2 minute read
CIOB Planning Protocol 2021
Legal
Manoj Bahl FTI Consulting A scalable tool for creating effective programmes
Advertisement
THE NEW CIOB PLANNING PROTOCOL 2021 AIMS TO REMOVE THE SUBJECTIVITY THAT OFTEN EXISTS WHEN ASSESSING SUITABILITY OF A PROJECT PROGRAMME, EXPLAINS MANOJ BAHL
The new CIOB Planning Protocol 2021 aims
to help planners create robust schedules and mitigate risk. Previously known as the CIOB Programming Protocol, this is the institute’s latest initiative to drive forward the successful delivery of projects in the industry and it is a powerful one.
Experience shows that the production of a programme by a contractor is often flawed from the outset of a project – due to time pressures, unknowns and a lack of due diligence – and often only a limited review of the programme is undertaken by an employer. This often results in inadequately produced programmes being adopted by a project team.
This can make it difficult, if not impossible, to understand the forecast completion date, progress, the planned or as-built critical paths, the impact of change, or the liability for any delays. This adversely affects all stakeholders.
So, creating best practice guidelines for use in the production and verification of a construction programme would clearly be of huge benefit to all those involved in the life of a project, and resolving disputes afterwards.
For the tool to be relevant to all the stakeholders, broad planning expertise and input was required. Paul Taylor, from Mace’s planning team, and Keith McCall, from the Arup project management team, joined me to provide their extensive experience.
Between us, we identified the key elements which a programme ought to comply with (stress tests), and guidelines (thresholds) which could be universally adopted by project teams to produce or verify a programme to assist in the management and timely delivery of a project.
From a practical perspective, the ‘pass/ fail’ nature of the protocol should make it easy for parties to understand what is required of the construction programme, removing the subjectivity that often exists when assessing suitability.
The result of this work is a tool, specific to the UK industry but intended for use internationally, which is being used by contractors, project managers and clients to assist in the preparation of high-quality programmes. It also ensures that a reliable programme is available to help resolve time-related disputes, and has been used as the starting point for a number of delay analyses.
