Projects, and project delivery, continue to become more complex across multiple dimensions. Perhaps the most complex and challenging aspect of project delivery is the one that we have been dealing with the longest – the human factor. Project delivery is a social activity, and our success largely depends on our ability to understand and navigate the complexity of human behaviors and relationships. Drawing on lessons from the history of our evolution as social beings, and those offered by more recent insights in behavioral economics, this presentation will explore the human factor and offer strategies for project controls professionals to better understand and manage the social dimensions of projects and to embrace the human complexity inherent in project delivery.

The aftermath of Covid 19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other factors have all contributed to the almost unprecedented levels of cost escalation being experienced globally. It a challenge for those who developing infrastructure projects how best to deal with escalating prices and situations in which contractors may be refusing to adhere to fixed price bids so often favored by owners, looking to secure a price within their budgetary constraints. This presentation shows a 1-10 MM claim between owner and contractor to define a fair cost escalation for a 100 Million FIDIC Project and how the author, as a hired Subject Matter Expert Consultant, present technical fact to find a fair solution. Contractors want to remain competitive while at the same time protecting themselves in an inflationary market, struggling to hold prices for a period of time... but, what happen if this period of time is more than the expected?, what would be the base date?, what would be the best price adjustment formula for maintain the rules and benefits for the parties?, please share with us on this technical presentation and know more about it.

The Modernize and Innovate the Delivery of Agricultural Systems (MIDAS) project was an IT modernization project run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (USDA FSA). In 2015, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducted its third audit of the project, concluding that MIDAS’s poor project performance was directly attributable to inadequate project controls, including Schedule Management. FSA Leadership was highly motivated to remedy the programmatic deficiencies. Despite initial resistance to implementing new project controls strategies, a Schedule Management process based on industry best practices yielded measurable improvements to the project’s performance and the project team’s quality of life.

This presentation will explore how SmartPM’s automated project controls and schedule analytics platform aid construction stakeholders in overcoming challenges that lead to overruns, delays, and disputes. With its in-depth analysis, SmartPM simplifies traditionally labor-intensive analytic processes, boosting efficiencies by up to 50x for its clients. Explore compelling case studies from SmartPM’s clientele, highlighting the game-changing benefits of schedule-based project controls on global projects. Leveraging SmartPM’s advanced technology has not only enhanced operational efficiencies and reduced costs but also fostered constructive project conversations, anchoring project success.

Construction contracts typically require the use of a Critical Path Method (CPM) schedule. Oftentimes, schedule specifications contain prescriptive language regarding the forecasted completion date during the updating process and what is required of the contractor if the project falls behind schedule. The referenced contract language can make it challenging for a contractor to pursue lost time or prove delays that are the responsibility of its own, as there are ramifications if the contractor were to reflect a late completion date in the schedule submission to the owner. When performing schedule updates contemporaneously, implementation of AACE’s MIP 3.4 or the half-step methodology can be of benefit to the project team. The half-step methodology allows the project team to better understand the overall impact of delays as they occur, while still keeping the door open for recovery of delays that were mitigated, in order to comply with the contract requirements.

In this presentation, we highlight the significant advantages of the recent advancement of digital data and centralized solutions in the realm of Program Controls. We are clarifying that more than data alone is needed to provide the maximum insights to decision-makers. This is primarily due to the lack of data alignment. The integrated solution seeks to glean intelligence from data flexibly and efficiently and translate that into data-driven decisions that enable successful delivery. The main philosophy is to create harmonization for more actionable data. We are shifting away from connecting various systems to develop PMIS that relies on individual capabilities to implementing a single source of truth. In this case study, we will review the theory and the implementation process of the Controls Engine on one of the major programs on the US East Coast.

3 practical solutions to improve the adoption of Earned Value Management (EVM) within any organization. This presentation will cover three different tried and proven practices K2 has used with its clients to improve the adoption of EVM within organizations. The presentation covers real world applications K2 Consulting has seen make the biggest impact in organizations looking to improve project controls practices. We will walk through our approach to training on EVM that increases retention, technology solutions that facilitate good EVM, and an approach to how leverage ongoing support can accelerate the adoption of EVM best practices within any organization. Attending this presentation will show you how to go from aspirational best practices to seeing a return on investment based on real world application.

