Managing Infrastructure risk: Five steps to a well-defined scope explains that the project scope, setting out the baseline, aims and objectives of a project, defines the level of risk and certainty within the programme during the early stages.
Getting it wrong can have a serious impact on project performance, says the BSI. But by addressing the issue from the start, UK construction could save between £10bn and £25bn a year.
While contract conditions define the roles and responsibilities, forms of communication, payment mechanisms, how changes are dealt with, how disputes or disagreements are resolved, and other core provisions such as termination, the scope (often referred to as a ‘project brief’, ‘employer’s requirements’ of ‘schedule of information’) forms a portion of the contract describing the work to be performed on the project.
Problems often arise if the scope lacks clarity, is incomplete or fails to identify risks and how to control them, says BSI.
The paper, written by BSE head of consulting, George Sethia, and built environment consultant Alyaa Hassona, offers five ways in which organisations can improve project scoping and reduce risks.
First is to build an understanding of the criticality of the scope and treat it as the critical driving document. Current guidance lacks an emphasis on client requirements in favour of other parts of the contract: “The sector needs to make a shift to focus on clearly defining the scope and contract, instead of the emphasis being solely on the contract,” says BSI.
The second tip is to be clear about the interaction with uncertainty and risk. “There should be a recognition that ‘known unknowns’ and ‘unknown unknowns’ will form scope gaps that can result in unknown risks, says BSI.
Third is to ensure that the right people are drafting the project scope. The skills required to draft a complete, clear and controlled scope have been de-prioritised in recent years – a trend that must be reversed, says BSI: “The task requires the right mix of technical, contractual and writing skills, with in-depth knowledge of the programme.”
The fourth measure is to put in place a clear process for producing the project scope. Having a clear, logical plan ensures that key elements, such as feasibility studies, due diligence and cost estimating are not dealt with in isolation.
And finally, BSI recommends a complete set of clear, easy-to-follow and usable guidance material covering the four preceding points and general structure and support in drafting scope documents, will help to manage this risk of change.
“All focus should be on defining the project scope,” said Sethia. “Getting it wrong can have drastic consequences on project performance. By contrast, addressing this from the start could contribute to £10bn–£25bn per year in cost savings.”
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