Certifying on reported progress
Paying against percentages that were not checked against the work.
For Developers, Owners & Public Entities
Project Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring may support an owner’s assessment of reported progress, forecasts and the available project records.
Owners, lenders and public bodies all rely on reported progress for decisions that are hard to unwind, payment, financing, occupancy planning, and the sequencing of work by others. When reported progress is optimistic, those decisions are made on a picture that does not exist.
Progress and payment information may be evaluated using measures suited to the contract and work. Physical quantities, reported percentages, milestones and other evidence have uses and limitations; differences are assessed in their contractual context.
Progress, production rates and forecasts may provide different information about a project. Trends, measurement changes and possible responses are considered in the circumstances rather than through a fixed hierarchy of indicators.
Contractor and owner records provide different views of the same work. Their usefulness rests on timing, support and consistency with the rest of the record. The author’s identity alone does not settle the weight of the information.
Possible assignment considerations
In practice
- 01
Establish a technical baseline of fact
Fix how progress will be measured and by whom, separately from the contractor's own reporting.
- 02
Measure installed work
Assess physical progress against the drawings and the schedule rather than accepting reported percentages.
- 03
Reconcile against payment
Compare observed and reported progress with the payment application using the contract's payment basis, including any stored materials or milestones.
- 04
Report trend, not just status
Track production rates period on period and flag divergence while the response options are still inexpensive.
Considerations and limitations
Questions and limitations to consider
Watching the date instead of the rate
Monitoring the forecast finish while the underlying production trend goes unexamined.
Changing the method mid-job
Changing the measurement basis without evaluating its effect on comparability or explaining the adjustment.
Project Progress Monitoring
Talk to a consultant
Also in this practice
Developers, Owners & Public Entities Construction Administration Services
- Baseline Construction Schedule AnalysisReviewing a submitted baseline, its assumptions and the scheduling requirements.
- Schedule Update AnalysisChecking each update against the last, so drift is caught while it is small.
- Time Impact Analysis (TIA)Testing whether a submitted time impact analysis actually demonstrates what it claims.
- Request for Extension of Time AnalysisAssessing whether a time request is supported on the contract and the evidence.
- Change Order Requests AnalysisReviewing change documentation, pricing, schedule effects and contract administration.
- Requests for Equitable Adjustment AnalysisAuditing a request for equitable adjustment against the contract and the record.
- Assistance with Preparation for Schedule Requirement SpecificationsWriting the scheduling requirements so the project produces a record worth having.
- Estimating AssistanceTechnical cost checks on budgets, proposals and disputed valuations.