the Engineer. This will enable the Contractor to submit to the Engineer within 56 days a draft final statement with supporting documents. When the Engineer verifies the statement, the Contractor will issue a final statement (sub-clause 14.11) and a discharge for full and final settlement (sub-clause 14.8). In addition, insurance cover will no longer be required to be maintained by the Contractor (sub-clause 18.2). The Engineer will issue the Performance Certificate within 28 days after the latest of the expiry dates of the Defects Notification Period or as soon as the Contractor has completed and tested all the Works, including remedying any defects. The Defects Notification Period is the period for notifying defects and/or damage in the works or a section or a part (as the case may be) under sub-clause 11.1 [Completion of Outstanding Work and Remedying Defects], as stated in the contract data (if not stated, one year), and as may be extended under sub-clause 11.3 [Extension of Defects Notification Period]. This period is calculated from the Date of Completion of the works or section or part. The Defects Notification Period starts when the Engineer issues the Taking Over Certificate if works are completed according to the contract. The Contractor may submit a notice to the Engineer not earlier than 14 days before expected completion or take over requesting take over (sub-clause 10.1).

Taking Over Certificate

Defects Notification Period

Performance Certificate

Contractor Submits Draft Final Statement

Engineer Verifies Statement

Contractor Submits Final Statement

Using Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) like PMWeb, the issuance of the Performance Certificate process can be automated. PMWeb form builder will be used to capture the details of the Performance Certificate which will include the expiry date of the Defects Notification Period, letter date, letter reference number along with the other default fields such project name and project stakeholders. Additional fields can be added if needed.

The attachment tab could be used to link relevant PMWeb records such as the Taking Over Certificates and other needed documents to the Performance Certificate form. In addition, the final defects report can be attached to the form to provide the prove that all defects had been rectified. Also, links to relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails can be attached to the form.

Since the Performance Certificate letter has serious contractual implications on ending major part of the Contractor’s obligations on the project, the form will be assigned a workflow to ensure the proper and formal review and approval before its formally issued to the Project Owner and Contractor.

The Performance Certificate letter template will be predefined in PMWeb Word so it can be automatically issued from within the form. The letter template below shows some of the fields that were automatically populated from the Performance Certificate form in bold font.

Article #101 The Need to Formally Review Contract Drawings for Construction Projects Before Releasing to Tender Construction drawing is the general term used for drawings that form part of the tender documentation and then the contract documents for the construction works. This means they have legal significance and form part of the agreement between the project owner and the contractor. The main purpose of construction drawings is to provide a graphic representation of what is to be built. To avoid ambiguity and confusion that could lead to delays, misunderstandings and scope creep, construction drawings should be concise and coordinated. This requires having a formal review of each drawing to ensure that they are complete and coordinated. To ensure a comprehensive review, detailed checklists based on best practices and past experience should be created for each project discipline and category. Those would include roads, external works, structural, architectural, mechanical, HVAC, electricity, fire alarm, BMS, audiovisual among others.

Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the project team can implement a formal and comprehensive drawing management and review solution. To start with, PMWeb Drawing List module will be used to capture the details of all project drawings. This will also include all drawing revisions. This will ensure that there is a single register of all project drawings including all revisions for those drawings.

The original drawing file which could be in PDF file format or any other format will be uploaded and stored on PMWeb document management repository. Document folders will be created to match the project’s disciplines for which drawings are developed for. This will enable attaching the drawing file and other documents to the relevant drawing item. This will also ensure that there is a single repository of all project drawings including all revisions for those drawings.

PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the many drawing checklists that will vary depending on each building discipline and category. Each checklist will include all possible items that need to be verified and checked. The extent of items included in each checklist details the organization’s knowledge and experience in delivering capital projects. For each checklist item there will be four fields to be completed, the first is for the drawing originator to confirm that the checklist item had been reviewed and its compliant. The second field will be for the Checker to verify that checklist item had been reviewed and is compliant. The third field will be used to add any comments on the reviewed item and the fourth field is the proposed resolution of the raised comment.

The review process will include two steps which might include multiple reviewers if needed. The first is for the drawing originator where he/she needs to confirm that the checklist item had been reviewed and its compliant. After completing the review for all checklist items, the review form will be submitted via the predefined workflow to the Checker who will again verify that all checklist items had been reviewed and they are compliant. If there is an issue with any item in the list, the checker will add the comment next to the item along with the proposed resolution. The checker will return the checklist form to the originator to correct the reported comment and resubmit.

Since there will be different drawing checklists for each discipline and category, the individuals involved in the review process could differ depending on the review checklist. In addition, the same review checklist could include multiple reviewers for the different review groups. All these settings need to applied to the permission section for each custom form.

The drawing review dashboard will provide a real-time reporting on planned, current and completed reviews. The dashboard will provide a donut visual to summarize the total number of drawing review checklists by discipline and another donut visual to summarize the total number of submitted drawing review checklists by status. The dashboard will include a bar chart that will display the status drawing review checklists by discipline. In addition, the dashboard will include a table that will detail all design review checklists and their status. The table will summarize design review checklists by discipline.

Article #118 How to Have a Comprehensive Contract Management Checklist for Capital Projects? Capital project owners in the public and private sector are increasingly becoming keen on improving their contract procurement practices to improve their procurement performance to drive cost savings, improve probity, deliver improved outcomes, and meet their broad range of organization objectives. This requires adopting the contract management best practices during the complete contract procurement phases including prequalification, tendering, awarding and post awarding contract management phases of contracts. The Contract Management Guidelines will document those practices to enable project owners to adopt a sound, consistent and effective approach to managing their contracts. The post-award contract management is the most critical phase and the one that takes the longest time to execute in the contract procurement phases. A good post-award contract management is the process that ensures both parties to a contract fully meet their respective obligations as efficiently and effectively as possible, in order to continually deliver both the business and operational objectives required from the contract. Post-award contract management involve a number of processes that cover contract mobilization, contract administration and record keeping, contract management roles and responsibilities, managing relationships, performance management, contract monitoring, negotiating contract variations, managing contract disputes and contract completion and closeout including demobilization. To ensure that those post-award contract management processes have been performed in accordance with the contract management guideline, a checklist can be created to become as a guide for Contract Managers on the steps that need to be performed on capital projects. Each capital project owner needs to develop their own checklist that must be aligned with their contact management guidelines as well as the terms and conditions of contract agreements they use. A Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb will be used to map the complete contract procurement phases including prequalification, tendering, awarding and post awarding contract management phases of contracts for each project managed by the project owner. Details on how to manage each contract procurement phase process has been presented in different articles written by the author.

