CMPM Q1

• The construction industry is the largest industry in the world and is more of a service than a manufacturing industry.
• Growth in the construction industry is an indicator of the economic conditions of a country as it consumes a wide employment circle of labor.
• A project is defined by the following characteristics: a defined goal or objective, specific tasks to be performed, a defined beginning and end, and resources being consumed.
• The functional manager manages and "owns" the resources in a specific department, such as IT, public relations, or marketing, and generally directs the technical work of individuals from the functional area who are working on the project.
• The STAKEHOLDERS may be involved in the creation of the project charter, project management plan, approve project changes, identifying constraints, requirements, and be involved in risk management.
• Deliverables are tangible products, services, or results that will be produced during the project.
• Key dates to meet along the way of a project can be determined.
• Completion criteria for a project is how it will be known when it is done, such as starting up a new service or testing it for a week before it is done.
• Expectations from a project can be identified, such as holding a quarterly debriefing meeting and submitting a progress report.
• Potential risks in a project can be identified and built in checks and balances to help avoid or minimize them.
• The project life cycle may be viewed as a process through which a project is implemented from beginning to end.
• Any increase in the scope of work requires a corresponding increase in budget and schedule.
• The role of the Sponsor is to provide the financial resources for the project, and usually taken over by senior management in the performing organization.
• This principle of a balance between scope, budget, and schedule is sometimes not fully recognized during early project development as well as during design and construction.
• The role of the Team is to help plan and execute what needs to be done by creating WBS and time estimates for their work packages or activities, completing work packages or activities, and helping look for deviations from the project management plan.
• The role of the Project Manager is to determine the resources needed, negotiate with resource managers for optimal available resources, confirm availability of resources assigned, create a project team directory, create project job descriptions for team members and other stakeholders, make sure all roles and responsibilities are clearly assigned, understand the team members' needs for training related to their work, create recognition and reward systems, and create a formal plan covering topics as how team will be involved in the project and what roles they will perform.
• All project performance are measured against: Scope, Schedule, Cost/Budget, Quality, Resources, Risks, and Customer Satisfaction.
• Any decrease in scope of work results in a corresponding decrease in budget and schedule.
• The preconstruction phase of a project can be broken into conceptual planning, schematic design, design development, and contract documents.
• During conceptual design, the owner hires key consultants including the designer and project manager, selects the project site, and establishes a conceptual estimate, schedule, and program.
• During schematic design, the project team investigates alternate design solutions, materials and systems.
• Design development is the stage where the main systems and components of the project are designed.
• Design Development - Good communication between owner, designer, and construction manager is critical during this stage because selections during this design stage affect project appearance, construction and cost.
• Schematic design - This stage takes the project from 30% design to 60% design.
• Specifications, also called specs, are the details of the work that needs to be completed in a construction project.
• A Project Manager protects the project outcome and is concerned with scope, schedule, cost, quality.
• Terms of contract - While this is rarely a problem in public construction contracts, the private industry sector has a greater potential for problems, due to more informal exchanges in determining the boundaries of a contract.
• There are three types of specifications: Prescriptive Specifications, General Specifications, Product Specifications, and Execution Specifications.
• Performance Specifications are the operational requirements of the project.
• Portfolio Management manages dissimilar projects or programs, while Program Management manages similar projects.
• The Theory of Constraints represents an important principle of project management: a balance is necessary between the scope, budget, and schedule.
• Subject matter must not be illegal.
• An Operations Manager prioritizes service continuity and is concerned with capacity and service delivery.
• Terms of the contract should be clear enough that an independent third party can determine whether the two parties performed as promised.
• Construction contracts today generally fall into one of the following categories: Cost of the Work Plus a Fee, Stipulated or Lump Sum, Design - Build.
• Offer and acceptance indicate that there has been a meeting of the minds or mutual assent.
• Proprietary Specifications are specifications that require a single type of product for any kind of installation.
• Contract documents - The final preparation of the documents necessary for the bid package such as the drawings, specifications, general conditions, and bill of quantities is done in the contract documents stage.
• Consideration is the last element of a valid contract.
• Contracts are generally economic exchanges; therefore, something of value must be exchanged.