Using BIM to integrate and interrogate data while avoiding data gaps and improving predictability and performance Developing an Asset Breakdown Structure and linking this to a scope description, program schedule and developing a controlling structure Reviewing the benefits that can be expected to your current processes and also next steps when gaps between emerging design and working estimate and schedule are revealed

This presentation explores global warming's current challenges and construction's role in the generation of greenhouse gases; construction generates around 40% of global carbon emissions. Construction contributes to this through material production and usage, transportation, and building operation. However, the sector holds potential to cut emissions significantly, beginning with precise measurement. Estimating cost and carbon together offers significant benefits. Firstly, it pinpoints areas for emission reduction. Robust measurements identify major carbon sources in projects, enabling strategy development for their reduction. Secondly, estimating costs and carbon emissions together provides us with the “trade-space” identifying areas where we can save money by reducing energy consumption, selecting more energy-efficient materials, utilise modern methods of construction and sustainable transportation methods.

Teknobuilt's revolutionary digital block-based unified platform PACE OS is driving enhanced predictability, helping expedite critical workflows, and establish effective project execution control. The digitization through blocks of interrelated data de-risks the project from escalation of issues and potential domino effect by dealing at the source of any potential problem. Organizing the projects in digital blocks where every block focuses on a specific scope of work has huge impact on the efficiency of delivery reducing the conditions of variability. The platform seamlessly aligns engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction sequencing for digital blocks. Various standard an d legacy systems data is made online to bring real-time visibility to all stakeholders. Coordination and collaboration between various remot e teams are seamless through the right context provided by digital connectivity. The industry-first Digital Control Tower provides actionable analytics to team leads for detecting feasibilities way earlier than was possi ble before and allows effective mitigation of issues proactively.

In recent years, buzzwords such as “Machine Learning” and “Artificial Intelligence” have made their way into the cost community's vocabulary. While data science concepts such as these certainly advance the cost estimating field, their significance and impact are lost when analysts are not familiar with fundamental programming principles or equipped with basic coding skills. This presentation aims to demystify and compare commonly used programming languages such as R and Python, with the purpose of helping analysts who wish to develop coding expertise but don't know where to begin. By making programming languages more accessible and comprehensible, this presentation likewise aims to increase their utilization, subsequently accelerating the learning curve towards advanced data analytics skill set development. Ultimately, it is the presenter's belief that “cracking the code” on core programming competencies can lead to improved cost estimating deliverables in the form of probabilistic models, multidimensional databases, and end-user dashboards for stakeholders.

This study will unveil more than fifty previously unpublished simple and learning-augmented cost estimating relationships for common construction materials and equipment. These relationships and other data allow us to investigate the hypothesis that the error distribution of conventional building components follow a skew exponential power distribution rather than the lognormal one usually applied to defense estimates. We also examine whether backcasting to the intercept can isolate approximate labor cost underlying composite expense data. This paper shares those relationships in the hope of expediting cost estimating from the ground-up. Keywords: Parametric Estimation, Machine Learning, Construction, Infrastructure, Program Management, Operations Research, Defense

Successful projects must deliver better economic, social, and environmental outcomes. As project controls professionals, measuring, managing, and improving these outcomes over the entire project life cycle is important. Data, digitalization, and standards can be our allies in delivering these outcomes. In this presentation, results from the RICS Digitalization in construction report 2023 and RICS WBEF Industry white paper on the Role of Data and Digital Tools for QS and cost management will be used to articulate this important issue from a project controls perspective.

A fully integrated project controls effort through seven phases of the project will dramatically improve the opportunity for successful on-time and on-budget completion of any project, using any project delivery method. Arcadis sees five design-related phases, pre-project, schematic design, detailed design, construction documents, tender/bid documents, and two final phases, construction and post construction. In a successful implementation, there are discipline-specific services required during each phase producing deliverables. These services are iterative, building as the scope definition builds from conceptual to 100% scope development, and when the design phase services are provided, construction and post-construction phases are able to proceed in an organized and professional manner. This session will lead the attendees through the seven phases, identifying the need for the discipline-specific services in each phase, but strongly focused on risk and value management. As the needs are identified and explained, the benefits of each service will be discussed. At the end of this discussion, the attendees should have a clear understanding how to implement the integrated project controls process and particularly how risk and value management are woven into all the disciplines.