Procurement Planning

Prequalification Process

Tender and Quotation Process

Evaluation of Offers and Negotiation

Contract Award

Contract Management

PMWeb will be also used to create a contract management checklist similar to the checklist shown below which is an example of a checklist developed by a public-sector capital project owner. The checklist groups the steps or actions that need to be performed at the pre-commencement stage and post-contract commencement stage. For each step or action, the checklist details who should be performing the step or action, if it was performed, when it was performed and which PMWeb module is being used. The entities that could be involved in performing a step or action includes the contract manager, procurement department, risk management department and contractor. The checklist can provide a quick audit of the contract management steps or actions that need to be performed.

The checklist is grouped into two stages, pre-construction and post contract commencement. The preconstruction stage will include actions that cover contract documents, transition plan, contract management plan, insurance, security/ retention, key performance indicators (KPIs), risk management and health, safety and environment (HSE) plans, contract meetings and induction program. The post contract commencement stage will include the actions of audit contractor compliance with health, safety and environment (HSE) plan, contract meetings, payment claims, performance auditing, contract extensions and contract expiry/ transition out.

The PMWeb attachment allows attaching documents that are relevant to the checklist which are usually uploaded and stored in PMWeb document management repository. In addition, links to relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails can be linked to the checklist.

Article #128 How Can Project Management Information Systems Support Contract Administrators in Performing Their Roles and Responsibilities as Detailed in the RICS Contract Administration Guide?

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) practice guide on Contract Administration, has detailed the roles and responsibilities of a Contract Administrator in building projects. The role involves managing the contract between the employer and building contractor which can be performed by the engineering consultant, project management consultant, quantity surveyors, cost management consultants as well as a contract administrator who is an employee of the project owner. The RICS guide provided a summary list of the contract administrations items that need to be contract administrator during the pre-commencement, construction and post-construction phases of a project. The items listed are similar to the roles and responsibilities that a contract administrator or contract manager will perform on projects that might be aligned with RICS best practices guidelines.

The guide listed the key contract administrator tasks that a contractor administrator will generally perform including chairing contract’s related meetings, periodically inspecting the works but to be made clear to all parties that the responsibility for checking compliance of the works with the design of the works should remain with the employer which may then be delegated to members of the engineering consultant team, giving instructions, including variation or change orders, determining any applications for extensions of time by the contractor, authorizing interim payments to the contractor, certifying the date of completion and settling the contract’s final account. Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, the Contract Administrator (CA) can use to implement all of the processes that falls under the roles and responsibilities of the CA as well as improve the collaboration with the employer, design consultant, supervision consultant, contractors and other project entities that the CA needs to interact with. The selection of which PMWeb modules to be used will depend largely on the scope of services that the Contract Administrator has with the Employer. This article details how PMWeb will be used to manage some of those processes although PMWeb can be used to manage, monitor, evaluate and report on all needed processes. Maintaining Project Documents and Records

PMWeb document management repository will be used by the CA to ensure that an electronic version of all project records including site inspections, drawings, instructions, change orders, interim payments, claims, progress photographs among the many other project records are uploaded and stored into their designated folder which will be aligned with the physical file folders stored in the project’s filing room. It is highly recommended the project’s documents filing structure is aligned with the format needed to be turned over to the Employer when the project is closed out. PMWeb archive module will automatically download the uploaded and stored project records in the desired document turnover format.

Site Inspections The responsibility for checking compliance of the works with the design of the works should remain with the employer which may then be delegated to members of the engineering consultant team. PMWeb will custom form builder will be used to create the different Request for Inspection checklists that the supervision consultant will use to inspect the contractor’s work in place and verify that they are in accordance with the project’s quality requirements. Nevertheless, the Contract Administrator (CA) is required to perform periodical inspections to enable the CA to report to the employer on the progress and quality of the works in place. PMWeb snag list module provides the perfect platform for reporting on inspection issues. The CA along with the supervision consultant and contractor record all deficiencies along with pictures of the reported deficiency, date to be fixed, amount to be withheld along with details. The captured information will become part of the site inspection report that the CA will issue to the Employer.

For HSE site inspection, it is recommended to have a predefined checklist of all items to be inspected and reported on. PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the checklist for which it will become the basis for generating the HSE project audit checklist report.

Meetings Meetings attended by the CA may be formal or informal and for whatever the purpose, should be recorded, particularly where actions need to follow. Typically, those formal meetings will cover matters that relate to progress to date and expected completion, as well as any possible risks that might affect the completion date, health and safety issues, contract instructions, including changes requested by the employer, information and queries relating to the drawings and specification, quality of work among others.

PMWeb meeting minutes module will be used to capture the details of all those meetings. For each meeting, PMWeb allows capturing the details of all actions to be taken by the different project entities. For each action item, the CA can record the action details, assign the category and type that better define the reported action, the individual responsible for taking the action, action due date and actual completion date, the first project schedule activity that could impacted by the reported action. In addition, all supporting documents including pictures can be attached to the reported action. All pending actions will be part of the due meeting actions report.

Project Schedule One of the responsibilities of the Contract Administrator is manage all extension of time (EoT) requests the approved project’s baseline schedule. Using PMWeb custom form builder, a checklist will be created for the formal review and analysis of the baseline schedule, schedule revisions and periodical schedule update. This is needed to ensure the quality of the project schedule and compliance with the contract’s requirements in terms of being complete, level of detail, interfaces, milestones among others.

In addition, PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create a form for Extension of Time (EOT) requests. The form will also include a checklist of items that the supporting documents that contractor should confirm that those were completed and are part of the extension of time submission. The form could also include other checklists that could be needed when it comes to reviewing and analyzing the extension of time request. View and edit of those checklists will be limited to the Project Owner and his authorized agents. The data captured in the EOT form will become the basis for reporting the status of all extension of time (EoT) requests either approved, under review or rejected.

