Managing Projects

Question 1

The role of a project manager

Answer 1

To manage the project team and drive the successful completion of the projects and its objectives.
Adopt client procedures and impose these on contractors, i.e certain payment notices or quality procedures

Question 2

Project Objectives

Answer 2

Quality as set out in the Employer’s Requirements
Time and Cost as per the contract

Question 3

Project Teams

Answer 3

Stakeholder Identification: Anybody who has an interest in the project.
R: Responsible.
A: Accountable. The decision makers
C: Consult. The go to person for an opinion
I: Inform

Question 4

Value Management Vs Value Engineering

Answer 4

Value Management: Proactive and conceptual. Its benefits are maximised at the beginning of a project but are experienced throughout construction.

Value Engineering: is reactive, specific and immediately practical. Benefits are mostly during construction in response to important change. Such as technological advances, supply chain problems, unforseen material cost increases.

Question 5

How to implement a change control process

Why a robust one?

Answer 5

1) Identify the need for change
2) Design solution explored
3) Cost impact evaluation
4) Report to client
5) If rejected, design solution revisited
6) If accepted, pm action to instruct the change

Robust procedure required to ensure all contractual changes are reviewed and approved with client knowledge.

Question 6

Risk Management Techniques

Answer 6

Avoidance
Acceptance
Reduction

Question 7

Avoidance?

Answer 7

Looking for ways to avoid risk from happening or recurring. Involves taking steps to remove a hazard, engage in alternative activity or otherwise end a specific exposure to the risk. Avoids any exposure to the risk whatsoever, expensive strategy.

Question 8

Acceptance?

Answer 8

Unable to avoid, transfer or reduce the risk. Take the responsibility and absorb it. When the cost of other risk management options outweigh the costs of the risk itself.

Question 9

Reduction?

Answer 9

Implement measures or management practices in place to reduce the chance of it happening.

Question 10

RIBA Stage 4

Answer 10

Technical Design
- Fully coordinated services, structure and architecture
- Fully detailed
- Specialist subcontractor design & spec

Question 11

ISO 9001

Answer 11

A certified quality management system for organisations who want to prove their ability to provide products and services that meet the needs of their customer and other relevant stakeholder

Question 12

What’s in a PEP?

Answer 12

• Project overview
• Project programme
• Project organisation
• Control procedures
• Stakeholder management
• Communication strategy
• H&S strategy
• Quality assurnance approach
• Commissioning / handover strategy

Question 13

What is a project Audit?

Answer 13

An opportunity to review project challenges, risks and processes.
Reflect on whether the project is still meeting core objectives

Question 14

What is value engineering

Answer 14

Method to eliminate any unnecessary costs and/or increase the value of a specification or product
Could be related to design, specification or cost

Question 15

Benefits of value engineering

Answer 15

Improved performance
Identification of alternative designs or solutions
Reduced costs
Added value

Question 16

Risks associated with value engineering

Answer 16

• Becomes detached from value management
• Undertaken too late to be effective
• Inadequate information causing incorrect assumptions
• Insufficient participation by stakeholder
• Insufficient time allocated for the process
  Unknown knock on effects to other elements of the design
• Reduced ability to meet project brief
• Reduced design performance

Question 17

Value Management?

Answer 17

Overall concept of managing the balance between benefits and costs throughout the project.
Clearly defining a client’s strategic objectives
Considering optimum solutions
Deciding which provides the optimum lifetime value to the client
Includes value engineering as part of the process

Question 18

When would you implement a change control process and what would you do?

Answer 18

Usually from RIBA 3 when the project brief is fixed.
1) Identify the need for change using a form
2) Design solution is explored
3) Cost impact evaluation
4) Report to client
5) If rejected, design solution revisted
6) If accepted, project management action to instruct the change.

Question 19

Why is a robust change procedure essential?

Answer 19

To ensure approved information is not changes with the expressed permission of the client.

Question 20

PID?

Answer 20

Project Initiation Document
Suite of documents that a PM needs to help the client develop the project at early stages.
- Brief
- Business Plan
- Issues Log
- Governance Strategy
- Control Procedure
- Procurement Strategy
- Financial Management
- BIM Protocols
- Quality Assurance
- Data Management
- H&S Protocols

Question 21

PID Into PEP

Answer 21

Project Initiation Document into a Project Execution Plan.
Once client approves the PIP it turns into the PEP, the transition gives the client opportunity to make decisions
More developed suite of documents as further information provided.
PM Reports on the progress of these.
PEP is a document describing how, when and who a specific target is achieved.

Targets include:
- products
- timescales
- costs
- quality
- benefits

Question 22

Risk management?

Answer 22

The identification, assessment and prioritisation of risks followed by coordinated and economical application of resources to minimise, monitor and control the probability impact of the risk.

Question 23

Where can risk occur?

Answer 23

Time, cost, quality, legal, H&S, Environmental

Question 24

What is value engineering?

Answer 24

Techniques relating to achieving value. The earliest used the better.

Question 25

What is value?

Answer 25

What is worth to the client in financial, operational and functional.

Question 26

Value Management?

Answer 26

Improving and sustaining a desirable balance between the wants and needs of stakeholders and the resources to do so.

Question 27

What’s a project audit?

Answer 27

Opportunity to review parts of the project. The systematic activity of examining and analysing a project to identify issues, concerns, risks, challenges, Once completed the project manager can advise.

Question 28

What are audits compared against?

Answer 28

Usually an assessment against success of performance criteria. KPIS used as a benchmark.
KPS should be SMART. Specific, measurable, achievable, recorded and timely.

Question 29

Similarities of VE & VM

Answer 29

1. Information gathering
2. Creative thinking
3. Analysis
4. Devlopment
5. Presentation

Question 30

VM Vs VE

Answer 30

Value Management: Proactive. Develops guiding principles for planning and design. Developing proposals to enhance value at
Value Engineering: Reactive