Responsibilities Project Planning Scope Development

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Purpose

Scope

Responsibilities

Project Planning

Scope Development

Execution and Procurement Strategy

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

Project Durations and Milestones

Schedule Development

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Scheduling Tools

Hierarchy of Schedules

Program and Project Summary Schedules

Integrated Master Schedule

Contractor and Consultants Detailed Schedules

Cost/Budget Integration

Schedule Risk Analysis

Schedule Contingency

Interface Scheduling

Schedule Review and Coordination

Earned Value Management

Performance Measurement Baselines

Schedule Review and Coordination

Performance Measurement Baseline Approval

Setting Up and Communication of Performance Measurement Baseline Schedule

Schedule Monitoring, Analysis and Control

Integrated Master Schedule

Master Schedule Updates

Schedule Analysis & Trends

Changes to Integrated Master Schedule

Schedule Coordination and Communication

Design Consultant(s) Schedules

Contractor(s) Schedules

Pre-Contract Stage

Schedules and Milestones for Request for Proposals

Schedule Specifications && Requirements

Contractor Work Breakdown Structure & Coding

Post-Contract Stage

Contract Baseline Schedule

Regular Schedule Updates

Schedule Analysis and Trends

Contract Changes & Claims

Contract Time Extension

Contract Closing

Lessons Learned

Primavera P6 Databases Management

Schedule Management Plan

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to set out a plan for managing the schedule for the Rapid Transit Implementation Program.

Scope

The Schedule Management Plan identifies the plan, processes and procedures involved in dealing with the time management aspect of the Rapid Transit Implementation Project (RTI) after the initiation stage and until the closing out stage of the projects.

Responsibilities

The RTI Scheduling Team has been set up to provide centralized and specialized scheduling services in managing the time aspect of the RTI Program. The scheduling team work with the stakeholders involved in developing, maintaining and updating the master schedules and work closely with the program and project managers in managing the contractors and consultants in terms of the time aspect. All the program managers, project managers and the project team members are required to liaise with the schedule team for the program and project scheduling issues. This section identifies the responsibilities of the personnel involved in the RTI time management:

Senior Project Planner(s)

Preparing the WBS specific to the Schedule.

Preparation, updating and maintenance of the master schedules for the RTI projects

Coordinate with the cost team in gathering budgets, cost, invoice data required for the schedules

Coordinating with the stakeholders and project teams in gathering the schedule updates and issues regularly

Assisting in the development of procedures associated with time management

Coordinating with the project team members and providing necessary scheduling assistance to the project manager and project team member as necessary

Prepare look ahead schedules and communicate to the project team members on regular basis

Monitoring the design, procurement and construction schedules on regular basis and provide suggestions for improvement

Review contractor(s) and consultant(s) baseline schedules and recommend appropriate action to be taken with comments. The schedulers also required to work with the project managers in concluding the baseline as soon as possible in accordance with the contract requirements

Reviewing progress updates submitted by the Consultant and Contractor, generate and forward comments and work with the project manager in finalizing the regular updates

Monitor the progress against the baselines schedules and highlight variances, necessary actions and mitigation required

Initiating and participating on schedule meetings with the project team, consultants and contractors pertaining to schedules, progress review and other issues

Review change requests and claims from the contractors and consultant and advise necessary action

Review extension of time requests, assess impact of claims and provide recommendations

Carry out contract duration analysis and advise on contract durations and milestones based on the master schedule and interface requirements

All the Senior Scheduler and scheduler will report to the Manager, Scheduling.

Manager, Scheduling

Responsible for managing and leading the scheduling effort for the Rapid Transit Implementation Program and Projects, this include setting up and maintenance of the integrated master schedule(s), evaluation and recommendation of baselines and schedule updates from the contractor/consultants, evaluation and recommendation of time impacts, providing analysis and early warnings on schedule issues and preparation of performance reports.

Senior Manager, Program Controls

Responsible for ensuring and implementing the Program Controls function in accordance with the project controls plan. Providing assistance to the RTI Program Management Team and RTI Project Managers in implementing project controls. Provide leadership, support and guidance to the scheduling team where required.