Project Communications The Contract Administrator needs to be involved in all project’s communications that could result in additional cost or extension to the project completion’s date. One of those communications is the Request for Information (RFI) for which the contractor might claim that the response could result in work that is out of scope, additional cost and/or additional time. In addition, those communications could include Site Work Instructions (SWI) that could result in additional work, cost and time. What is important for the Contract Administrator to ensure is that there should be a formal process for all project communications that could result in additional work, cost and time. This will enable the Contract Administrator to be involved in those communications by simply be present in the assigned workflow for each of those project communications. PMWeb default RFI module will be used to capture all issued and responded RFIs along with all supportive documents, other project records and email communications. The form includes fields to identify if the RFI could result in work that is out of scope, additional cost and/or additional time.

Usually all project communications would have a workflow assigned to it to identify the individuals who will be involved in reviewing and approving the communication. For each workflow steps, PMWeb allows defining the duration assigned for the reviewer, actions that are available for the reviewer, actions if the communication is returned or need to be resubmitted among others. In addition, the workflow allows setting conditions for involving other individuals when those conditions are met or not met. For example, for the RFI, the workflow can be configured to involve the Contract Administrator if the RFI could result in work that is out of scope, additional cost and/or additional time.

For Site Work Instruction (SWI), PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create this form. Similar to the RFI module, all supportive documents, records and email will be either attached or linked to the form. A workflow will be assigned to the SWI to involve the Contact Administrator in review and approval of issued SWIs. The data captured in the SWI, RFI and other project communications can be reported on in the desired form and format.

Cost Breakdown Structure and Project Budget and Budget Adjustments

PMWeb cost breakdown structure will created using the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) breakdown structure. This will enable to progressively elaborate the baseline budget using the budget request module to formally capture all transfers, additions and omissions. The cost breakdown structure will be the basis for reporting the overall project cost status using PMWeb cost worksheet module.

Interim Valuations of the Works For each contract, PMWeb allows capturing the interim valuations using the progress invoice module. The percent complete for each line can be based on the actual quantities approved for each item, percent complete of the relevant project schedule activity or just added based on the assessment. The progress allows setting the retention among for work on place and material stored on site. Adjustments for advance payment recovery, VAT and other taxes can be also incorporated in the progress invoice.

In addition, PMWeb miscellaneous invoice module will be used to capture other actual costs incurred on the project that are not part of a specific contract. Both progress invoices and miscellaneous invoices allows attaching all supportive documents to the form as well as assign a workflow for submitting, reviewing and approving the transaction.

Contract Variations PMWeb comes ready with two forms that relate to the management of contract variations. The first is the potential change order module and the second is the change order module. The potential change order (PCO) module can be used by the project entities to provide an early warning of a change event that could have an impact on the project’s cost and schedule. Similar to the other PMWeb modules, all supportive documents, records and email will be either attached or linked to the form. A workflow will be assigned to the PCO to involve the Contact Administrator in review and approval of submitted PCOs. Approved PCO’s would become the basis to issue a Change Order.

The Change Order (CO) module will be used to capture all changes to each contract scope of work. Usually, a change order will have an impact on the project cost and/or schedule. Approved change orders will become part of the interim valuations. Similar to the other PMWeb modules, all supportive documents, records and email will be either attached or linked to the form. A workflow will be assigned to the CO to involve the Contact Administrator in review and approval of submitted change orders.

Cost Worksheet PMWeb cost worksheet module will enable the Contract Administrator to visualize the latest financial transactions for all contracts’ cost related process. Those would include in addition to interim valuations, miscellaneous invoice, potential change orders and change orders, the processes for budget, budget adjustments, commitment contract and actual payments made against approved interim payments. The user can apply period filter to limit the displayed cost data for the selected period or span of periods. When clicking on any of the cells displayed in the cost worksheet, the detail of the transaction source record will appear. The cost worksheet could be grouped by one or more of the desired cost breakdown structure (CBS) levels for which the subtotal for each group will be calculated automatically. Of course, the different cost worksheet layouts that were created earlier can be selected and viewed to provide different perspectives on the same project’s financial status. If the multi-currency option was enabled in PMWeb, the user can also select the currency to be used in displaying the cost worksheet values.

Substantial Completion PMWeb form builder will be used to create the substantial completion form where the form will include a predefined checklist to verify that all conditions for issuing the substantial completion letter had been Fulfilled and a letter template that will generate the substantial completion letter. The form header will include details of the project and company that the substantial letter will be issued to along with the agreed substantial completion date. The form header will also include details on the review and approval workflow status. The form can also include additional fields for letter reference number among others. In addition, the form will include a table of all items that need to be Fulfilled before issuing the substantial completion letter. For each item in the form, there will be a description of the item, action status, attachments needed and the status of those attachments.

The attachment tab will be used to attach and link all documents and records listed in the substantial completion checklist. Those documents will be stored in PMWeb document management repository while links to PMWeb records will be linked to the actual records created in PMWeb.

PMWeb Word module allows creating all letter templates needed during the project life cycle stages including the Substantial Completion Letter. The project owner’s authorized representative assigned to issue the Substantial Completion Letter will automatically have the letter generated when selecting the letter template name.

A similar approach will be followed to all other similar contract administration communications including but not limited to letter of intent, letter of award, letter of acceptance among others. The objective is to have an input form that captures the needed information for each process, a checklist to verify that the letter can be issued and the output form for the letter that will be designed in accordance with the contract management plan. Formal Communication of Contract Administration Processes For all PMWeb processes including those for contract administration, PMWeb allows designing the output form for each process in accordance with each project formal communication requirement as set in the project management or contract management plan. Those forms can be printed so they can be wet-signed and stamped or saved as PDF file so they can be digitally signed, if permitted. The same would also apply to reports that will include a register of all transactions for each contract administration process.

Reporting Contracts Performance to Employer The data captured in the different contract administration processes will become the basis for reporting the project performance to the Employer. The Contract Administrator can decide on the information to be communicated and the format to present this information. For example, a cost dashboard can be created to summarize the overall project cost status for which the Employer can drill through for additional details if needed. For example, the dashboard could provide a summary of the total value of change orders for which a detailed of all change orders will become available when the Employer clicks on the total value of change orders. The dashboard needs to be designed to provide the Employer with the needed information with ease.

Article #129 Generating the Contractor’s Monthly Progress Using Real-Time, Auditable, Traceable and Trust-Worthy Information On every construction project, contractors are required to submit a monthly progress report that details the project’s performance status for the elapsed month. The challenge that most contractors will encounter is the time needed to update the information to be included in the report as usually the report need to be submitted within 3 days from the month end. The challenge is not only the time needed to update the information but the time needed to analyze and report on this information. In addition, project owners and their authorized representatives have the challenges in verifying the validity of the reported information for which most of it will be compiled in MS Excel templates as well as use the reported progress information to prepare their internal progress report. Those challenges will continue to exist on construction projects as long as contractors are using multiple discrete applications to report the project’s progress information and then manually compile and maybe aggregate this information. Using Project Management Information Systems (PMIS) will provide a single platform to capture and report on the project’s progress information when needed. Usually, the contractor’s monthly progress report will include the sections of Project Location and Layout, Project Summary, Progress Summary, HSE Report, Project Updated Schedule. Submittal Status Log, Long Lead Items Procurement Log, Manpower and Plant Equipment Details, Progress Payment Status, Areas of Concern, Authority NOC Status and Progress Photographs. Project Progress Narrative Using PMWeb custom form builder, a form will be created to capture the progress narrative which needs to be completed by the contractor’s project manager or the authorized individual for the reporting the project’s progress performance. The form will usually include fields for stating the project’s original scope of work and revised scope of work. The form will also include details of the project commencement date, original period and current project duration, planned date of completion, current or forecast completion date, original contract amount and revised contract amount. In addition, the form will also capture the planned progress percent complete and actual progress percent complete. Further, the form will also include a field to report the areas of concern that are either impacting or could impact the project’s progress. Finally, the form will also include description of the completed works during the elapsed period.

The form will also include a table to capture the details of the key project deliverables status. Those are usually the milestones assigned to the project’s summary WBS level. For each deliverable, the table will include the deliverable name, weight out of project’s 100% total weight, planned and current or actual completion date, planned and actual progress percentages and remarks. The output progress report will do the needed project’s progress calculations. The Project Progress Narrative form will only include the Contractor name as the project could include multiple prime contractors for which each might need to submit their monthly progress report. The details of the other project stakeholders which will usually include the project owner, project management consultant (if any) and engineering consultant will be captured in PMWeb project module where the project was initially created. In addition, the progress narrative form will be attached with the latest progress photos that will be included in the progress report submission. Those progress photos along with all supportive documents used in the progress report will be uploaded into PMWeb document management repository. A folder will be created for each progress period for which those documents will be uploaded and stored. Of course, the attachment tab also allows linking other PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails to the progress form. Progress S-Curves Using PMWeb custom form builder, a report will be created to capture the overall planned progress complete for each period and the actual reported progress percent complete. The planned progress complete values must be completed and submitted along with the contractor’s baseline schedule submission. Those planned progress values will be locked to disable any changes to the approved progress values. The report will become the basis for creating the progress S-Curves chart. In case there is a need to have multiple curves for the project, then it is recommended to have two tables in the report. The first will capture the planned progress values for the curve while the second table will be used to report the actual performance. PMWeb custom form builder can be set to restrict access to the planned progress data.

When the initial planned progress values are submitted for review and approval, the contractor needs to attach copy of the project’s baseline schedule report along with the S-Curves values for each period to ensure that what is included in the form is aligned with the project’s approved schedule. A folder will be created for the project’s baseline schedule submission for which all relevant documents will be uploaded and stored. Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Performance Although PMWeb comes ready with it is own safety incident form, as well as the custom form builder can be used to create forms for safety violation notices, work permits, site access permits, H&S self-assessments, HSE audit checklist, HSE risk register among others, nevertheless it is assumed that the contractor is only required on the key HSE performance indicators without formally implementing those processes using PMWeb.

In this case, PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the HSE Monthly Performance Report. The form will include two tables. The first is to report on the safety incidents and lost hours while the second will be to summarize the HSE audit results. For each period, the safety incident table will report on the number of incidents by category such as Near Miss, Lost Time Injury, First Aid Treatment, Medical Treatment and Fatality. It will include total manhours worked (which is usually captured in the daily report module) and the lost manhours due to safety incidents. The second table will include total number of audits conducted and targeted or planned and total number of NCR’s Raised, Closed and Outstanding. This information will be used to calculate the Lost Time Incident (LTI) and Total Reportable Incident Rate (TRIR) values in the output progress report. Project Schedule Although the contractor will be required to submit the updated project’s progress schedule using the planning and scheduling software application, which is usually Oracle Primavera P6, nevertheless, the progress report will also include a report to display the variance between the current period progress and the baseline progress and/or last period performance. Using PMWeb Schedule module, all monthly progress updates including the baseline schedule and any other schedule revisions will be imported to PMWeb.

This will enable the contractor to create the different reports to be included in the monthly progress report. Those could be a summary bar chart of the project’s current schedule as well as the schedule comparison report. It should be noted that the contractor will not use PMWeb to replace the Oracle Primavera P6 schedule reports which will be produced, saved as PDF and attached to the Project Progress Narrative form. All those Oracle Primavera P6 generated reports will be saved as a PDF file format and uploaded and stored in the relevant monthly progress folder in PMWeb document management repository.

Submittal Status Logs The monthly progress report will usually include the updated submittal logs for material samples, method statements, subcontractors and suppliers’ prequalification, shop drawings, as-built drawings and other types of submittals that are needed for the project. The major mistake that most contractors as well as the other project stakeholders falls into it that those submittal logs are based on what have been actually submitted and excludes the submittals that are planned to be made as per the contract’s specification requirements. To overcome this issue, the Contractor will be required to submit the planned submittal log for all submittal types along with the baseline schedule submission. Each submittal item needs to be associated with the relevant project schedule activity, that is to say a unique activity should be created for each submittal item included in the submittal log. The final submittal will be usually created using MS Excel. This will enable importing the submittal log into PMWeb Submittal Items module where the actual submittal review and approve process will be managed.

