Improving the construction project controls workflow

In most cases, if we try to map out the project controls workflow in its most simplified form, it would look something like the following:

Figure 1: Simplified project controls workflow map (rectangles = processes, parallelograms = output)

Note: I separated workplan updates from schedule updates since in many cases these two are handled separately. The schedule is used for reporting purposes, and the workplan is used for construction purposes. Unfortunately, in some instances the process for controlling and updating the workplan is completely independent from the process for updating and controlling the schedule, and the schedule becomes simply a monitoring tool where information only flow in one direction. This is not due to the incompetence of anyone on the team but is most likely a symptom of a broken workflow that doesn’t tie the different elements together.

In order to see how we can improve this workflow, let’s try to understand it better by re-drawing the flowchart above but adding next to each process/output a description of the relevant information used. If we do this, we get the following:

Figure 2: Simplified project controls workflow map + type of information used at each step

Note: An example of “Status of material resources” in this case can be the number of concrete columns formed, poured, etc. or if a pipe is rigged, welded, damaged, etc. 

Looking at our second flowchart, we notice that the majority of the steps involve working with the status of material resources directly rather than the tasks that represent them (example: column 1,2,3… rather than Level 1 columns), and that the steps that don’t (update task percentages and reschedule) use information that is directly derived from these resource statuses and (hopefully) not the other way around. In other words, we wouldn’t want someone to derive the status of the project from task ‘percent completes’ that were derived from the status of the project resources themselves (see figure 3). This could happen because different people may be involved at each step which increases the risk of loss/distortion of information. Even when this doesn’t happen, the second step can easily turn into a bottleneck where this loss/distortion of information can occur. Ideally, we would want to work directly with the status of each material resource on the project and have the percent completes be the only derivatives.

Figure 3: Simplified project controls workflow showing instances where information has to convert to a different format resulting in loss/distortion of information.

Combining the mobile application Synchro SITE with the 4D visual platform Synchro PRO eliminates the guess work when it comes to managing an ongoing construction project. When resource statuses are set up the user can switch to the resource status view and understand the status of the project with a quick look at the model and some digging in to the status histories or notes/photos attached from site to some building elements. Furthermore, you can set up ‘rules of credit’ formulas for percent completes and derive at both the resource level and the task level. The process map becomes as follows.

Figure 4: Simplified version of improved project controls workflow

For a quick demonstration of the real process in action, see the video below: