Views on Capital Project Management which may not be in text books
I think Site Managers have the most difficult job on capital projects
The people who do this have to multi-task constantly many issues eg labour relations, programming, safe systems of work, the weather and implementation of the CDM construction phase plan
EPCM contractors preferred to present project cost estimates one way but Clients preferred it another way
Project phases post-sanction should be minimised if possible
I found that EPCM Designers became so focussed on completing a phase that progress and attention with the following phases usually suffered
I found two types of capital projects the most challenging:
These issues needed to be managed and included in risk registers
Capex’s for production and productivity reasons, with clear business cases and financial paybacks, were a lot more straightforward
I regard the health and safety reporting of construction near misses by supervisors and the workforce to be the most significant cultural change in making sites safer
However complex the project, I found using the simple 9 box (likelihood versus impact} risk matrix more than adequate for use and presentation
My view of the Client’s perspective of capital project implementation changed during my career
When I worked for an EPCM Contractor, I thought that design was key to the success of the project. Get it right and the project will deliver.
I moved to a site and realised that from a Client’s perspective the “shop window” of an EPCM contractor’s competence was the construction progress and site safety.
This was especially true when Clients got involved with safety audits and near miss reporting
Also when nearing construction completion, the Client is lining up his commissioning team. These extra resources then see delays occuring due to deficiencies in design and procurement.
I have the greatest respect for Process Engineers.
For process plants, they are at the top of the design pyramid with a huge responsibility to get things right first time.
Good ones present process designs which pass the scrutiny of detail design development and commissioning
Process design however covers a huge field (to me anything with flow, temperature and pressure). Sometimes it was sensible to bring in specialists from vendors to work with them in peripheral areas of their technology such as HVAC
Procurement skills are often overlooked in project management and project engineering training and job recognition
Over the years the size of contractor compounds (welfare and office facilities) seems to have grown exponentially
This has greatly improved the health and safety of workers which I fully support and probably helps Site Managers
However sometimes they seem excessive, under utilised and difficult to find space for