In addition, folders will be created in PMWeb document management repository will created to manage the actual submittal documents such as shop drawings, as-built drawings, product catalogues, prequalification documents, method statements among others. Under the submittal folder, sub-folders will be created for each submittal type. In addition, under each submittal type sub-folder, sub-folders will be created for the different for the different categories within a submittal type. For example, for material samples, sub-folders will be created for Civil Material, Electrical Material, Mechanical Material, Finishes Material among others. Those sub-folders will be used by the document controllers to upload the documents to be submitted.

PMWeb document management system allows setting access rights to the created folders and subfolders. This will help in assigning the needed access rights for each folder. In addition, PMWeb allows defining different document attributes to each folder to capture additional details on each uploaded document or documents uploaded in bulk. Further, it allows subscribing to the created folders to get email notifications or on-screen notifications when new documents are uploaded or downloaded from each form folder, a new version is uploaded among others.

The uploaded and stored documents will be attached to their relevant submittal item. In addition, links to other relevant submittal items as well as other PMWeb records can be added as well as links to imported MS Outlook emails.

The workflow assigned to the submittal item will ensure that each submittal is reviewed, shared and approved by their intended recipients. The submittal item category field will be used to define the submittal type such as shop drawings, material sample, method statement among others while the CSI Code field will be used to specify the submittal category which could civil, mechanical, electrical among others. Using those two fields, conditions will be created to ensure that the submittal item is following the workflow steps that is specific for the submittal type and category.

The submittal log report will be generated from the submittal items captured in PMWeb. The output report form and format will be designed in the exact report layout required for each specific project. The report could include color indicators to highlight delayed submittals or those due within the next progress period.

Non-Compliance Report (NCR) Log PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the input for the NCR. The form will include details of the required corrective action and the actions taken by the contractor to rectify the same. Similar to other PMWeb modules, the form can be attached to the form directly or as recommended, upload and store into PMWeb document management repository and then attach to the relevant NCR. In addition, a workflow can be assigned to the NCR to ensure it reviewed and approved by it is designated project team members.

In addition, and to similar to all other PMWeb modules, an output form can be created for the NCR to ensure that it is formally communicated by printing, wet-sign and stamp the form or save as PDF and digitally sign the form. In addition, the NCR log report will be designed in the exact report layout required for each specific project. The report could include color indicators to highlight closed and pending NCRs. Long Lead Procurement Items Although PMWeb custom form builder can be used to create a summary Long Lead Procurement that will capture the required details of the Long Lead Procurement Report, nevertheless it is highly recommended to have a form that will capture the details of each long lead procurement item. The form will capture subcontractor name, bid package reference, relevant project schedule activity, material or equipment description, Bill of Quantity or Specification reference number, estimated and ordered quantity along the unit of measure, required order date, issued purchase order date and reference, supplier name, method of shipping, shipping date to the country and required on job date, estimated and actual date of arrival to site, and remarks. There will be also a field to confirm if the issued purchase order has been attached.

In addition, the form will also include a table to capture the material or equipment details if they were actually delivered in batches. The table will include the lot, delivery date, quantity delivered and remarks. There will be also a field to confirm if the delivery note has been attached.

The form attachment tab will be used to upload and attach copies of the issued purchase order, factory and thirdparty testing certificates that could be needed, documents that confirm that the material or equipment had been shipped, delivery notes among other needed supportive documents. The captured data will become the basis for generating the Contractors’ Procurement Schedule which is usually known for those who have worked on projects managed by Turner as the “E2” report. In addition to the fields captured from the Contractors’ Procurement Schedule form, the report will include a field called “Lead” which will be the difference between the estimated date of arrival to site and required on job date.

Manpower, Equipment and Plant Histogram Although the project schedule will be the source for determining the manpower, equipment and plant resources planned requirements, nevertheless, it is known those requirements could be different from one period to another. A contractor cannot simply hire, fire and deploy resources on weekly or even monthly basis. There should be a planned deployment schedule for manpower, equipment and plant resources that will take into consideration those variances. Although PMWeb has a resource requirement module to capture those requirements, will assume that the Contractor will use PMWeb to create a much-simplified form to capture those requirements.

PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the resources planned requirements and actual consumed resources for each period. Of course, PMWeb default Daily Report module provides the better and right approach for capturing the actual manpower, equipment and plant resources deployed on the project on daily basis. The report allows linking each resource to the relevant project schedule activity as well as capturing the exact hours that each resource has spent against the activity. In addition, PMWeb daily report allows capturing the details of actual work type and quantities completed on each particular day. This will allow generating the actual productivity report for each trade.

In addition, PMWeb daily report allows capturing the details of actual work type and quantities completed on each particular day. By using the actual hours spent on completing this work, the Contractor can generate the actual productivity report for each trade.

Interim Payments Log PMWeb contract module will be used by the Contractor to capture the details of the agreement between the Project Owner and the Contractor. The contract agreement could be summarized a single item or it can be detailed to reflect the Bill of Quantity (BoQ) tables or even be detailed to the BoQ item levels. For each item, and depending on the level of detail, it could be the lump sum contract amount, lump sum amount for each BoQ table, lump sum value for each BoQ item or quantity, unit of measure and rate for each BoQ item. PMWeb allows capturing the contract terms in relation to retention as well as add adjustments for Tax, VAT, advance payment recovery among others.

The interim progress invoices will be captured using PMWeb Requisition module for which it will detail the amount of approved work in place for each progress period. PMWeb allows linking each requisition line item with the relevant project schedule activity to import the percent complete from the approved schedule to the requisition item. In addition, the payment tab for each requisition will be used to capture the actual payment made against the approved progress invoice, whether in full or part of. The payment tab will include the field for payment method, date, amount, reference among others.

A report will be generated in the desired form and format to report the status of all progress invoices submitted on the project. The report will summarize the progress invoice amount for each period with the option to drill through to review the complete progress invoice details.