How can you leverage Technology in a powerful way to build trust, collaboration and success in project controls? Rich will discuss the importance of building a common data environment, strengthening collaboration across teams, and visualizing data to make informed decisions to advance the business.

Technology innovations are rapidly changing how we work, play, and live. This presentation will highlight innovative technologies for construction-related programs, with examples such as spatial-temporal schedules, AI, and predictive analytics. Discover how the Oracle Industries Lab connects Oracle customers, technologists, and partners to deliver innovative solutions for real-world industry challenges. Geographically visualize the planning and scheduling process to quickly identify risks, clearly communicate progress, and predict potential location-based issues. Use predictive analytics to improve safety on projects to mitigate injuries, as well as improve performance and unwanted downtime.

This Safran Risk presentation and demo will cover the functionality and capabilities of Quantitative Risk Analysis at various cycles of a project, and it will demonstrate that it's never a singular problem statement but often several, raised from many different internal and external stakeholders.

Data Science has taken on an expanded presence in the Cost Analysis Field. For example, Artificial intelligence, in the form of NLP, is used to automate functional software sizing in commercial models. ChatGPT can be used to write software code, develop statements, and work, and also serve as virtual assistant. presentation will present an overview of modern usages of data science, to include Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and data visualization. We will also survey current open-source cost and budget data sources which are publicly available and ripe for analysis using data science methods.

Omega started developing software solutions for the energy sector over 30 years ago. This led to the Pims product suite used successfully around the world. Recently the learnings from these 30 years was employed to develop a new, fully integrated system for management of projects and this has been successfully used in the construction sector for hospitals, government buildings, roads, rail, data centers and even fish farming. This presentation will include a live demonstration of a fully integrated system that covers every major project controls discipline including cost management, document control, risk, completions, interactive and live digital twin.

Some large projects involving repeated activities can be partitioned into locations, zones or units. From scheduling point of view, such project resembles production of a set of somewhat similar products in a manufacturing unit. A scheduling method known as Line of Balance method was initially developed for production scheduling in manufacturing environment and later adopted for project scheduling. Finite Capacity Scheduling and Advanced Production Scheduling are two powerful methods for scheduling production of a set of products in complex manufacturing units known as job shops but they are mostly unknown to project management world. These two scheduling approaches are superior to CPM for scheduling projects with repeated activities and bring all advantages of location-based scheduling. This paper discusses their applicability and benefits to construction projects.

GAO’s work helps federal agencies better manage multiple aspects of programs to help ensure they meet their goals. We have issued best practices guides on cost, schedule, agile software development, and technology readiness. These guides are directed towards auditors in GAO and other government agencies, agency officials responsible for developing agency policies, and program managers at agencies that do not have their own policies for these topics. Users rely on the guides to (1) promote the development of reliable schedule and cost estimates so that programs are more likely to be completed on time and on budget, and (2) help assess the maturity of technologies to determine whether and when a system is likely to work as intended.

This paper discusses the practical importance of cost and schedule certainty in capital project delivery. With the construction industry forecasted to grow significantly in the coming years, it is critical to improve cost and schedule certainty to meet the demands of owners, contractors, and end-users. The paper argues that adopting modern software platforms and improving planning protocols can help achieve greater cost and schedule certainty. By eliminating excel spreadsheets and replacing them with a common data environment, all project participants can collaborate and access data in real-time, creating a single source of truth for project data. This approach can improve project predictability and repeatability, reduce overhead costs, and improve margins. The paper also highlights Pivotal, a cutting-edge software solution that combines cost and schedule disciplines in a single source of truth, providing an alternative to legacy software and excel spreadsheets. By adopting these modern software platforms and planning protocols, the construction industry can create a more efficient and sustainable industry that meets the needs of all stakeholders.

Project Controls deployment is key for project success. Traditional project controls can be perceived as backwards looking and focused on determining variances after the fact; however, new tools are now being used to supplement these traditional project controls tools and make them forward looking. This presentation will focus on our approach to implement Lean Construction tools to enhance the Project Controls process.