Director, Program Management

Responsible for ensuring contract compliance and delivery of the Program and providing leadership, support and guidance to the Program Controls Team. One of the authority involved in approving the master schedule baseline schedules, revised schedules, contract durations and milestones, program changes and contract changes.

Director, Engineering & Construction

Responsible for ensuring contract compliance and delivery of the Program and providing leadership, support and guidance to the Program Controls Team. One of the authority involved in approving the master schedule baseline schedules, revised schedules, contract durations and milestones, program changes and contract changes.

Senior Advisor, Program Management

Responsible for assisting and advising in managing the development, implementation, maintenance and oversight of RTI Program Controls

The Manager, Cost Controls and WBS Element Project Manager is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage the WBS elements (Control and Cost Accounts) as defined by FTA SCC and Location

Coordinating with the scheduling team in incorporating the program work breakdown structure and or cost coding structure in the integrated master schedule

Coordinating in the implementation of earned value management systems and maintaining consistency in the progress of work and the actual cost

Coordinating and verifying the right budget allocation for different WBS elements and work packages as required.

The Manager, Change/Estimating is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage and maintain the Program Change Management System. Administering the estimating services as required

Providing the budgets and quantities as required for the schedule loading

The Manager, Contract Administration is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage and maintain the Contract Administration policies and procedures.

Identifying validity of a change or claim from the contractor prior issuing for time impact analysis or coat impact analysis

Coordinating the contract time related issues with the scheduling team including evaluation of request for quotations for time pacts

The Manager, Systems Integration is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage and maintain the Controls Tools. Acting as the primary interface with Metrolinx Information Technology

The Manager, Program Risk is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage and maintain the Risk Management Processes including the Program Risk Log.

The Manager, Reporting is responsible for:

RTI Controls representative assigned to manage and maintain the Program Monthly and Quarterly Progress Reporting. Primary interface with the Metrolinx Communications Team

The Program and Project Managers

The program and project managers are responsible for managing the projects or the contracts assigned to them and they liaise with the scheduling team in managing the projects and the contracts

AFP Procurement Team

AFP Procurement team responsible for coordinating the AFP contractors procurement process and would liaise with the scheduling team for scheduling issues related

The Sub Organizations and Construction Management Contractors are responsible for:

Ensuring RTI Program controls requirements are implemented in accordance with the RTI Program Controls Plan and referenced procedures, tools, and processes. This includes establishing adherence to the requirements under the Program Controls Plan as a requirement in all Primary (Tier -1) Contracts with flow down clauses to lower tiers.

Project Planning

Scope Development

Before a valid schedule can be created an understanding of the work scope is necessary. The early step in understanding the scope is to review the project scope definition or the project charter documents. As part of understanding the scope the schedulers should gather relevant data and documentation (e.g. Project charter, Project Definition Reports, studies, authorizing documents etc.) to gain better understanding of project scope.

In some instances, during the early stage of the projects, there may not be clear understanding of the scope or documents defining the scope. If necessary data or documentation has not been developed, the schedulers should participate in the development of these documents.

The approved statement of work needs to be communicated clearly to all the project personnel to have same understanding across the project team. This is critical for the development of an accurate and useable schedule for the projects.

It is critical to identify all the scope and plan for this scope of work in early stages of the project; this would help reducing the potential conflicts and changes during the project implementation and thereby reducing the schedule and cost overruns.

Execution and Procurement Strategy

An execution strategy is essential for a good schedule to avoid major changes in future. This includes dividing the program or project into several manageable segments and defining the procurement strategy which would identify how the project is divided into several contract packages and type of procurement e.g.: design and built, design-bid-build or DBFM (Design, Build, Finance and maintain), DBFOM (Design, Build, Finance, operate and maintain)

This procurement strategy is essential for the schedule as this would allow incorporation of procurement packages and procurement durations into the schedule

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) lists authorized work scope and successively subdivide that work scope into increasingly detailed and manageable subsidiary work components.

It provides the mechanism to integrate the work scope, cost estimate, and schedule. The Project Management Institute (PMI) states that "A Work Breakdown Structure is a deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements that organize and define the total scope of the project."

