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

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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,sinc