工程造价专业外文文献翻译中英文对照.docx

工程造价专业外文文献翻译中英文对照.docx

《工程造价专业外文文献翻译中英文对照.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《工程造价专业外文文献翻译中英文对照.docx（12页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

工程造价专业外文文献翻译中英文对照

外文文献：

ProjectCostControl:

TheWayitWorks

ByR.MaxWideman

Inarecentconsultingassignmentwerealizedthattherewassomelackofunderstandingofthewholesystemofprojectcostcontrol,howitissetupandapplied.Sowedecidedtowriteupadescriptionofhowitworks.Projectcostcontrolisnotthatdifficulttofollowintheory.

Firstyouestablishasetofreferencebaselines.Then,asworkprogresses,youmonitorthework,analyzethefindings,forecasttheendresultsandcomparethosewiththereferencebaselines.Iftheendresultsarenotsatisfactorythenyoumakeadjustmentsasnecessarytotheworkinprogress,andrepeatthecycleatsuitableintervals.Iftheendresultsgetreallyoutoflinewiththebaselineplan,youmayhavetochangetheplan.Morelikely,therewillbe（orhavebeen）scopechangesthatchangethereferencebaselineswhichmeansthateverytimethathappensyouhavetochangethebaselineplananyway.

Butprojectcostcontrolisalotmoredifficulttodoinpractice,asisevidencedbythenumberofprojectsthatfailtocontaincosts.Italsoinvolvesasignificantamountofwork,asweshallsee,andwemightaswellstartatthebeginning.Soletusfollowthethreadofprojectcostcontrolthroughtheentireprojectlifespan.

And,whileweareatit,wewilltaketheopportunitytopointouttheproperplacesforseveralsignificantdocuments.TheseincludetheBusinessCase,theRequestfor（acapital）Appropriation（forexecution）,WorkPackagesandtheWorkBreakdownStructure,theProjectCharter（orBrief）,theProjectBudgetorCostPlan,EarnedValueandtheCostBaseline.Allofthesecontributetotheorganization'sabilitytoeffectivelycontrolprojectcosts.

Footnote

IamindebtedtomyfriendQuentinFleming,theguruofEarnedValue,forcheckingandcorrectingmyworkonthistopic.

TheBusinessCaseandApplicationfor（execution）Funding

Itisimportanttonotethatprojectcostcontrolismosteffectivewhentheexecutivemanagementresponsiblehasagoodunderstandingofhowprojectsshouldunfoldthroughtheprojectlifespan.Thismeansthattheyexercisetheirresponsibilitiesatthekeydecisionpointsbetweenthemajorphases.Theymustalsorecognizetheimportanceofprojectriskmanagementforidentifyingandplanningtoheadoffatleastthemostobviouspotentialriskevents.

Intheproject'sConceptPhase

Everyprojectstartswithsomeoneidentifyinganopportunityorneed.Thatisusuallysomeoneofimportanceorinfluence,iftheprojectistoproceed,andthatpersonoftenbecomestheproject'ssponsor.

Todeterminethesuitabilityofthepotentialproject,mostorganizationscallforthepreparationofa"BusinessCase"andits"OrderofMagnitude"costtojustifythevalueoftheprojectsothatit

canbecomparedwithalltheothercompetingprojects.ThiseffortisconductedintheConceptPhaseoftheprojectandisdoneasapartoftheorganization'smanagementoftheentireprojectportfolio.

ThecostoftheworkofpreparingtheBusinessCaseisusuallycoveredbycorporatemanagementoverhead,butitmaybecarriedforwardasanaccountingcosttotheeventualproject.Nodoubtbecausethiswillprovideataxbenefittotheorganization.Theproblemis,howdoyouthenaccountforalltheprojectsthatarenotsocarriedforward

IftheBusinesscasehassufficientmerit,approvalwillbegiventoproceedtoaDevelopmentandDefinitionphase.

Intheproject'sDevelopmentorDefinitionPhase

TheobjectiveoftheDevelopmentPhaseistoestablishagoodunderstandingoftheworkinvolvedtoproducetherequiredproduct,estimatethecostandseekcapitalfundingfortheactualexecutionoftheproject.

Inaformalizedsetting,especiallywherebigprojectsareinvolved,thisapplicationforfundingisoftenreferredtoasaRequestfor（acapital）Appropriation（RFA）orCapitalAppropriationRequest（CAR）.

Thisrequiresthecollectionofmoredetailedrequirementsanddatatoestablishwhatworkneeds

tobedonetoproducetherequiredproductor"deliverable".Fromthisinformation,aplanispreparedinsufficientdetailtogiveadequateconfidenceinadollarfiguretobeincludedintherequest.

Inalessformalizedsetting,everyonejusttriestomuddlethrough.

WorkPackagesandtheWBS

TheProjectManagementPlan,ProjectBrieforProjectCharter

Ifthedeliverableconsistsofanumberofdifferentelements,theseareidentifiedandassembledintoWorkPackages（WPs）andpresentedintheformofaWorkBreakdownStructure（WBS）.

EachWPinvolvesasetofactivities,the"work"thatisplannedandscheduledasapartoftheProjectManagementPlan.Note,however,thattheplanningwillstillbeatarelativelyhighlevel,

andmoredetailedplanningwillbenecessaryduringexecutioniftheprojectisgiventhegoahead.

