Project Management Series: The Project Development Phase - Defining Scope, Schedule, and Budget
This 3-part series will present practical steps for conducting the Project Development Phase of a capital project. The focus will be on building projects. Each of the three modules of the class will be offered at least two times between mid-April and mid-May 2017.
Capital projects sometimes begin with an identified site, a well-written space program, and an approved budget. Other times the site, size of facility, funding source, budget, and schedule are not yet established. And sometimes, major policy questions regarding the business purpose for the project are not yet clearly articulated. These classes will offer guidance for dealing with all of these uncertainties, while moving a capital project though this crucial initial phase.
Attendees will learn the steps for establishing a clear building space program and developing a preliminary project schedule. Attendees will learn how to create an initial project budget, based on a robust financial model of the entire capital project, from the initial planning phase, through design, construction, move-in, and project close-out. The final class will address how to prepare an expenditures plan, to model the project’s cash flow, and review key concepts and strategies for navigating the uncertainties of the Project Development Phase.
Capital projects sometimes begin with an identified site, a well-written space program, and an approved budget. Other times the site, size of facility, funding source, budget, and schedule are not yet established. And sometimes, major policy questions regarding the business purpose for the project are not yet clearly articulated. These classes will offer guidance for dealing with all of these uncertainties, while moving a capital project though this crucial initial phase.
Attendees will learn the steps for establishing a clear building space program and developing a preliminary project schedule. Attendees will learn how to create an initial project budget, based on a robust financial model of the entire capital project, from the initial planning phase, through design, construction, move-in, and project close-out. The final class will address how to prepare an expenditures plan, to model the project’s cash flow, and review key concepts and strategies for navigating the uncertainties of the Project Development Phase.
Part 1 Defining the project scope and schedule: Facilitating development of the client’s business plan, writing the facility space program, drafting the preliminary schedule, and developing the cost estimator’s estimate.
Part 2 Developing the project budget: A strategic approach for managing a capital project budget. Preparing a project budget based on a robust financial model of the total cost of construction, project control (soft costs), as well as accounting for real estate transactions, fees related to the source of funding, and one-time operating costs.
Part 3 Creating the expenditure plan and a review of key concepts: How to quickly prepare an expenditures plan that meets the needs of the Controller’s Office of Public Finance. The expenditures (or encumbrance) plan models a capital project’s cash flow at a high level, without getting bogged down in the details of project delivery. We will also review key concepts and strategies for navigating the uncertainties of the Project Development Phase that were presented in the first two classes.
About the presenter: Jim Buker is an accomplished Senior Architect who has worked at Public Works for 31 years. During the last 12 years, Jim has guided multiple major projects through the uncertainties of the Project Development Phase until the project scope and funding were approved. Once approved, he then handed those projects off to other Public Works project managers for project completion. He has played key roles in the development of the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bond Programs approved by voters in 2010 and 2014, the 2016 Public Health and Safety Bond Program, and replacement of the Animal Care and Control Facility.