Change Orders Log PMWeb Change Orders module will be used to capture the details of all change orders whether those are approved, pending or disputed. The form will include details of the items included in the change order as well as the time, positive or negative, that this change has on the project’s completion date. Similar to all other PMWeb modules, the attachment tab will be used to attach all supportive documents as well as link relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails.

Permitting Authorities’ No Objection Certificates (NOCs) PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create a report that will capture the details of all permits and noobjection certificates issued by the permitting authorities like water and electricity authority, telephone companies, roads and transportation authority, civil defense, environmental protection agency among many others. The report will detail the status of those permits, their start and expiry date and other needed information to be reported on.

Other Reports That Can Be Part of the Monthly Progress Report There are many other reports that could be required in the monthly progress report. For example, those could be the logs for request for information (RFI), site work instructions (SWI), confirmation of verbal instructions (CVI), risk register, issues log, pending meeting business items, insurance and bonds status among many others. All those processes can be managed in PMWeb and the output report can be designed in the desired form and format.

Article #142 How Can Technology Reduces the Risk of Fraud and Corruption in Contract Implementation on Capital Projects? On capital projects, contract administration is the management of contracts made with project management consultants, design and supervision consultants, contractors or suppliers to assure that all parties comply with and fulfil the terms and conditions of the contract. It includes all dealings between parties to a contract from the time a contract is awarded until the scope of work has been completed and accepted or the contract terminated, payment has been made, disputes have been resolved and the contract closed. Contracts can be considered as sub-projects as each contract has a unique goal, consumes resources, has a beginning and end date, and requires coordination and planning of relevant activities, as well as documentation in a contract file throughout the process. The main objectives of Contract Administration are the successful execution of the contract in a timely and economic manner and to ensure performance by all parties in accordance with the requirements of the contract.

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Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, capital project owners can improve the implementation of contract administration best practices to reduce the risk of fraud and corruption when it comes to contract implementation. Using a PMIS like PMWeb will help in avoiding the risks of hiding cost over-runs, time over-runs and making actual progress of works impossible to determine. Further, a PMIS will also help in eliminating the risks of poor filing and record keeping, missing invoices, timesheets, logs, deliverables, supporting documents, among others. In addition, a PMIS will help to enforce accountability for actions needed for contract administration. Document Management The successful administration of any contract, requires having the proper document management system to file and keep records of all project documents. Unlike generic document management systems, PMWeb document management repository is specifically designed for capital projects where a filing room will always exist to store and archive documents produced during the project life cycle phases. Those filing rooms will usually include cabinets to store and lock those documents to limit and control access to those documents to only those authorized to access. PMWeb document management repository allows creating folders and sub-folders to exactly match those cabinets and the folders within those cabinets, assign access authority levels for each folder and define the attributes to be added to each document stored in each folder. PMWeb also allows attaching relevant documents to each other. In addition, PMWeb provides the option for the project team members to subscribe to notifications when new documents are uploaded, when existing documents are downloaded, a newer document version is uploaded or when a document is deleted among others. Of course, for those who have access to those folders, they can view the documents within each folder online and add their markup and comments.

Formalizing Lines of Communicates Needed in Contract Administration One of the key requirements for successful contract administration is to establish accountability for the authorized communication channels when it comes to initiating, reviewing and approving each contract administration process. The review and approval authority levels could depend on a number of attributes such as if the process could result in a change to the contract agreement, assigned category or type code value, value of the transaction among others. PMWeb Workflow module will be used to create the workflow steps for each contract administration process as well as establish the conditions to map the set review and approval authority levels for each process type.

Single Platform to Administer All Contracts PMWeb commitment module will be used to capture all type of contracts that could exist when it comes to delivering capital projects including lump sum, unit rate (Admeasurement or Re-measurement) and cost reimbursable plus fee. PMWeb is also used to manage contracts for different project delivery methods including the traditional design-bid-build, fast-track, engineering-procurement-construction (EPC), design-build, labor and material, turnkey, target cost and all types of public private partnership (PPP) models. In addition, it supports all forms of contracts including FIDIC, NEC among others.

Contract Modifications and Change Management PMWeb Potential Change Order (PCO) module provides a proactive process for forcing all contract entities to submit details of all events that they believe could result in a contract change. The submission of a PCO will enforce the submitting entity to provide all supportive documents and records that made them believe that they will be entitled for a change. A potential change order could be rejected by the project owner or approved for which a change order will be generated.

PMWeb Change Order module will be used to manage directive change orders issued by the project owner as well as those change orders that were generated from approved potential change orders. The change order form will capture the details of cost adjustment and time extension associated with the change. Similar to all other PMWeb modules, all supportive documents will be attached to the change order as well as links to other relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails. In addition, a workflow will be assigned to the change order to ensure the intended review and approval process.

Interim Payments PMWeb Progress Invoice module will be used to capture the details of all interim payments for completed and approved work in place associated with each contract. The percent complete can be based on either quantities’ of completed, estimate of percent complete of completed works or the relevant project schedule activity percent complete. The progress invoice module will automatically calculate the retention for work in place and material stored on site. For approved interim payments, PMWeb also allows capturing the actual payment made against invoices such as amount paid, payment transfer details among others.

In addition, PMWeb Miscellaneous Invoices and Timesheet modules will be used to capture other actual cost expenses that are not related to a specific contract. Similar to all other PMWeb modules, all supportive documents will be attached to progress invoices, miscellaneous invoices and timesheets as well as links to other relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails. In addition, a workflow will be assigned to each one of those three forms to ensure the intended review and approval process.

Cost Control The data captured in the commitments, potential change orders either pending approval or approved, change orders either pending approval or approved, progress invoices, miscellaneous invoices and timesheet will be automatically captured and saved in PMWeb cost ledger so they will become available to be reported on. PMWeb Cost Worksheet module provides the contract administration team with a single spreadsheet to present the project cost information. There are no limits to the number of cost worksheet layouts that can be created as some could be to only present approved records, pending records or approved and pending records. In addition, new fields can be created to calculate different measures needed for cost control reporting. The PMWeb cost worksheet can be saved as a MS Excel file should the contract administration team wants to run their own analysis without adjusting the originally captured data.

