analyzing data, performance and impacts in construction

ANALYZING DATA, PERFORMANCE AND IMPACTS IN CONSTRUCTION

Presented By: Michael A. Pink

www.construxsolutions.com 2

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: MICHAEL PINK

Founder of Construx Solutions, LLC

Inventor of the SmartPM Technology

15 Years of Advisory Experience in Commercial Construction

Industry

Specialization in Project Controls, Risk Management, Dispute

Avoidance

Advisory Board Member for the School of Building Construction

at GT

Certified Planning and Scheduling Professional

Certified Cost Engineer


COURSE OBJECTIVES

Impacts Explained – What Impacts a Construction Project?

Data Management – Which Data to Capture and Why

What can be done with this Data?

Daily Progress Reporting and the “As-Built” Schedule

Analyzing As-Built Data to Understand Impacts


ENGINEERS &

ARCHITECTSOWNERS

CONSTRUCTION

MANAGERS

CONTRACTORS

OTHER

• Poor Design• Incomplete Design • Slow Response Time

• Excessive Changes• Delayed Approvals/

Permits• Prolonged Planning• Delayed Payment

• Poor Planning/ Scheduling

• Poor Contract Management

• Coordination Issues• Unachievable

Schedule• Poor Data

Management• Mismanagement of

Resources

• Unachievable Bid• Poor Productivity/

Performance• Mismanagement of

resources• Labor Shortages• Default

• Unanticipated Weather

• Changing Market Conditions

• Unforeseen Conditions

• Force majeure

WHAT IMPACTS COST AND SCHEDULE (PERFORMANCE) IN CONSTRUCTION?

Since there are so many causes for impacts, There are always plenty of things to argue about.


ALL ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND WITHIN THE DATA… Data Analysis is the only way to uncover the truth in Construction

Data Capture, Storage and Analysis uncovers variances to

estimates

The more you study your data, the more you know about your

project

Data can be used “Retrospectively” to settle disputes on

historical impacts

Data can be used “Prospectively” to avoid future cost overruns

and delays through “Predictive Analytics”

The Challenges with Data Management:

• Knowing which data to capture

• Knowing how to organize and analyze it

• Being disciplined enough to collect it on a daily

basis


DATA MANAGEMENT – THE MOST USEFUL DATA

Direct Manpower Allocations

Progress / Performance Data

Daily Reported Descriptions of Work

performed

Daily Reported Impacts

Project Photo’s

Project Schedules

Activity Start, Finish, and Interruption

Dates

RFI and Change Directive Timelines

Equipment Usage

The Secret to Successful Data Management:

1. Capture this Data Every Day and Associate it to Activities in the Schedule

2. Build a Robust “As-Built” Schedule using this data


Metrics that can be Determined from this Data Includes:

Performance/Productivity Factors (by MH, Unit, Activity, Trade, Sub, etc.)

Planned vs. Actual Progress Curves

Schedule Performance Index

Manpower Histograms and Comparisons

Duration Variances

Interruption

Crew Spreading

Historical Critical Path Analysis

All of the above Metrics can be calculated on Any Level, including:

Daily/Weekly/Monthly/YE Level, Activity Level, Project Level, or Grouped Level

This Sounds like a lot of work…But its not


WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH DAILY DATA? Assess Performance (Schedule, Manpower, Cost) on Micro and Macro

Levels

Assess Delay/Interruption on Micro and Macro Levels

Calculate Resultant Cost Overruns on Micro and Macro Levels

Determine Causation for Manpower Overruns and Delay

Predict Potential Duration Variances on Future Activities

Pinpoint and Correct issues before they become Costly Problems

Prepare Mitigation Strategies based on REAL Knowledge/Information

Risk Adjust Schedule to:D Forecast Future Critical Path DelaysD Understand Activities/Areas with Heightened Sensitivity Levels (as it relates

to the threat of delay and budget overruns)D Estimate Realistic Completion Date


Questions at this Point?


DAILY PROGRESS REPORTS Data Usually Recorded in Daily Report

• Date• Weather• Project Name/Number• Description of Work Performed• Significant Events/Impacts• Manpower Reports• Equipment Reports• Percent Complete

Where does the Most Comprehensive Set of Data come from?


HOW CAN WE ANALYZE PERFORMANCE USING THIS DATA?

Resource Loaded Schedules are a Must

Build a detailed As-Built schedule

Goal 1: Compare Planned vs Actual Manpower for each activity

Goal 2: Compare Planned vs Actual Duration for each activity

Pinpoint variances and calculate resultant costs

Assess causation for variances

Document this knowledge and manage accordingly

Performance Analysis

Daily Reports (As Built Data)

Schedule/Resource Plan


THE AS-BUILT SCHEDULE

A historical depiction of the project, such that anyone can revisit any area of the project, at any historical point in time, and understand exactly what was going on at that moment.