Are you considering implementing an Earned Value Management System (EVMS) tool for your project control needs, or have a new EVM requirement for the first time and unsure how to setup your system to deliver? Join our Government Contracting Industry Professionals as they explore the many factors involved during an EVM implementation and the advantages it provides with or without an EVM contractual requirement. We will cover handling legacy data on existing projects that need to be analyzed, prepped, migrated, and reconciled; discuss continuity while executing current projects during setup and testing, as well as new project setup considerations; and present lessons learned along with change-management strategies to help ensure your new implementation goes smoothly. After this session, participants will be able to: - Review a high-level roadmap for successful implementation - Identify data requirements to efficiently setup projects - Analyze differences in approach to existing project migration versus new projects

The purpose of this presentation is to initiate a dialogue about an often overlooked aspect of project controls. The critical path of a schedule, which is the backbone of project schedule analysis, is well-defined and has a foundation in time. However, in addition to identifying and monitoring the time-based critical path, it is crucial to analyze the logic paths that consume significant project resources. While some logic paths may not be critical from a time management standpoint, they can still have a substantial impact on a project's financial performance. For example, a logic path that accounts for over 50% of a project's cost may not be time-critical but could still require close monitoring to ensure successful project delivery. Therefore, it is essential to identify and monitor the "most labor manhours critical path" separately from the conventional critical path. The author aims to present and discuss this concept of the most labor manhours critical path to provide practitioners with the necessary terminology to describe the path that contains the most direct labor manhours. Additionally, this presentation intends to answer the question of whether this topic should be considered time management, cost management, or a hybrid of both.

Performing a Schedule Risk Assessment (SRA) requires convergence of open discussions, relevant data, threat analysis, and contingency planning. Traditional approaches to Risk Assessment require a sound process and capable software. Process and systems maturity can be learned, purchased, practiced, and implemented. The cultural maturity required for an SRA can be much more ambiguous to establish and may potentially undermine the entire exercise. A transparent culture capable of Risk and Opportunity communication, documentation, mitigation, and closure is essential or the quality and predictability of the SRA may be compromised. In this session, we will discuss Operational vs Cultural maturity, define key attributes of a successful Risk-appreciative culture, and outline a framework for assessing cultural readiness for comprehensive Risk Management. Additionally, we will highlight tangible positive and negative indicators of true cultural Risk maturity, citing real-life examples. We expect this presentation to involve lively discussion as we, together, bring clarity to this underdiscussed aspect of quality SRA execution.

This session will provide the roadmap of a project control engineer from hiring to graduation as a specialist employee in project controls. The paper will start by demonstrating the graduate engineer development in PDO, the set of skills needed, formal training courses, self-study and ongoing research, and Regular assessment of skills and will end by concluding the importance of projects services young professional development.

Implementing Project Controls in many organizations can be challenging. This case study will discuss key challenge areas along with approaches to overcome those barriers. Specific focus areas include defining the Project Controls framework, securing executive management endorsement, establishing the governance platform, defining the processes, implementing the tools, right-sizing the Project Controls team and implementing across the organization.

Change management is a crucial component to project controls but how can you ensure you are maximizing its value? Contruent CCO Karl Vantine will go in-depth on the benefits of change management and the difference between basic change management and advanced change managamnet and its necessity to an organization.

Digital transformation has become a hot topic across all industries as companies aim to stay competitive in the ever-evolving technology landscape. In this session, Steven Ciancio, Project Controls Director of Chemex, and AJ Waters, Vice President of Industry Solutions at InEight, share their experiences on effectively securing buy-in and successful adoption of new technology. It all starts with the people and properly introducing a culture of transformation while leveraging technology as the catalyst. Even so, as the saying goes you must also burn the ships of the past and continue looking forward. Understand why disparate systems, pointed solutions, and spreadsheets used as the glue to get the job done is no longer the way of doing work. Learn about the importance of everyone's role in creating a digital transformation culture that drives innovation and a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

"Airing Dirty Laundry - A Cleaner Approach to Tracking Delays" suggests that when updating a schedule, best practice deliverables included within a monthly narrative are an effective way to track changes, earned value, milestones and historical data. However, these deliverables only tell part of the story, will your schedule source file speak for itself as a stand alone document? Consider a new collabrative way to track delays.