Should you cost-load your construction project schedule? What are the benefits of cost-loading your schedule? Whenever either construction Owners or Contractors are looking at a new project, that's when these important questions come up. I'm going to look at the benefits and tradeoffs of cost-loading a construction schedule from the perspectives of both the Owner and the Contractor. Let's
Project Controls Tips & Tutorials
Informative tips & tutorials that discuss Project Controls & Project Management for the Construction, Engineering and Oil & Gas industries.
Project Controller – What You Need to Know to Succeed
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Are you interested in starting a career as a Project Controller but not sure where to start or what it's all about? Project Controllers are an important part of any project team, they assume a lot of the risk and responsibilities when it comes to making sure a project has a successful outcome. They oversee the project's revenues and expenses to make sure the project meets its budget and
24 Project Controls Books That Every Project Controller Should Have In Their Library
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Every industry has its publications that are held to that lofty status of go-to guides, and project controls is no exception. Rather than spend valuable time weeding through the volumes that are available out there, we bring you the top 24 can't-miss project controls books that every good project controller has on their shelf. And now I've kept the promise I made on a recent webinar. Top Project
How To Control Cost: Earned Value Management Basics
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Cost is one of the triple constraints in project management and one of the most important of every project. While challenging to manage and control, not impossible and there are many tools and methods out there to help you. One of the most accepted tools is the Earned Value Management (EVM) process that can capture project health and performance easily. The process incorporates project
What Is Greenfield And Brownfield Engineering?
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Greenfield engineering or greenfield construction is the process of developing a new building or structure over a piece of land that has never been developed. There are many advantages of developing over greenfield but not so much when you are talking about Brownfields. Brownfield engineering is related to developing or building over a property that was previously developed and requires additional
23 Top Project Controls Conferences To Attend In 2018
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Update: Check out the list of Top 24 Project Controls Conferences to attend in 2019! 2018 hasn’t even started yet and I’m already trying to get you fill your calendar. Now isn’t that something! But hey, the sooner the better and this will be one thing off of your to do list for next year. As you may know, accurate planning and scheduling is important. Not only for your work projects, but
Types of Schedule Delays in Construction Projects
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A 2016 report on worldwide Construction Claims states the global average value of a construction delay dispute to be a staggering US$46million, a trend that has climbed upward from 2010. The report also indicates that the average dispute took 15.5 months to reconcile. You can read the full report from Arcadis here. Although claims and disputes are the inevitable result of delays to a project, for
10 Reasons Why Construction Schedules Fail
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This post was originally published on the RepOne blog. CPM Schedules invariably become erroneous, despite best practices, when the rest of the team isn’t pulling their own weight. The integrity of the schedule may have nothing to do with why it became useless or meaningless, or as I like to say, a recorder more than a predictor of the critical path and progress. If the project is large and has
Ghost Schedules: An Overview for Project Controllers
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Any project controls professional knows that during the course of a project multiple versions of a project schedule will be created. Schedules are often created at different levels. It usually takes a few iterations to get to an agree-upon baseline. Then there are progress schedules, scenario schedules, mitigation schedules, and perhaps even a recovery schedule. But what about ghost schedules?
5 Things I Learned At The AACE Project Controls Conference
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Admittedly, it took us weeks to prepare for. I really wasn't sure we would make it. There was so much to do. Brochures were designed & drawn up, backdrops architected and printed, boxes of business cards were ordered arrived by courier and a myriad of other essentials were procured. We were running our very first tradeshow booth. Being primarily an online company, I didn't realize until this
Construction Scheduling Software – How To Get The Most Out Of Your Solution
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As a leader in your organization, one of the biggest mistakes that you can make in terms of construction scheduling software is focusing on a tool as JUST a time management solution. While having the right solution at your side can certainly help you make sure that a project finishes on time and on budget, the overall functionality of today's construction scheduling software runs a great deal
Project Controls Internships: 4 Go-To Resources To Find One
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You're trained on Primavera P6 and you're totally qualified for a project controller position. But wait... you need to come up with practical experience after all of those months and years of studying and training!? If you’re not sure how to get Project Controls experience I want to help you out. Let me tell you about Project Controls internships. I've found internships to be the best bet to
Accelerating a Construction Project & Direct Costs
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Accelerating a construction project seems pretty straightforward right? Work more, pay more, save time, right? Well that's pretty close, but not quite. In fact, without digging into this a bit more, you could easily work more, save time, pay A LOT more. Let me explain. When accelerating a construction project, it's pretty self-explanatory that the job's costs will be impacted by our decision to
How To Jump Start Your Career in Project Controls
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With competition and the need for innovation consistently increasing in construction, transportation, energy, architecture and related areas, project controllers are in demand more than ever. If you’re interested in a strategic leadership role that allows you to wear many hats, you can choose among a number of possible career paths to get into project controls. From there, you may even find a
15 LinkedIn Groups Every Project Controller Should Join
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The demands and how busy it can get being a Project Controller can make it difficult to keep up with the constant shifts in industry trends. Working in various environments and with numerous project types you might be wondering where you can find the latest news about a specific sector or who’s looking to hire a Project Controller. This is understandable and Social communities like LinkedIn can
7 Earned Value Management Formulas To Know For Project Controls
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As a project controls professional, one of the most important things to understand is that there are a huge number of different formulas that can make your life significantly easier on a daily basis -- provided that you know when, where and how to utilize them properly. Have you ever spent countless hours of your precious time trying to figure out if the value of the project you're working on is
