Solving Critical Schedule & Risk Issues on Major Public Infrastructure Projects
June 13, 2022
Netpoint, Presentations
In considering the delivery of major infrastructure projects, two of the vital issues to be addressed are meeting schedule requirements and the consequences of transferring risks from the public sector to the private sector. On major public infrastructure projects, the public sector’s scheduling requirements may be challenging to many private contractors who struggle to respond to the scheduling specification. The second major issue is the underpricing of risks and ineffective planning for the consequences of adverse risks that materialize. NetPoint has proven to be an effective tool to address the private partner’s scheduling requirements, manage high-level schedules, identify issues promptly, and contribute to reducing claims. NetPoint can also assist in the risk planning process and in evaluating the impacts, in real-time, of various risk scenarios. Jeffrey Plant draws from his experience on over fifteen major infrastructure projects and suggests a new paradigm for schedule and risk management on major infrastructure projects.
Jeffrey Plant
Mr. Jeffrey Plant is an accomplished infrastructure delivery professional with extensive transportation, environmental, and building project experience for clients that include railway and transit authorities; design-build contractors and private developers; building owners and facility managers; consulting engineers; government ministries, departments, and agencies; international financial institutions; concessionaires; municipalities; First Nations; and industries. Mr. Plant has honed his scheduling, negotiating, and dispute resolution skills on hundreds of projects reviewing claims, analyzing positions, preparing expert reports, and participating in settlement meetings on multiple change order and claims issues. He has also prepared evidence and provided support to attorneys during litigation.
Q&A
Utility coordination risk is a big one. Getting utilities to move around is a considerable risk for contractors to manage. Environmental permitting is another.
Yes, many contractors are familiar with qualitative risk assessments rather than quantitative. However, risk is an important and growing technical area that needs more training and understanding by contractors and project teams.
PPPs are not managed consistently across the US because numerous agencies deliver projects, and each PPP relationship can be different. Canada has managed many PPP models that have proven effective.
No, not much of a problem. However, a discussion on project risk can sometimes lead to questioning initial estimates or scheduling. This can become problematic.