Once the Project and program scope has been established and approved, the next step is to develop a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Preparation of WBS is an extension to the execution and procurement strategy. WBS should capture the execution and procurement strategy

The WBS divides the work down into manageable individual components or work packages and it identifies how the work will be delivered.

WBS should be established so that the entire project team should get a very clear picture of the total scope of work. It should neither be too detailed nor too high level.

The program controls team has developed a WBS which is generally based on the location and cost coding. The master schedules will be developed to have ability to view the schedules using this coding.

Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

The OBS is a depiction of the program or project organization arranges to indicate the reporting relationships within the project context. The OBS reflects the way the project is functionally organized. It is a direct representation and description of the hierarchy and organizations that will provide resources to plan and perform work identified in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). The scheduling team is expected to be provided with this input

The master schedule is coded with this OBS as required to provide necessary outputs from the schedule

Project Durations and Milestones

It is expected that the project charter or the project definition report should capture the high level project completion requirements and milestones and these will be used in the development of the integrated master schedules

where they are no project completion and milestones requirements in the above mentioned documents, the scheduling team will participate in developing these requirements which would then be used in the integrated master schedule.

Schedule Development

Schedule Specific Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

A schedule specific WBS should be developed taking into consideration of the phasing requirements (Design, Procurement, Construction etc.) if necessary to supplement the WBS mentioned in the Section 4.3.

Please see Appendix >>>> for the latest WBS

A contract specific highlevel WBS is provided to the contractors and consultants for their use in their schedules to allow the information role into the Metrolinx Master Schedules and for consistancy

Different activities codes will also be developed to allow filtering and summarization of the schedule. Please refer to the latest coding structure in Appendix>>>>

The contractors and the consultants are asked to incorporate certain coding if necessary to allow us these schedules are easily integrated with the master schedule and also to help filtering the activities.

Scheduling Tools

Metrolinx has adopted Oracle Primavera P6 (P6) as the scheduling tool for the Rapid Transit Implementation Program.

P6 is the primary tool for creating schedules and integrating with other project management information systems.

The contractors and consultants are required to use P6 for developing their schedules and submitting to Metrolinx

Tilos linear scheduling software will also be used to create linear schedules for illustrating the schedules by location and to clearly identifying the interfaces between different work packages.

Oracle Primavera Risk Analysis software is used for the schedule risk analysis on the RTI projects

Hierarchy of Schedules

Program and Project Summary Schedules

These are very high level summary schedule to illustrate the overall time frame of a project with some major milestones

These schedules provides general over view of the project timelines

Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)

The IMS contains the logic network-based framework of activities that provides the basis for time-phasing and coordinating all the project efforts.

The IMS provides the management vehicle which correlates the approved project work scope reflected in the work breakdown structure (WBS), and budget.

The time-phasing of tasks provided by the IMS is critical to successful implementation of Earned Value Management (EVM) and the development of a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).

The IMS provides the program/project manager a single integrated source of schedule data that accurately reflects how the planned work is to be implemented at a summary level.

Development of the master schedule commences once the preliminary WBS and the procurement strategy are complete. The IMS have the similar structure as that of the WBS and broken down further where required.

The IMS shall have an ability to be summarized at different WBS levels.

This schedule shall contain all the major milestones, procurement of different packages, design packages, construction packages, all the major interfacing milestone etc.

The IMS does not contain all the details and logic but are in a summarized form. The detailed schedules will be prepared by the contractors and the same will be included as summaries in the IMS. Where possible the IMS is linked with the detail schedules.

Once all the activities are defined in the IMS, appropriate durations need to be estimated for each and every activity. Estimating durations in the initial stages of the project is quite difficult and very subjective as this has to be done using very little information available or sometimes no information on majority of the activities.

The durations of the activities will be estimated based on past experience on similar type of projects in the region and based on experts’ opinion. As every project is unique some adjustments need to be made on the durations based the project difficulty, resource availability, material availability etc. Appropriate buffers need to be incorporated at the end of each project or interface to allow for certain uncertainty duration the execution.

