10
OPINION
Managing scope creep
A s many of us know, scope creep occurs when project requirements grow beyond the scope of work that was agreed upon initially. Scope creep eats away at a project’s profit margin, but also can lead to delays and lower project quality. Implementing these best practices will help your team get paid for their work and keep your project within budget and on schedule.
Some of the common causes of rework and scope creep include:
change order request. Project managers also may be trying to keep the client happy or may be attempting to avoid any conflict. Here’s a guide to help effectively manage scope creep at your firm: 1. Clearly design your project scope of work. The proposal/contract needs to explicitly lay out your scope of work as well as any design items that are excluded. Without enough detail in the proposal, there is not enough evidence to explain that the new scope was not already included in the original contract. 2. Communicate with the client. Ensure the client understands that change happens often and ask how they will handle changes in scope, requirements, deliverables, schedules, unforeseen field conditions, or staff. Agree how to handle changes that will require additional
Stephen Dominguez, P.E., S.E.
A project designers’ desire for perfection
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■ Review comments from the city or manager beyond what was expected
Value engineering after schematic design
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Changes in the clients’ needs or desires
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■ Design errors and omissions These all result in unplanned and uncompensated work, possibly sending the project behind schedule and over budget. Many firms do not collect the money for their additional work because they either fail to ask for a change order, ask too late (after the work is performed), or have poor documentation to back up a
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THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 4, 2024, ISSUE 1560
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