Project Control for Engineering

For engineering control, a task force organization is the most efficient for the larger projects while a strong matrix management approach is more practical for smaller projects. The project control system must be designed to control both work and cost. The system must encompass planning, scheduling, monitoring, reporting and analysis, forecasting, and historical data collection. Subsystems within the total system must be available to track procurement activity and to generate and maintain equipment lists, instrument lists, and other summaries associated with design engineering work. The design of the system should be based on the principle of integrated project control, and be flexible enough to handle large and small projects while also responding to special client needs. The entire professional staff of the engineering organization must be committed to and support project control and be trained in the operation of the company’s system. An effective project control system will require the establishment of a formal project controls organization. Approximately 8% or more of the costs budgeted for an engineering project should be allocated for project control to be effective. This may seem high, but the potential cost and time savings far outweigh the cost of establishing and maintaining that system.

RS6-1, Progress Measurement Systems

The determination of percentage completion on a single activity can usually be handled under one of four systems presented in Appendix A.

• Units Completed
• Incremental Milestone
• Start/Finish Percentages
• Ratio or Judgment