Despite improvements in planning methods companies are still struggling to complete projects on time and within budget. Dennis Comninos a specialist in construction and engineering project management talks about the pitfalls of poor planning and project management.
According to the KPMG 2015 Global Construction Survey only 31% of projects came within 10% of their budget and only 25% finished within 10% of their original deadlines.In other words, approximately 70% of projects are failing to deliver on their contracts.
“These statistics are despite an increase in financial screening, risk analysis, and improvements in planning methods and systems.”Comninos says such poor results stem from a failure to follow basic principles and practices.
However he admits that it is not uncommon for these principles to take a back seat when the day-to-day technical issues of construction begin to pour in.An increasing focus on the legalities of the project also undermine the importance of following sound principles.
“ The legal contract typically drives the process of project management and not basic best practices.”Comninos provides a breakdown of some of the key documents needed to implement best practice project management. These include:
• The Project Charter
• The Project Management Plan
• The Issue, Change and Risk logs
• Documented change instructions or variation orders
These documents are also important should an arbitration case arise.