The IMS is also integrated with the program dash board to provide real time update to the stakeholders.

An interface schedule is maintained at program level which will have details of activities interfaces. The locks scheduling team provides necessary interface activities information to the program team to allow them to include in the interface schedule. The program team is also responsible for communicating the interfacing schedule as necessary to the stakeholders.

These IMS are integrated with the Oracle financial database. Actual costs are transferred from this database to the master schedules using OP3 software link. These master schedules are also linked to the program dash board to allow all the stakeholder to see the status of the project in real time.

Contractor and Consultants Detailed Schedules

The contractor are required to provide detailed schedules based on the requirements set out in the contract, these include baseline, schedule updates, recovery plan and time impact schedules

The consultants are required to provide where required for their works and as part of the constructability review, to provide a basis for construction durations.

Budget Integration

The Master Schedule will be integrated with the budget to form an overall project integrated baseline.

The budget control team provides their requirement on at what level the budgets are kept in the schedule including the budgets.

The scheduling team prepares the schedules in line with the budget team requirements and provides them with the activities for the budget team input.

Upon receipt of the budgets, the budget is imported into the Master Schedule to the appropriate activities. Where there is a conflict, this is coordinated between the scheduling team and the budget team and resolved.

Schedule Risk Analysis

A schedule risk assessment (SRA) is crucial during project formulation and implementation planning. It is an important analysis tool used to evaluate the likelihood of a schedule being achievable.

This tool will also provide completion probabilities for key events identified in the schedule. Although there are various ways of conducting a schedule risk assessment, the recommended technique is through the use of a proven risk analysis tool with the capability of computing simulations based upon realistic risk parameters assigned to each task/activity within the schedule.

Oracle Primavera Risk Analysis software will be used for schedule risk analysis on the RTI projects where required.

The risk parameters associated with tasks/activities include the minimum, maximum, and most likely durations expected for each task, as well as a distribution profile. The distribution profile, known as a probability distribution function (PDF), models the likelihood of task/activity durations between the minimum and maximum values.

As numerous simulations are executed and calculated, the risk tool will factor in the assigned likelihood parameters and distribution profiles, and utilize the assigned task/activity interdependencies to provide probability percentages for achieving key selected events within the schedule. These percentages will aid the management team in determining an adequate amount of schedule reserve to be included in the schedule before baselining.

It is recommended that the schedulers collaborate with the responsible technical managers in gaining as much information as possible prior to assigning the required risk parameters.

This collaboration process will aid in ensuring that the assigned parameters are realistic and lead to more reliable schedule risk data for making management decisions. During this process it is also helpful to use the identified risks from the project’s risk management system and relate them to specific tasks/activities within the schedule prior to assigning parameters. This collaboration will lead to a more accurate schedule risk assessment prior to baselining.

Schedule Contingency

It is good practice to incorporate schedule contingency buffers into the master schedule at the end of major phases to accommodate the unforeseen

Schedule risk analysis is used to estimate the possible schedule impact if several of risks materialize and build that projected risk exposure into the master schedule as a contingency buffer.

One method of ensuring this is to perform a schedule risk assessment (SRA) prior to approving the baseline. Another typical method is to identify project risks that may impact the schedule and estimate the impact duration for each risk. The summation of all risk impact durations will provide an overall estimate of schedule reserve needed. These techniques are highly recommended.

Interface Scheduling

Interface scheduling is important as this would identify the interface points and dates associated with it.

This is also includes a contract completion before another contract commences, property acquisition dates, third party approvals etc.

The master schedule will identify these interfaces and these will be fine tuned as more and better information is available.

Schedule Review and Coordination

Schedule coordination and review play critical role is having sensible schedule. The project teams needs to participate in the development of the schedule and provide necessary inputs

Where necessary the scheduling team will conduct schedule coordination meeting to discuss and coordinate the schedules

Once the draft schedules are ready these will be issued to the project team and stakeholders to get their feedback and further fine tuned

Earned Value Management

Performance Measurement Baselines

Performance Measurement Baseline Approval

For managing project performance one of the critical tools to have is an approved baseline. It is important that the schedule baseline covers the approved scope of work and accurately models the plan for implementation.