Construction Project Acceleration Won Them Millions: How They Did It
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341,000 vehicles a day traveled that section of the Santa Monica Freeway, making it amongst the busiest stretches of freeway in the Unites States of 1994. When the Northridge earthquake struck in January, 2 bridges fell from the I-10 causing death and devastation and leaving the Calfornia Department of Transportation (CalTrans) in a major pickle. The closure of the highway was estimated to have
Top 6 Reasons How PMP Certification Will Advance Your Career
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Working in project management requires careful attention to detail, inexplicable hands-on training, and credibility. However, planners and schedulers in project management roles often find themselves unable to provide proof of their accomplishments beyond previous roles as project managers. To meet the growing demand for a streamlined, predictable means of ensuring a project manager’s
How To Prepare For Your Next Project Controls Job Interview
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You have made it past the initial grouping of applicants into the interview pool. However, preparing for a project management or project controls job interview does not have to be a nightmare. To help you organize your thoughts and get ready for the interview, follow these seven steps for preparing yourself and your work history. Organizing each of the following areas will help you be ready
Measuring Project Progress : 6 Methods You Should Know
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Accurately measuring the progress of a project is always a challenge. There are many factors to account for in a progress update - type of measurement, accuracy of the data, and the system of record are all important factor in accurate progress measurements. Software packages like Primavera P6 don't always help us out. Sure there a 3 choices for Percent Complete Types, but how to we decide
4 Steps To Get Your Team Up And Running With Primavera P6
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Are you about to roll out Primavera P6 to a large number of users? Getting Primavera P6 up and running is not always an easy task, especially from a people perspective. In order to seamlessly move to a new system you're going to have to consider your team, your projects and company goals. So, how exactly do you get your team up and running on Primavera P6? Here are 4 steps that you can
11 Killer Interview Questions For Hiring A Project Controller
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Hiring for any position is always risky business. There are no guarantees once the interview is over that the winning candidate can actually walk the talk and perform up to your needs. From a project controls standpoint, are you hiring people that can walk-in and get up and running quickly? Do they know the software inside and out? Are you certain they have the skills and procedural project
4 Tactics To Understand A Schedule You Didn’t Build
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You stepped into work today and were suddenly whisked away to a meeting, only to hear that you will be taking over full responsibility for someone else’s project plan and schedule. Whether you like it or not you will have to tackle understanding this new schedule. So what now!? Before you freak out in a quiet little corner, breathe and take the first steps of trying to understand as much as you
A Basic Overview Of Construction Submittals
Strolled into your office today to a desk buried under a stack of reports? Chances are they’re Construction submittals – samples of designs, shop drawings, diagrams, schedules, and material data that are delivered to an Architect, an Engineer or your client in general. Submittals are used as a tool to track the progress and materials being used, as well as making sure that everything is in
3 Up-and-Coming Project Scheduling Tools You May Not Know About
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Last week's Construction CPM Conference in San Diego was a big success! It was my first time attending (and presenting at, for that matter) the Construction CPM Conference, and boy am I glad I did. This is a unique conference that attracts CPM Scheduling pioneers, veterans and academic experts. It's a bit overwhelming if you're new to the field of schedule, but the level of the presentations is of
8 Steps Project Controls Professionals Must Take for a Killer LinkedIn Profile
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For years, LinkedIn was the ugly stepchild of Facebook … a little more professional, a little harder to use, a little less fun. In the last several years, however, LinkedIn has earned widespread recognition for its ability to bring professionals, such as project planners or project management experts, together in an environment unsullied by embarrassing photos or notes on what you ate for
How to Motivate and Inspire Others with Your Project Story
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I want to hear your story. I want to hear about how your schedule was a nightmare from the start - but you pulled through in the end; about how this one trick saved your butt in a crunch or even about how things went completely wrong and you would never DO THAT again. These are stories we ALL want to hear. We want to hear YOUR story about project controls, Primavera P6, your team's unique
A Go-To Guide to Building a Cringe-Worthy Primavera P6 Schedule
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The meeting had gone well. I was going to win some business and they were going to get complete Primavera P6 training for 10 schedulers. The day was looking up, until he asked me, as I was just about to head out the door, "Would you mind looking a schedule over for me? It should only take you a few minutes. We just hired a new scheduler and he put it together. I'd like your opinion on it."
6 Interview Must-Dos To Nail That Project Controls Job
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So you’ve spent a few weeks filling out applications and making phone calls, and finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for - you’ve just received a call for the job opportunity that you’ve had your eyes on. To increase your odds of landing the job, here are 6 must-dos that should be on the top of your priority list. 1. Do Your Research Make sure you know who you will be working with. Make
4 Reasons Users Might Refuse to Use Your Integrated Primavera P6 System
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I remember a gift I bought my parents once - a motorized corkscrew that promised to make opening a bottle of Chardonnay a cinch. When visiting once, I noticed it was tucked away at the back of a cupboard. I found out later it was used only twice. To my dismay, the pricey device had some fatal flaws - the button was too hard to press and hold. But the clincher was that it took about 65 seconds to
7 Ways to Grow Your Project Management Smarts
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Nov 7th is the 9th annual International Project Management Day. International Project Management Day is a day to be proud of working in project management and to recognize what project managers contribute to the world, one in which so much innovation and progress is due to projects. I just listened to an interview with Frank Saladis, the founder of International Project Management
Here’s A Quick Way To Keep Your Milestones in Focus in Primavera P6
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Milestone Activities in any schedule usually represent the most important deadlines, deliveries, start ups or drop-dead dates for a project. These are undeniably dates that you’ll want to stay on top of and keep close at hand in case you’re asked for a report or to check on the health of the project. But it can be difficult to search for milestones in a large construction schedule, and at the