Monitoring and Evaluating Contract Performance and Reporting Similarly, the data captured in those contract administration modules will become available to be reported on in any desired format to provide the organization with the real-time single version of the truth for monitoring, evaluating and report contract performance. The reporting can be limited for a single contract, contracts within a project, contracts within a program or contracts across the complete projects’ portfolio that the capital project owner has. The report will display the difference performance metrics needed to provide unbiased evaluation of the contract or contracts performance.

Claims and Disputes Resolution PMWeb will be used to support the claims and disputes resolution requirement. PMWeb custom form builder will be used to create the claim submission form which will have the fields to capture the claim cause and effect, details of the contractor’s entitlement for additional time and/or money, FIDIC contract clause that the contractor’s has based the entitlement on, check boxes if the claim is considered to be for works that are out of the project scope of work, if it has cost impact and if it has schedule impact along with the project schedule activity that will be the first to be impacted by the submitted claim. The form will also have a field to capture the proposed counter claim response. In addition, the form will have a table to capture the different time extension and financial compensation proposed to settle the claim. For each proposal, there will be an ID, when it was proposed, brief description of the proposal, proposed time extension and adjusted project completion date, financial compensation and status of the proposal whether it was approved or rejected.

The form attachment tab will be used to attach the project documents and records that are related to each claim topic and the counter claim response. Those documents will be uploaded and stored on PMWeb document management repository. In addition, links to relevant PMWeb records and imported MS Outlook emails will be also included in the attachment tab. As there could be different members in the project owner’s claim management team that could be located at different locations who have different responsibilities in the counterclaim response, the workflow module will be used to map the steps for submitting the claim topic, prepare the entitlement recommendation and the final response. The workflow could include branches to align the workflow with the set authority approval levels. The workflow will also identify who have the authority for approving the final counterclaim response.

The information captured in the Construction Claim Form will become available for the claim management team to present in any desired form and format. The report could identify the reasons for those claims, which claims where due to additional scope of work, which claims have time and cost impact, claim cause and effect statement, claim entitlement and proposed counter claim response, which activity does the claim impact, the amount claimed by the contractor and the amount assessed by the counter claim among many others.

Other Contract Administration Processes In addition to those listed processes, there are many other contract administration processes that need to be performed during the post contract phase. Although some of those processes will be performed by different project team members, nevertheless the contract administration team needs to be made aware of those processes and might need to receive periodical reports on them. Those processes include the processes of issuing letter of acceptance and letter of award, holding the kick-off meeting, managing the process of giving access and possession of construction site, verification of bonds, sureties and insurance policies, advance payment and advance payment recovery, review of extension of time requests and contract duration extension, risk management, issues management, substantial completion certificate, suspension of works and termination of contract, issuance of taking over certificate, managing defect liability period, final account, discharge and contract closeout, contractor performance evaluation and appraisal, post implementation review and capturing lessons learned.

Article #169 How to Ensure Capturing Details of All Contractors, Subcontractors and Vendors That Can Take Part of a Capital Project Delivery? For project owners, they are always keen to expand their list of consultants, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers that can take part of their capital projects delivery. Having such a list with all needed details will enable project owners to decide and select which entities could be invited for the prequalification process which is usually specific for each project. In the article “How Can Technology Bring the Much-Needed Transparency and Objectivity in Assessing Engineering Consultants and Contractors Prequalification Submissions on Capital Projects?” details were provided on the formal prequalification process which is usually by invitation.

Using Project Management Information System (PMIS) which has a module for the formal registration of consultants, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers like PMWeb, capital project owners can implement a quick and robust process for this registration process. PMWeb Vendor Prequalification Designer allows creating standard templates that can be used by all entities who are interested in doing business with the capital project owner. The prequalification form will include predefined system fields, user-defined custom fields, system tables, user-defined tables and links to third-party websites. The user-defined data groups will let the project owner track any metadata that the vendor needs to provide. Those user-defined custom fields can be organized in tabs to make data entry easier for the vendors as well as better structured for the project owner. PMWeb Specification module will be used to define all those custom fields and the group they belong to.

The Custom Tables are needed to take into account the fact that the project owner must sometimes include in the registration applications a way for vendors to supply tables of information. Tables can be defined with fixed or variable number of rows for applicant-specific data, fields that are locked with predefined values or unlocked and fields that are required to be completed. If there is a requirement for the vendor to provide input values from a predefined list of values, PMWeb allows adding a list for which it will include list of predefined values to select from.

The Section Options table will enable the project owner to show/hide vendor application sections and edit their help text to provide the needed instructions for the vendors to provide the needed details. The table has six types for fields, Text, System Help, System Table, Custom Fields, Custom Tables and Custom Links. 1. The two lines marked with a Type of "Text" appear as title and subtitle in the application page. 2. The lines marked "System Help" are typically used as general instructions to the applicant and can be hidden. 3. The lines marked "System Table" can't be edited - except for their name and help text - but they can be hidden.

4. The lines marked "Custom Fields" can be shown/hidden using the Custom Fields Section. 5. The lines marked "Custom Tables" can be defined and shown/hidden using the Custom Tables Section. 6. The lines marked "Custom Links" can be defined and shown/hidden using the Links Section.

For vendors to complete the registration application design, vendors need first to register the company and contact details as well as provide the user name and password that they will use to complete the vendor registration.

When the vendor clicks on the “Apply” button, a confirmation message will be automatically received from PMWeb to advise the vendor that the account has been created and now the vendor can proceed with the application process.

If the vendor decides to begin with the vendor application process by selecting the “Begin My Application”, PMWeb will display the application page with the fields and tables to be completed, whether those were system or userdefined custom fields and tables. The left section of the application will include the list of sections that the vendor needs to complete before submitting the application. Those fields included in the application could include text fields, currencies, text, values from pre-defined list of values and others. The vendor has the option to provide part of the needed information, save and exist the application and later on return to complete the missing information or edit the information that was provided earlier and complete the application.

The application form allows the vendor to upload and attach all supportive documents to the application submission whether those documents were requested in the application for or the vendor wants to submit to improve his submission. At the bottom of the application form, there is the signature box where the vendor needs to provide the date of the application, who was the authorized person submitting the application and the contact details of this authorized person. To complete the registration process, the vendor needs to select the button “Submit the Application”.

