A key part of Pathfinder’s service offerings is conducting project reviews for projects in the front-end planning and/or execution phases. One of the concerning trends we are observing is the misalignment of the overall project control approach for any given project. The owner’s desired contractor responsibilities/requirements are not being communicated clearly by the owners in their respective RFPs and, eventually, do not end up being included in the contract.
This issue is often initiated by the owner’s lack of respect for the Project Control Plan and how it is integrated into the overall Project Execution Plan (PEP). This results in a disconnect between the project control needs and the contracting strategy, which leaves unanswered questions, such as: who is responsible for what role, what project control approach will be used, what tools will be implemented, what the cadence for status reporting will be, etc.
Often, owner and contractor teams recognize this lack of alignment at the contract kick-off meeting held after project award. However, this kick-off meeting is likely the 3rd or 4th time the requirements have been discussed (RFP clarification meeting, proposal development meeting, proposal reviews meeting, etc.), with no one previously discovering the issue. This alignment is required during the bidding process and by waiting until after contract award, the owner and contractor are setting themselves up for early project execution changes, project status disputes, owner/contractor confrontation and potential claims.
The owner project control plan should include the following items, which then should be transferred into the RFP, clearly defining what the contractor is going to be held responsible for during project execution:
The contractor needs to understand these mandatory project control steps and deliverables and include provisions in their proposal to meet these requirements. The owner needs to review and test the contractor’s ability to meet the defined requirements as part of the bid evaluation process.
Although this seems to be such a simple step, we see many project teams assume that the owner and contractors are aligned, only to soon find out they are not, and the project damage may be done by the time of recognition. Take the time to build this alignment prior to contract award, and your projects will benefit from your efforts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Cabano
Steve is President/Chief Operating Officer for Pathfinder, LLC and has over 30 years of direct Project Management experience for Owner, Contractor, and Government clients in various industries.
slcabano@pathfinderinc.com
856-424-7100 x122
