1. Project Controls: As-Built S-Curves
Part 08-02
April 14, 2003
The As-Built S-Curves are revised and updated during the conduct of the construction phase of the project. The level of detail and accuracy should reflect the results of the project planning results.
Optional Reading Assignment: Halpin 2, 6, 12, 14, Oberlender 9, CII Pub 5-6.
Part # 3 should take about minutes depending upon the length of the discussion.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

2. Purpose
Illustrate how to develop a set of As- Built S-Curves from field estimates developed during actual construction operations.
Review the field construction process to the extent necessary to set the context.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

3. Learning Objectives
Be able to construct a schedule of work and cost versus elapsed time from a typical (but simplified) set of observed field data.
Be able to plot and identify the As-Built S-Curves best representing these schedules.
With respect to chart layout, be able to label all curves and axes.
The first and second Learning Objectives make good Exam questions.
Failure to accomplish the last objective during an exam will usually result in a wrong answer because of orientation problems. In any event, I count off for failure to do so.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

4. Who Collects The As-Built Information And When Is It Collected?
We are going to assume that it is collected by the Contractor’s Project Manager or Field Superintendent.
We are going to assume that it is collected on a regular basis at the construction site.
You should refer to the process diagram on the next page.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

5. The Traditional Project Development Process
If you are the design engineer, remember you can use this technique to control the design phase of the project.
Progress data should be collected on a regular basis during construction.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

6. Class Exercise:
As Individuals: At what point in the project is work accomplished measured?
As Pairs: At what point in the project is cost information collected?
As Teams: If you have a choice, is it better to collect cost and schedule information, toward the beginning, the middle, or toward the end of a project?
You should start immediately and keep a running total according to work packages, etc.
You should collect cost information by work package as in the step above.
It is very important that the rate of work (slope) of the middle of the curve be at least as steep as originally planned. It is OK to stumble out of the gate but you had better make sure that you get caught up early.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

7. Cost Incurred versus Work Actually Accomplished
There are three elements: (1) Cost incurred to date and (2) Work actually completed, and (3) the schedule.
There may be little relationship between cost and results. That is, the project may be incurring costs but there may be few results to show for it.
Costs incurred are easy to measure; % complete (work accomplished) may be difficult to measure.
Refer to CII Pub It is in 08 Project Controls on the Web
Remember that these three elements must be controlled as a whole. During planning there were some assumed relationships between them. In the construction phase cost and work are independent of each other to some extent. You can incur cost with no progress. But to make progress you have to incur cost.
The CII publication is a public domain document and reflected the “state of the practice” when it was published.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

8. There are Several Approaches Used to Collect the % Complete
Units Method – easily measured pieces of work requiring about the same amount of effort.
Incremental Milestones – any work item involving parts that must be handled in sequence.
Start/Finish – any work item where a % complete is easy to measure or compute
Opinion – any piece of work where other methods are too difficult.
Cost Ratio – used only on administrative tasks active over the life of the project.
Project Managers may any or all of these methods to measure work progress. You should illustrate with examples. This is covered in detail in the CII Publication.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

9. Exercise Set #
Think, Pair, Share on any or all of the topics on the previous slide. Have the students “brain storm” examples of each.
To hold their interest, have the students turn in the results.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

10. Example: Base Course Construction
Unplanned events like rain and equipment breakdown will greatly affect progress. In these cases work may stop but some degree of costs may continue.
Ask the students to describe a learning curve.
The “learning curve” causes ramp-up and ramp-down which causes deviations from average.
Equipment breakdowns, rain days, etc. will also have an effect on the final outcome.

11. What Does All This Imply?
There may be no direct relationship between elapsed time, actual work and incurred cost.
For example, at the end of day 8 you have actually spent 54% of the budget and completed 40% of the work.
This illustrates a typical “check point” at the end of the eight day (or week, or month). The project is probably in trouble – 54% of the money is gone and 60% of the work remains.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

12. Combine As-Planned and As-Built
At the end of day 8 we are 8% (55-47) over budget and 7% ahead of schedule based upon elapsed time.
This chart shows the relationship between the As-Planned and As-Built. Using these data you can determine projects status as shown on the next slide.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

13. Combining the As-Built with the As-Planned.
Planned Actual
This slide shows a plot of the combined data. The “long” curves show the As-Planned schedule; the “short” lines the As-Built data. Note that the “work” lines are plotted against the double scale on the right side of the plot; the “cost” lines against the sclae on the left.
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003

14. Class Exercise 08-02.2 Plot and Label the S-Curves for these data. AND
Bring to class next time.
Other Exercise data can be generated using the Excel Workbook.
You should collect these exercises, if done in class. This will give you a heads-up on comprehension.

15. Reminder! Class Assessment Questions
In 1 sentence what was the muddiest part of this module?
In 1 sentence, what part of this module could be improved the most?
CVEN Maxwell
4/14/2003