Preparing for Change Professionally and Systematically

Changes are inevitable on construction and engineering projects. The priority is to avoid or reduce any negative impact.

Uncertainties make construction projects dynamic and variable, mostly by creating non value-adding changes to construction processes. When a project is progressed without proper planning, those changes can cause disruption, which can lead to critical delays. Changes need to be dealt with in a systematic manner and should be monitored and appraised for any potential or actual impact on the project, from both a time and cost perspective.

Critical Path can work with your team to help ensure a systematic Change Management process is established and maintained throughout the project. This is highly dependent on the quality of the project programmes and on the progress information that is available.

We provide guidance on how to establish appropriate record keeping systems, which enable accurate progress data and change event information to be recorded. We then use this to track project progress and performance and assist in the settlement of potential claims. Please see the paper “Record Keeping for Contemporaneous Delay Analysis” for further information.

We can also independently monitor the project on your behalf, identifying the cause and effect of specific change events, and produce revised update programmes reflecting the changes to the planned design and construction processes. Using our Forensic Planning experience and a range of techniques such as project forecasting, probability analysis and ‘what if’ testing, we can also produce mitigation strategies, which minimise the negative impact of change.

The efficiency with which these services can be delivered is directly related to the quality of the Project Controls in place. Critical Path offers vast experience and expertise in the effective implementation of such systems. Please see our Project Control Services for further information.