Review and approval of the schedule baseline should be done carefully and any changes to it should be carefully controlled. This is especially important when the earned value techniques are used.

The approved schedule baseline becomes a key part in the project’s performance measurement baseline, and as such, becomes a key part of the benchmark by which all project performance is measured and analyzed.

All affected project team leads should participate in this review, whether directly or indirectly. Eventually, the project should have a commitment from the managers involved to provide the required resources in the time frame indicated by the approved baseline schedule.

Final revisions to the schedule should be made based on the schedule review and any identified changes.

The results of these changes should be reviewed at least with all the affected project team members. Any major milestones that have changed should be verified and approved by the project or Program Manager and the affected organizations.

If there are major milestones changes during this process which are not acceptable, the project team should review the changes.

Where possible, a schedule reserve shall be incorporated into the baseline and that it is clearly identified.

It is important to have commitment from all affected and responsible entities adhere to the plan as reflected in the baseline.

The baseline should also reflect the budget plan for the project. This is done in coordination with the budget team.

Setting Up and Communication of the Integrated Master Baseline Schedule (IMBS)

Once accepted and approved, an electronic copy of the IMBS should be saved separately.

This baseline should be used for comparison throughout the life of the project.

The IMBS is communicated to all the affected parties so that the stakeholders are aware of the target schedule details to which they need to work towards to.

All proposed changes to the baseline must be evaluated carefully to determine cost, schedule, and technical impacts, and then approved only by the appropriate project management designee. This is done through the change management process.

Schedule Monitoring, Analysis and Control

Integrated Master Schedule Update

As the Project progresses, the schedule becomes a practical tool, with which the activities can be monitored and controlled. The work should be monitored on an ongoing basis to record progress information for each event as it occurs. This information is then used to update the schedule to determine the current status of the activities and the project; as well as to predict the schedule outcome of the project.

An updated schedule should provide an accurate historical record of when activities actually statused and finished or current progress status of the activities and the project and the current plan to complete the remaining work. An update would allow us to determine whether the project is ahead or behind progress.

Progress and as-built information should be gathered to reflect actual progress of the Work as of the status date. As-built schedule information can be collected using daily reports, meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, progress photographs etc.

The project management team and other effected organizations should provide updates to their activities, packages or the project.

Identify changes in the work, sequencing, or other deviations from the original plan to determine if adjustments in the work plan or schedule are necessary to determine the effects of time-related issues on the project to allow for timely and informed decisions on how the impacts may possibly be avoided or mitigated.

The contract packages are updated based on what the contractor(s) has accomplished on site. These percentages are based on the monthly schedule updates submitted by the contractor and verified by the resident engineers.

Update Frequency - Status updates should be made as frequently as feasible. The IMS is updated on monthly basis in accordance with the PC calendar produced by the program controls team.

Schedule Analysis & Trends

Schedule analysis provides that information and aids in:

Determining if objectives can be accomplished on time

Monitoring the adequacy of schedule slack and reserve

Assessing the likelihood of potential schedule problems

Reallocating resources to where there are needed most

Identifying project schedule priorities

Highlighting the likelihood of overrunning the project schedule

Evaluating the effect of new scope changes

Understanding the cause of schedule problems, their impact and what corrective action is needed to mitigate or avoid them

Changes to Integrated Master Schedule

Schedule Coordination and Communication

What-If Analysis

Projects the effect on the baseline or current operating schedule of a potential problem, new constraint, or changed assumption

Provides the project team with an early-warning of the impact on the project’s schedule objectives due to potential changes

Develop a "What-If schedule by modifying the baseline and/or current operating schedule to reflect a schedule change

Schedule Trends

Indicate the schedule’s future direction based on historical results

Provides a means to indicate the extent to which actual and predicted performance are diverging from the baseline schedule

Performance trends involve tracking actual completion of activities and milestones over time to determine if progress is being made.

