FIDIC / EPC treatment plants
Payment applications, payment schedules, contracts and amendments, tender documents and claim reports.
Services · 03
Planning and Scheduling
Freelance planning engineer for Primavera P6 and MS Project: baseline schedules, resource-loaded programmes, S-curves, progress reports and delay analysis.
Who it is for
- Contractors who must submit a baseline programme under FIDIC within a fixed period
- Small contractors who need a planner for a few months, not a full-time hire
- Contractors preparing a revised programme or an extension of time submission
- Teams that report monthly progress to an employer or lender
What it fixes
- The tender programme is put together on the last day with durations nobody believes.
- The baseline was approved and never updated, so it no longer resembles the site.
- An extension of time is needed, but there is no comparison programme showing the delay.
- The S-curve and cash flow disagree with the payment applications, so management does not know which number to trust.
- Without resource loading, the same crew appears on three activities in the same week.
Scope and deliverables
| Item | Deliverable |
|---|---|
| 03.01 | Tender programme with linked cash flow forecast |
| 03.02 | WBS and activity list with duration and logic rationale |
| 03.03 | Baseline programme (Primavera P6 .xer or MS Project .mpp) |
| 03.04 | Resource and cost-loaded programme with histograms |
| 03.05 | S-curves (planned, actual, earned value) |
| 03.06 | Weekly or monthly progress report |
| 03.07 | Revised programme and as-planned versus as-built delay analysis |
How I work
- Step 01
Understand the scope
I break the work into a WBS using the contract period, milestones, drawings and BOQ. For a tender programme I confirm the required format first.
- Step 02
Logic and durations
Durations come from quantities and realistic crew outputs, and every constraint gets a written reason.
- Step 03
Load and check
I load resources and costs, then check the critical path and float. Cash flow is mapped to the BOQ items you will be paid against.
- Step 04
Update
Once the baseline is accepted I run periodic updates and reports. When delay happens, the comparison programme comes from the same data.
The programme is the project’s common language
A programme is not just a chart for the engineer. It tells the site when each crew starts, tells procurement when to order, and tells finance what each month’s payment will be. If it is out of date, each of those questions gets a different guess.
Because I also work on quantities and payments, I build programmes linked to both. Durations come from measured quantities and realistic outputs, cost loading comes from the BOQ. The cash flow the programme produces then matches the figures finance sees in the payment applications.
Common mistakes in tender programmes
Tender programmes tend to be produced in the last days of a bid, between other documents. The mistakes I see most often: no allowance for weather or seasonal restrictions, no submittal and procurement durations in the programme at all, activities linked only start-to-start, and a critical path that runs through one long activity. These programmes get accepted, then lose touch with the site in the first month.
Example scenario
A contractor has won an infrastructure package under a FIDIC Red Book contract and must submit a baseline programme within the period the contract sets. The site team is busy mobilising and the planner has not been hired yet. I build the WBS from the contract documents and BOQ, prepare a resource-loaded baseline in P6 and write the narrative that goes to the engineer. I then run the monthly updates remotely. When the contractor hires a permanent planner, I hand over the programme and the reasoning behind it.
Delay and extensions of time
An extension of time submission has to show the cause and effect of delay through the programme. That needs a sound baseline and regular updates. I insert the delay event as a fragnet, measure its effect on the critical path and combine the result with the notices and records kept on the contract side. This works best alongside my contract administration service, where the same events are already logged.
Reporting that management reads
A monthly progress report is only useful if someone acts on it. I keep reports short: planned against actual progress, the activities driving the critical path, the next month’s look-ahead and the risks that could move the completion date. Figures in the report come straight from the updated programme, so there is no second version of the truth.
Related projects
University campus and solar projects
Payment applications, contract amendments, tender and planning documents, final account.
Questions clients ask
Primavera P6 or MS Project?
Whichever the employer requires. FIDIC projects and larger works usually ask for P6. MS Project is often enough for smaller jobs.
Can we hire you for the tender programme only?
Yes. I build it on the assumption that it will become the baseline later. Rebuilding a programme after award costs more than building it properly once.
How do you update the programme remotely?
The site sends weekly or monthly progress in a simple sheet. If items are unclear we sort them out on a short call.
Do you prepare delay analysis?
Yes. I compare the baseline with the updated programme to show the cause, duration and critical path effect of each delay. In an extension of time submission, this analysis is the backbone of the file.
How is cash flow tied to the programme?
I load the value of the BOQ items onto the activities, so the S-curve and cash flow forecast run on the same numbers as your payment applications.
How long does a revised programme take?
It depends on the size of the programme and the state of the existing data. I state the timescale in writing in the proposal before we start.
New project
Tell me about your project in a few lines.
Describe what needs doing and we will pin down scope and timing together.