Project Controls
Measuring, forecasting, and telling the truth
Project controls integrate scope, cost, schedule, risk, and reporting so the owner can make decisions early. The candidate must understand earned value management (EVM), variance analysis, forecasting, and the reporting cadence.
Core EVM terms: planned value (PV), earned value (EV), actual cost (AC). Cost performance index CPI = EV/AC; schedule performance index SPI = EV/PV. Estimate at completion EAC = BAC/CPI when the current cost trend continues. The trap is treating SPI as a pure time measure; SPI reflects schedule progress in cost terms and can mislead on the critical path. Always pair EVM with a critical-path schedule review.
Risk and contingency
A risk register captures probability, impact, owner, and response (avoid, mitigate, transfer, accept). Contingency covers known risks; management reserve covers unknown-unknowns. Traps include double-counting contingency in the base estimate and treating a risk register as a static document.
Reporting traps
- Comparing percent complete by cost to percent complete by schedule and calling it variance without explanation.
- Reporting only favorable metrics; trend and forecast matter more than a single period.
- Ignoring change orders not yet approved but likely; these belong in a forecast, not in silence.
Worked example
BAC = $20M, PV = $5M, EV = $4M, AC = $4.5M. CPI = 4/4.5 = 0.889; SPI = 4/5 = 0.80. EAC = 20/0.889 = $22.5M, a $2.5M overrun forecast. Schedule is behind. The CM reports both, plus the critical-path driver, and proposes recovery options rather than waiting for the next period.