Slack trends track slack depletion over time to assess if sufficient spare time is available or if resources should be reallocated

Reserve trends track reserve consumption over time to determine if it is still sufficient

Delivery trends track projected delivery dates over time to extent of delays or slippages

Schedule Risk Analysis

Design Consultant(s) Schedules

Contractor(s) Schedules

Pre-Contract Stage

Contract duration and Milestones for Request for Proposals

Contract time is the maximum time allowed in the contract for completion of all work contained in the contract documents.

Review the project plans and specifications, analyse and determine special factors that are controls affecting completion or phasing of the work. If the project has more than one phase, determine what work can be done in each of the phases.

List the required activities for each phase

List each quantity of the unit of work that will be used as a basis for estimating the duration of that activity, e.g. for storm sewers this would be the number of linear feet of pipe, etc.

On a project with more than one phase use only that quantity associated with that phase. If the list of pay items shows, for instance, 10, 1000m3 of excavation for a project, that has two phase, that have approximately the same amount on each

Use production rates to convert the units of work into work days. Do this for each activity in each phase.

Enter activities to draw the bar chart for estimating contract time.

Conversion from working days to calendar days

Winter shutdown due to seasonal limitations will be addressed if the contract duration requires the work to occur during two or more construction seasons.

Status of utility report from the Right of Way Division will be checked to determine if any time adjustments are necessary before the project is advertised or the coordination will be able to start work. Also determination should be made for coordination with utilities for any concurrent utility relocation work required.

A production rate is the quantity produced or constructed over a specified time period. Estimating realistic production rates is important when determining appropriate contract completion time. Production rates may vary considerable depending on project size, geographic location, and rural or urban setting, even for the same item of work.

Effects of maintenance of traffic requirements on scheduling and the sequence of operations;

Inclement weather conditions;

Curing time and waiting periods between successive paving courses or between concrete placement operations, as well as specified embankment settlement period; Emergency conditions.

Setup times, mobilization, special equipment required

Time required for review of shop drawings, submittals etc

conflicting operations of adjacent projects, both public and private

Lead time required for material procurement and permits

Difficulty of work and the type of project

Resources availability

Utility coordination

restriction of working hours

In setting up contract time and milestones, generally, calendar from the notice to proceed shall be used. In some cases, completion dates can be used but calendar day the preferred method

There are three types of methods used in determining the duration for the contract, these are 1. estimated cost method, Bar Chart Method, CPM scheduling method

The estimated cost method involves a comparison of dollar value to time. Based on historical information, Tables illustrating project cost versus time are developed for different project types, traffic volume, and geographic location. Many items affecting the completion of a project are not taken into consideration when applying this method. This method is not used where the completion time is the major factor.

Bar chart method is applicable for use with projects in which there are relatively few work components with easily understood relationships between the components. The project should also have a well-defined scope of work. A level of uncertainty unlikely to result significant changes may be present.

The critical path method is appropriate for projects with several components with complex relationship. These projects exhibit a reasonable potential for significant changes and uncertainty that may result in sequence modifications and /or scope adjustments.

The reasonable ness of the contract time included in contracts is important. If time insufficient, bid prices may be higher and there may be an unusual number of time overruns and contractor claims. The agency needs to take into consideration the available contractors and their workload.

Schedule Specifications & Requirements

Schedule specification defines the schedule requirements for the construction contracts. This includes, the schedule submission requirements, schedule content requirements, narrative requirements, baseline requirements, update requirements and so on. Please refer to Appendix >>>>>

This schedule specification is included in all the construction request for proposals and the contracts.

This specification shall be amended if necessary to suit the contract complexity.

Contractor Work Breakdown Structure & Coding

Metrolinx will supply to the contractor in the beginning of the contract a specifc WBS and coding structure for the schedules for incorporation into their detailed schedules

Where possible these coding structure will be includes as part of the contract.

Post-Contract Stage

Contract Baseline Schedule

The Metrolinx schedule specification requires the contractor to submit a baseline within the time frame allowed in the contract.

If a baseline schedule development planning meeting is required by the contract specification or if requested by either the employer representative or the Contractor, the Project Manager will schedule the baseline schedule development planning meeting, upon notice to proceed and prior to preparation of the schedule. The meeting will allow the parties to review the specification requirements of the contract relating to the schedule or to discuss any project specific issues required for preparation of the baseline schedule.

