Soil Environment Engineering Practice and Project Management
Domain scope
This domain tests project delivery for soil and groundwater projects: scope, schedule, budget, quality assurance, health and safety, permitting, and stakeholder communication.
Core rules and concepts
- Define scope, deliverables, assumptions, and exclusions before estimating cost or schedule.
- Use a work breakdown structure, critical path method, and contingency appropriate to uncertainty.
- Permits and regulatory review often control the schedule more than field work.
- Quality assurance includes planning, audits, and corrective action; quality control includes field and laboratory checks.
- Health and safety planning follows hazard assessment, site safety plans, PPE, and HAZWOPER training where required.
Worked example
Tasks: A = 3 d; B = 5 d after A; C = 2 d after A; D = 4 d after B and C. Paths are A-B-D = 12 d and A-C-D = 9 d. The critical path is 12 d. Task C has 3 days of float.
Traps that cost marks
Ignoring permit review time; using optimistic estimates without contingency; skipping QA/QC; and failing to document assumptions and changes.