ThisProjectManagementPlan,bytheway,shouldbecomethe"bible"fortheexecutionphaseoftheprojectandissometimesreferredtoasthe"ProjectBrief"orthe"ProjectCharter".

ThecostofdoingthevariousactivitiesisthenestimatedandtheseestimatedcostsareaggregatedtodeterminetheestimatedcostoftheWP.Thisapproachisknownas"detailedestimating"or"bottomupestimating".Thereareotherapproachestoestimatingthatwe'llcometoinaminute.Eitherway,theresultisanestimatedcostofthetotalworkoftheproject.

Note:

thatprojectriskmanagementplanningisanimportantpartofthisexercise.Thisshouldexaminetheproject'sassumptionsandenvironmentalconditionstoidentifyanyweaknessesintheplanthusfar,andidentifythosepotentialriskeventsthatwarrantattentionformitigation.Thismighttaketheformofspecificcontingencyplanning,and/orthesettingasideofprudentfundingreserves.

Requestforcapital

Convertingtheestimate

However,anestimateoftheworkaloneisnotsufficientforacapitalrequest.Toarriveatacapitalrequestsomeconversionisnecessary,forexample,byaddingprudentallowancessuchas

overheads,acontingencyallowancetocovernormalprojectrisksandmanagementreservestocoverunknownsandpossiblescopechanges.

Inaddition,itmaybenecessarytoconverttheestimatingdataintoafinancialaccountingformat

thatsatisfiesthecorporateorsponsor'sformatforpurposesofcomparisonwithotherprojectsandconsequentfundingapproval.

Inpracticeallthedataforthetypeof"bottomup"approachjustdescribedmaynotbeavailable.

Inthiscasealternativeestimatingapproachesareadoptedthatprovidevariousdegreesofreliabilityina"topdown"fashion.Forexample:

OrderofMagnitudeestimate–a"ballpark"estimate,usuallyreservedfortheconceptphaseonly

Analogousestimate–anestimatebasedonprevioussimilarprojects

Parametricestimate–anestimatebasedonstatisticalrelationshipsinhistoricaldata

Whicheverapproachisadopted,hopefullythesumthusarrivedatwillbeapprovedinfullandprovestobesatisfactory!

ThisisthetriggertostarttheExecutionPhaseoftheproject

Note:

Somemanagementswillapprovesomelessersuminthemistakenbeliefthatthiswillhelpeveryoneto"sharpentheirpencils"and"worksmarter"forthebenefitoftheorganization.Thisisamistakenbeliefbecausemanagementhasfailedtounderstandthenatureofuncertaintyandriskinprojectwork.Consequently,theeffectismorelikelytoresultin"cornercutting"withanadverseeffectonproductquality,orreducedproductscopeorfunctionality.Thisoftenleadstoa"game"inwhichestimatesareinflatedsothatmanagementcanadjustthemdownwards.Buttobefair,managementisalsowellawarethatifmoneyisoverallocated,itwillgetspentanyway.Thesmartthingformanagementstodoistosetasidecontingentreservefunds,varyingwiththeriskinessoftheproject,andkeepthatmoneyundercarefulcontrol.

Ownershipofapprovedcapital

IfseniormanagementapprovestheRFAaspresented,thesuminquestionbecomestheresponsibilityofthedesignatedprojectsponsor.However,iftheapprovedcapitalrequestincludesallowancessuchasa"ManagementReserve",thismayormaynotbepassedontotheproject'ssponsor,dependingonthepoliciesoftheorganization.

FortheapprovedRFA,theprojectsponsorwill,inturn,furtherdelegateexpenditureauthoritytotheproject'sprojectmanagerandwilllikelynotincludeanyoftheallowances.Anexceptionmightbethecontingencyallowancestocoverthenormalvariationsinworkperformance.

Thenetsumthusarrivedatconstitutestheprojectmanager'sApprovedProjectBudget.

Note:

IfmanagementdoesnotapprovetheRFA,youshouldnotconsiderthisaprojectfailure.Eitherthegoals,objectives,justificationandplanningneedrethinkingtoincreasethevalueoftheproject'sdeliverables,orseniormanagementsimplyhashigherprioritieselsewherefortheavailableresourcesandfunding.

TheProject'sExecutionPhase

Theprojectmanager'sProjectBudgetresponsibility

OncethisApprovedProjectBudgetisreleasedtotheprojectmanager,areverseprocessmusttakeplacetoconvertitintoaworkingcontroldocument.Thatis,themoneyavailablemustbedividedamongstthevariousWBSWPsthat,bytheway,haveprobablybynowbeenupgraded!

ThisresultsinaprojectexecutionControlBudgetorProjectBaselineBudget,orsimply,theProjectBudget.InsomeareasofprojectmanagementapplicationitisreferredtoasaProjectCostPlan.

Onalargeprojectwheredifferentcorporateproductiondivisionsareinvolved,theremaybeafurtherintermediatestepofcreating"ControlAccounts"fortheseparatedivisions,sothateachdivisionsubdividestheirallocatedmoneyintotheirownWBSWPs.

Observethat,sincethetotalProjectBudgetrec