After receiving the baseline schedule submittal from the contractor, the submittal will be reviewed within the timeframe set out in the specifications to ensure that the Baseline Schedule is established in a timely manner so as to elude schedule delays and possible cost impacts.

The current baseline will be modified if necessary to reflect any schedule impacts for major changes to the work plan or the contract scope. The following are the various situation where the baseline schedule may be revised:

If the Contractor proposes to make significant changes to his plan of work including means and methods, phasing, and sequencing, the Contractor is required to submit a revised schedule for the Engineer’s review and acceptance;

If in the opinion of the Project Manager, the baseline no longer reflects the current Contractor’s work plan, the Contractor is required to submit a revised schedule for the Engineer’s review and acceptance;

If any changes are authorized to the work that has or will significantly impact the Contractor’s work plan or schedule, the Contractor is required to submit a revised schedule to incorporate the changes reflected in the approved schedule impact analysis;

If the work or the Contractor’s work plan has been significantly impacted by conditions deemed to be beyond controls of the Contractor, the Contractor is required to submit a revised schedule to incorporate the changes reflected in the approved schedule impact analysis.

The revised baseline will also be reviewed in accordance with the specification requirement and the time frame allocated therein.

Upon acceptance of the Contractor’s revised baseline schedule submittal, the revised baseline will be established and communicated to all affected parties. The revised baseline will replace the original baseline or any previous revision and will be used for the purpose of assessing progress, monitoring the work, managing the day-to day operations, and for coordinating all work required to complete the remainder of the project.

Regular Schedule Updates

The specifications require that the Contractor(s) provides a Monthly Schedule Update of the project to accurately reflect the current status of the work as well as to represent the Contractor’s proposed plan to complete the remaining work.

The Project Manager will ensure that the Contractor submits timely the Contractor’s progress schedule update submittal and the same is reviewed as necessary in accordance with the specification.

Upon review and acceptance, the current schedule update will be used to monitor, coordinate, and assess progress of the work. The currently accepted schedule update will also serve as the baseline for performing contemporaneous schedule impact analysis when changes occur.

One the project is underway, accurate as-built schedule information needs to be recorded to create a historical record of the project.

Schedule Analysis and Trends

The as-built schedule information will be used for reviewing the Contractor’s monthly progress update schedules for accuracy and for performing periodic schedule analysis to identify deviations from scheduled performance to determine if and when corrective actions are necessary for timely completion of the project.

The as-built information will also be used to update the schedule when using the schedule to perform a contemporaneous Schedule Impact Analysis to evaluate the effects of time-related changes in the work or work plan.

Status of work will be assessed monthly to ensure that the work is progressing in accordance with the plan and that the project goals and objectives are still being met.

Work progress will be assessed as of the progress cut off period relative to the Baseline (or revised Baseline, if applicable). The progress will be assessed on the basis of the total dollar value of work completed and total dollar value of work planned to find out if the work is being completed as planned. The progress will also be assessed based on the schedule to ensure that the controlling items of work or critical activities are progressing as scheduled.

When the schedule has fallen behind the schedule or when progress of the work is considered to be deficient based on the progress metrics, the project manager should request for a recovery schedule from the contractor in accordance with the contract requirements.

The recovery plan should include all the contractor actions to recover the current slippages and to return back on schedule, these actions include increasing necessary man power, equipment, working hours etc.

Once the recovery plan is agreed, the contractor progress will be monitored to assess any improvement.

Contract Changes & Claims

When time related changes occur that are deemed to be beyond control of the Contractor including, but not limited to changes in the work as defined in the Specifications, the Project Manager will perform a contemporaneous schedule impact analysis using the currently accepted schedule to assess the effects of the changes in order to make informed decisions.

The Contractor is required by specification to submit a schedule impact analysis to demonstrate impacts to his schedule or to demonstrate any requests for adjustments to the contract duration for such changes.

Upon receipt of the schedule impact submittal from the contractor, the scheduler will review and recommend the extension of time entitlement.

