Execution, Procurement, and Stakeholder Communication
Domain 5 tests directing and managing the work: contract selection, vendor and submittal management, communication planning, team coordination in occupied facilities, and disciplined handling of changes during installation.
Procurement and contracts
- Match contract type to specification maturity. Firm fixed price shifts cost risk to the seller and suits a mature, well-defined scope. Time and materials suits undefined or emergency work but needs ceilings and close oversight. Cost plus suits evolving scope with high administration.
- Unit-rate schedules are common on security installations for adding or deleting devices; use them when pricing changes.
- Administer the contract: submittals and shop drawings, requests for information, schedule of values, invoices tied to installed and verified work, and warranty and spares terms.
Communication and team
- The communication plan states who needs what, when, in what format, and the escalation path. A RACI assigns one accountable person per activity; two accountable names means no accountability.
- Kickoff sets ground rules and confirms interfaces with owner-supplied work - network, power, conduit, badge access, escorts, work permits, after-hours access in occupied buildings.
- Safety during execution: lockout/tagout, working at height, protected egress routes in occupied facilities.
Worked example
Twelve additional cameras are requested while the integrator is installing under a firm fixed-price contract that carries a unit-rate schedule. Reasoning: first confirm this is a genuine requirement and that funding exists; then require a written, priced change order using the contract unit rates within the specified response window; evaluate the impact on the acceptance date and on owner-supplied network drops; approve in writing before work proceeds. Never issue a verbal go-ahead, and never accept a verbal market rate when the contract already prices the device.
Traps
- Giving the installer verbal direction that later becomes a disputed change.
- Writing a RACI with two accountable parties or none.
- Awarding time and materials with no ceiling, no reporting, and no audit rights.
- Treating the integrator schedule as the project schedule and missing owner-supplied dependencies.
- Forgetting site logistics and permits, so crews stand idle on day one.