In the complex capital construction projects common in the utility space, thin margins, workforce challenges and inconsistent project management tools often mean that what can go wrong, does go wrong – including challenges with delivering projects on time and on budget.
Centralised project controls systems offer a durable solution, delivering the ongoing predictability, scalability, and innovation utilities need to stay competitive.
A new guide offers insights from industry experts using standardised approaches in their own complex organisations.
InEight Executive Vice President of Industry Engagement, Rick Deans, spoke with capital construction leaders, including Kiewit Industrial Vice President, Justin Terminella and Ledcor Vice President, Rod Wales, to learn how they used advanced project controls practices.
They provided three key lessons from their work.
Consistency delivers efficiency
As projects grow in size and complexity, a major advantage of standardisation is the reduction of variability across projects.
In construction, different teams often use different methods for estimating costs, managing schedules, or tracking progress, which can lead to misunderstandings or delays.
With a consistent approach and vocabulary, teams can more easily track progress, make decisions, and move from project to project.
Mr Wales said, “We move people around a lot now, and that’s really in response to mega projects.
“When everyone from senior leadership to project teams on the ground uses the same terms and information structures, it eliminates ambiguity and confusion.”
Get quantities absolutely right
Managing precise quantities and maintaining rigorous quality standards create a structured, efficient workflow that minimises risks and maximises project outcomes.
At Kiewit, one of the foundational elements of any construction project is quantity management.
Mr Terminella said, “Maybe the most important thing that we’ve recognised over time, specifically on the forecasting side, is everything that we do in our business revolves around the quantities.
“Quantities drive our scope of work and are integral to how we update or progress our schedule. Fundamentally, if your quantities in scope are wrong, your forecast is inherently going to be wrong as well.”
Learn to scale and share knowledge
The risk of systems breaking down increases if processes and software are not scalable and standardised.
Whether managing larger teams, coordinating across various disciplines, or handling more intricate project data, standardised processes provide the backbone for scalability. Standardisation also enhances knowledge transfer between teams, allowing for best practices and lessons learned to be captured, and applied consistently across multiple projects.
Managing and sharing knowledge also requires discernment.
“We can give them lots of information, but if it’s not useful to them, it’s of little value,” Mr Wales said.
“We try to filter out what information the business needs and find that appropriate level of detail, because if you’re overwhelmed with data, it’s not much good to you.”
Shared knowledge helps teams avoid making the same mistakes, improves efficiency, and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.
“It’s important to not make the same mistakes you’re making today on new jobs,” Mr Terminella said.
To learn more about integrated construction project controls, visit ineight.com