As-built schedule plays an important role in assessing the extension of time entitlement and it critical to capture an accurate historical information in the as-built schedules or the schedule updates.

Maintaining schedule control

Contract Time Extension

Contract Closing

Lessons Learned

Primavera P6 Database Management

Primavera Databases

Metrolinx’s is using Oracle databases to support the Primavera P6 application. There are three instances used for the RTI Program, these are: 1. Main Database, 2. Secondary Database, and 3. Supplementary Database.

The Main Database is used to store the finalized baselines and updates. The main purpose of this database is to maintain approved master schedules, finalized master schedule updates and to integrate with the other systems as necessary. Keeping this database separate will allow us to ensure to have unique coding, calendars and final products which are critical for integration and consistency. The schedule will make sure that the projects that are being brought to this environment have the right coding, calendars and resources. Regarding the monthly master schedule updates only three months history is kept in this database to avoid cluttering of the database, the older version of the updates are archived and kept on the shared server. The instances name in the database is "MX-TE".

The Secondary Database is where work in progress schedules, detailed schedules, what-if analysis schedules etc are kept. This is where majority of the work is done by the schedulers and the details are kept. The finalized master schedules and master schedule updates will be brought to the Main Database. This database will not be linked with the other systems. Other project team members are given access to this database as necessary with limited access to allow them to view schedules as necessary. This database is created as an instance in the Oracle database and the name of this instance is "MX-TE2".

The Supplementary Database is used mainly to deal with the contractors and consultants schedules. The construction management consultants and other third party are given access to this database as necessary. The construction management consultants will use this database in managing the contractor schedules. In some instances Metrolinx needs to also provide with the design consultants and contractor access to primavera and in such cases these parties will be given access to this database to work on their schedules. Some of the Toronto Transit Commissions historical schedules will also be kept in this database. This database is created as an instance in the Oracle database and the name of this instance is "MX-SANDBOX".

Enterprise Project Structure ( EPS)

Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Structure allows the organizations to have a high-level breakdown structure with which the projects can be organized by geographical locations, different categories etc. An EPS has been adopted for each database which is generally based on the high-level program work breakdown structure to have consistency across the project structures. The primavera P6 projects in each database will be organized by this EPS.

Primavera P6 projects are created generally in line with the EPS and where required cross project links will be created to create interdependencies between projects.

Please refer to the Appendix …. For the database specific EPS.

Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)

Organization Breakdown Structure specific to Primavera P6 is required to allow us to assign responsibilities to the project and to have right user access to the projects. An OBS adopted for Primavera; please refer to the Appendix…

Primavera Application User Access

In setting up the Primavera P6, one of the important tasks is to develop the access privileges for all the different users where several users are accessing the system. Users in Primavera P6 require two different profiles to control what they can do in the system; a Global Security Profile and a Project Security Profile.

The Global Security profile determines what global functions in the system that the user can add, edit or delete. For example, editing the EPS or defining their own project or activity codes or modifying the OBS. Access to all the global elements of the system are controlled by this Global Security profile.

The Project Security profile dictates what users can do within the projects. This include importing or exporting data, creating or deleting projects, adding activities, deleting activities, saving a baseline and so on. This profile is assigned to users using the OBS, creating a very flexible way of controlling user’s project access on the system.

Primavera P6 comes with a number of pre-configured profiles including Project Manager, Resource Manager, Read-only rights and so on. The access profile options are many with 64 global security options and 54 project security options to choose from. The schedulers need to adapt the existing profiles in Primavera P6 or add new ones to the system to satisfy the needs of RTI Program.

Making the settings just right for the different roles can be time-consuming and often requires a bit of trial and error before full implementation. A user access profile systems has been created for the RTP Program and the same can be found under Appendix>>>>. These systems will be tested and fine tuned as required during the system usage.

The user profiles will be assigned to the user based on their expertise in using the system and also their role on the program.

RTI program has purchased several licences for the program and this is based on giving access mainly to the schedulers. If requests from other users other than the scheduler will be evaluated strictly based on their necessity to access the system and the licences availability. The general idea here is that the scheduler will provide all the required schedule services to the project team members.