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fees. Ask the client to set up a project change contingency account in their budget. Keep the client informed on project progress, potential issues, and all changes. 3. Establish a system for tracking all changes. Keep track of all changes to the project scope: when the change was initiated, by whom, and the associated cost and time impacts. Have a project change log and keep meeting minutes when a client requests a change. Sometimes the cost may be listed as $0, but the client should still see that a change occurred. 4. Send project milestones to the client. Design development drawings and progress construction drawings should be reviewed by the client. It is easier to track changes once they have had a chance to comment on a previous set of drawings. 5. Send change orders to the client. Have an easy change order form that addresses the cost impact, time impact, and description of the changes. Regardless of your contract type and if you are on budget or not, you should still request compensation for your scope changes. 6. Avoid too many meetings. There is a difference between good client communication and wasting time by having an abundance of meetings. If you continually work with a client who wants to have too many meetings, or the
meetings last for more than an hour at a time, it may be worth adding an agreed upon number of meetings into your contract. 7. Educate your employees. Make sure that your project team understands the importance of scope management and is familiar with your firm’s change management process. Train your team members to recognize the signs of scope creep and know how to handle changes appropriately. The team members also need to know what is in the original scope to avoid performing services that were not in the proposal. Managing scope creep effectively is critical to the success of projects. When managed properly, there is a silver lining of scope creep. Changes to the scope of work have the potential for more revenue and sales without needing to rewrite contract terms and conditions that were already agreed upon. There are no additional marketing costs, and no competition when sending a design change order. Implementing these best practices will help your team get paid for their work and keep your project within budget and on schedule. Stephen Dominguez, P.E., S.E. is principal-in-charge of structural engineering at WT Group. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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THE ZWEIG LETTER NOVEMBER 4, 2024, ISSUE 1560
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