A tool that enables project/field management to:1. Understand Delay Issues

2. Understand Manpower overruns

3. Assess Performance

4. Pinpoint impacting issues

5. Resolve issues and overcoming delays/overruns


Is An Organized and Visual Database that will:D Help Lower the Risk of Project Delays

D Help Lower the Risk of Budget Overruns

D Provide Transparency of Project Issues and Resultant Impacts

D Enable Contractors to Prove Impacts Out of Their Control

D Enable Contractors to Learn from their own Mistakes

D Provide Better Overall Knowledge of Project

Minimizes the Chance of a Dispute

Will Result in Better Margins/Returns through

Accountability

THE AS-BUILT SCHEDULE


GOALS OF AN AS-BUILT SCHEDULE1. Becomes the basis for comparison against the original project

plan

2. Have the ability to assess variances for all activities for manpower, time, material, work performed, equipment and cost.

3. Enables project management to understand who was working where and when, what were they doing, what kind of progress was made and what impacted progress.

4. To relate project correspondence to work activities in order to better understand causation for deviations.

5. To perform better with these insights.

6. To be paid what is legitimately owed to you.


Useful Documents in Generating a Robust As-Built Schedule

Detailed “Daily” Work Reports

Equipment Logs

Timesheets

Project Photo’s

Project Schedules

Payment Applications

Weekly/Monthly Progress

Reports

Change Order’s / Logs

Material Delivery

Reports/Logs

Inspection Reports / Logs

RFI’s / Logs

Submittal’s / Logs

Project

Letters/Correspondence

Impact Analysis Causation Analysis


Questions at this Point?


Case Study: Building and Analyzing an As-Built

Schedule


STEPS1. Locate the approved baseline schedule

2. Create a visual basis for comparison

3. Log/track actual data for all days worked across all activities

4. Cross Reference Visual with Database

5. Study variances between planned and actual data

6. Highlight significant variances and study causation

7. Respond in the appropriate manner


SETTING UP THE AS PLANNED SCHEDULE INTO A VISUAL DATABASE

STEP 1: SETTING UP PLANNED SCHEDULE IN A DATABASE PROGRAM


ADDING DAILY REPORT DATA INTO A VISUAL DATABASE


CONVERTING DAILY REPORT DATA INTO PERFORMANCE METRICS

STEP 3: STUDY/COMPARE METRICS


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 470

5

10

15

20

25

30

Total Planned MP Total Actual MP

Manpower Histogram (Planned vs. Actual)



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 470

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Cumulative Planned MP Cumulative Actual MP

Cumulative Manpower Curve(Planned vs. Actual)



ADDITIONAL COMMENTS1. This is a very simple example

2. Ways to make a more complex version more simple: Summarize the Schedule to a Level 1 or 2 version

Incorporate a process of capturing data every day

3. If this is performed in real time, risk analysis can be easily incorporated

4. This is definitely useful in avoiding disputes


WHY IS THIS MY RECOMMENDED APPROACH…• Because looking at things as it relates to the schedule just

makes sense…– The schedule is the vehicle for managing labor, equipment and materials in

construction;

– If you don’t align cost with the plan, it becomes “apples to oranges” (more difficult) when reviewing variances, delays and overruns;

– If you just study cost, you will only know that you have cost variances, you won’t be certain as to why. If you don’t know why, with certainty, you remain at risk.

– Daily Reports can easily align with the schedule, because that is how projects are essentially managed;

– At the schedule level, data can be studied in “bite size” chunks, which is enough not get bogged down, overwhelmed or confused by multiple ongoing issues; Once complete, it can be summarized;

• It’s a process that is proven to work… ‒ It’s how people are successful in delay, impact and inefficiency analysis

‒ It’s how people are successful in predicting future durations, labor & equipment overruns, end dates, impacts, critical path’s, outcomes; The things that drive cost.


DISPUTE AVOIDANCE

Study the As-Built, Understand issues on Granular Levels

Discuss Delays and Causation with Stakeholders Collaborate in Order to Mitigate Realistically Incorporate Issues into the Schedule Update Work towards Resolution in Real Time


PRESENTED BY: MICHAEL PINK Contact Info:C: 404 277 4387O: 404 329 [email protected]

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any

additional questionsSign up for our upcoming courses:

— CPM Scheduling Best Practices

— Data Management and Performance Analysis

— Delay Analysis in Construction

— Construction Claims Review/Prep

Follow us on LinkedIn for more info.

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analyzing data, performance and impacts in construction

Data & Analytics

data data analysis

project data

daily data

construction data capture

historical impacts data

successful data management

construction project

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