Project Management: Scope, Critical Path, Change Control, and Handover
The Project Management domain tests delivery of facility projects - a chiller replacement, a fit-out, a relocation - against scope, schedule, and budget, ending in a handover that actually works.
Core rules
- The charter authorizes the project; the scope statement defines what is in and out; the WBS decomposes deliverables into work packages.
- Schedule logic uses dependencies and durations. The critical path is the longest path through the network and has zero float; float = late start minus early start.
- The risk register records probability, impact, owner, and response for each risk.
- Change control: no scope change proceeds without an approved change order adjusting cost and schedule.
- Commissioning proves systems perform as designed. Distinguish substantial completion from final completion; track the punch list, as-builts, warranties, training, and lessons learned.
Worked example
Activities: A (4 days) precedes B (6) and C (3); B and C precede D (5). Paths: A-B-D = 15 days; A-C-D = 12 days. The critical path is A-B-D at 15 days; C has 3 days of float. The owner adds 2 days to B, so A-B-D becomes 17 days and the finish date moves to day 17. C now has 5 days of float because only critical activities drive the finish date.
Traps
Treating the critical path as the riskiest or most expensive activity; scheduling commissioning after the announced end date; accepting verbal scope changes; spending contingency because it looks unspent; and assuming float is free time to use up.