PMWeb Vendor Prequalification module will be automatically populated with the online registration applications submitted by the different vendors. This allows the designated project owner team to perform and record their due diligence tasks before approving the vendor as a PMWeb company. To formalize the due diligence process, PMWeb allows defining objective scoring list that will include all items that submitted vendor application need to be scored on. For each score item, PMWeb allows defining the available scoring point and the weight of the score item from the total score.

In addition to the objective and extensive vendor scoring list, PMWeb allows the project owner to get the feedback form his team who have had previous experience with the vendor to provide their personal rating of how good is the vendor on a scale of five. PMWeb allows capturing the details of all those ratings from the different project team members and create an average rating score for the vendor.

Similar to all other PMWeb modules, PMWeb Vendor Prequalification can be routed for approval using PMWeb Visual Workflow and, when approved, be used to automatically generate a new vendor record in PMWeb Companies module. The workflow will enable tracking the status of all vendors registration that are still in progress as well as capture the remarks made by each reviewer of the application.

The data captured in the vendor registration process will become available for the project owner team to report on it in any desired form and format. For example, the Vendor Registration Status report shown below is prepared to display the overall statistics on the vendor registration process. For example, there are three donut charts to group the companies who have submitted their registration by status, type of company and whether it is a new company or already registered but expired. The report will have a bar chart to group the applications that due diligence is still in progress by who is reviewing it. Finally, the report will include two histograms that will group all company by their business category and the second one will group companies by their nationality.

Article #182 The Need to Maintain A Real-Time Single Version of the Truth Register of Construction Contract Documents Construction “Contract Documents” are the written documents that define the roles, responsibilities, and “Work” under the construction Contract, and are legally-binding on the parties of the contract, Owner and Contractor. The Construction “Contract Documents” include Construction Contract Agreement, Scope of Work (SOW), Construction Schedule, General Conditions, Special Conditions, Specifications, Bill of Quantities, Drawings and Construction Insurance Documents. For a construction project, it is required to have the original “Contract Documents” that were signed and stamped by the Owner and Contractor when the construction contract was awarded. In addition, all addendums to those “Contract Documents” after contract award needs also to be maintained with details on when they were received. Those “Contract Documents” will be the only documents that the parties of the contract can refer to should there be a dispute as well as all other project formal communications. Using a Project Management Information System (PMIS) like PMWeb, project owners and contractors can ensure having a real-time single version of the truth register of construction contract documents. To achieve this, PMWeb default ready-to-use Drawing Lists and Document Management Modules will be used. The Drawing List module will be used to create a complete register of all contract documents that were part of the original awarded contract. The list of all those contract documents details can be imported from a MS Excel file using the import command where the MS Excel fields are mapped to PMWeb Drawings List module fields.

For each contract document record, PMWeb allows capturing the details of document number and description, category which could be Construction Contract Agreement, Scope of Work (SOW), Construction Schedule, General Conditions, Special Conditions, Specifications, Bill of Quantities, Drawings or Construction Insurance Documents, relevant CSI Division and CSI 6-digit detailed number, relevant project scope of work WBS level if applicable and Originator of the document. In addition, for each record, PMWeb allows capturing all issued revisions to the contract document. For each revision, PMWeb allows capturing revision number, date, notes and link to the contract document which will be uploaded and stored in its specified folder or subfolder in PMWeb Document Management repository. There is also the option to add fields for percent complete and relevant project activity number which is more needed during the design phase rather than the construction phase.

PMWeb Document Management repository will have a folder titled “Contract Documents” for which it will have subfolders for each category which include Construction Contract Agreement, Scope of Work (SOW), Construction Schedule, General Conditions, Special Conditions, Specifications, Bill of Quantities, Drawings and Construction Insurance Documents. Additional subfolders can be created if needed. For example, for the Drawings subfolder, we can create subfolders for Architectural, Structural, Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, Fire Protection, Finishes, Site Works among others.

Under each folder or subfolder, the relevant contract document will be uploaded into PMWeb along with the attributes and other details associated with the uploaded contract document. It is highly recommended that all uploaded contract documents are uploaded in PDF file format that might have the signature and stamp of the issuer and recipient. This will also enable viewing those contract documents using PMWeb own document viewer without the need for third-party applications.

PMWeb allows setting access security to each folder and subfolder in the document management repository to restrict access to only authorized project team members. For example, access to the folder that will contain copies of the original contract documents which where part of the awarded contract documents will be restricted to prevent PMWeb users from accessing those folders.

In addition, the project team members responsible for maintaining those folders and subfolders can subscribe to notifications where they will receive email or online notifications when documents/revisions are added, when documents are checked in/out, when documents are moved out/deleted and when documents are downloaded. Notifications can be sent to PMWeb users as well as non-PMWeb users.

About the Author Bassam Samman, PMP, PSP, EVP, GPM is a Senior Project Management Consultant with more than 35-year service record providing project management and controls services to over 100 projects with a total value in excess of US $5 Billion. Those projects included Commercial, Residential, Education and Healthcare Buildings and Infrastructure, Entertainment and Shopping Malls, Oil and Gas Plants and Refineries, Telecommunication and Information Technology projects. He is thoroughly experienced in complete project management including project management control systems, computerized project control software, claims analysis/prevention, risk analysis/management (contingency planning), design, supervision, training and business development. Bassam is a frequent speaker in topics relating to Project Management, Strategic Project Management and Project Management Personal Skills. Over the past 35 years he has lectured at more than 350 events and courses at different locations in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South America. He has written more than 250 articles on project management and project management information systems that were featured in international and regional magazines and newspapers. He is a co-founder of the Project Management Institute- Arabian Gulf Chapter (PMI-AGC) and has served on its board of directors for more than 6 years. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), a certified Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) and Earned Value Professional (EVP) from the American Association of Cost Engineers (AACE) and Green Project Management (GPM). Bassam holds a Masters in Engineering Administration (Construction Management) with Faculty Commendation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, Bachelor in Civil Engineering – Kuwait University, Kuwait and has attended many executive management programs at Harvard Business School, Boston, USA and London Business School, London, UK.