C3 Services
Our Case Summaries and other parts of the site show that our key
area of expertise is in the application of Information systems in
construction project environments. The main thrust of our effort is
directed at the development of Information Strategies for projects -
and for the project facing functions of organisations that carry out
projects.
Our work to date has been mainly with client organisations and
main contractors / construction management firms, so our approach
tends to focus on the efficiency and effective running of the
overall project organisation. This means that when we are called on
to advise individual firms we can do so with the broader picture of
their involvement in the project in mind. So, we believe we can
provide valuable, cost effective advice for the entire range of
project organisations: clients, consultants, project managers,
construction managers, general contractors and specialist trade
contractors.
We are confident that our customers will find that the actions we
initiate with them will lead to greatly improved Information
Management processes and decision making. We are also confident that
while these improvements can be achieved at very low cost, they will
nonetheless, become deep seated and enduring within the firm's
operations culture.
Services to Firms
Initial Information Management appraisals.
- One or two day reviews
of existing Information Management arrangements on individual
projects or in individual head office departments. The main
deliverable is a Summary Report, outlining our findings and, where
appropriate, recommending changes of practice or other corrective
actions. This can be used as a one-off stand-alone document, or it
can provide the scoping basis for a more detailed study.
Information Management Audit.
- This is a more detailed, more intensive, review of a firm's
projects in general, or of its project facing head office
functions. The key deliverable is an audit report identifying
the main areas of strength and weakness in the firm's practices,
and recommendations for improvement. The aim is to provide a
baseline guidance document to which project and functional
managers can refer with confidence in the future.
Information Management Standards and Procedures.
- The aim of this process is to develop an agreed set of
standards and detailed procedures for dealing with all of the
different types of project Information handled by the firm's
project teams and head office functions. We would aim to produce
a document that encapsulates good practice within the firm's
particular environment, without unreasonably constraining
enterprise and initiative.
- Most importantly, we aim to produce a living document, not just
another couple of inches of reference material. To this end, a
significant part of our effort is concerned with winning the active
support of functional and project managers. We do this through
training, where necessary, and also through direct involvement in
our work. Our specific aim in this is to make the managers we work
with, and thus, we hope, the firm as a whole, self-sufficient in the
area of project Information Management. To embed a deep sense of
what good Information Management practice really means in this
particular organisation is a key objective of ours.
Services to Projects
Our general emphasis is on the tools and techniques necessary to
manage the Information requirements of large modern projects
effectively. This can include advice on IT systems and services. But
more importantly, our services also include the design, negotiation
and implementation of effective Information Management standards and
of the processes and procedures necessary to support them in large,
multi-firm, dynamic project organisations.
We can help with all the main phases of large capital projects,
from the initial feasibility and project design work, through to
operation and maintenance of the facility. For each phase, we can
provide a range of services aimed at ensuring that the Information
used by the project's managers is as trustworthy and as verifiable
as possible.
Project Inception:
- Information Management Strategy:
- Overall Project Information / Data Standards:
- Document numbering, file naming, review and approval
procedures, Distribution processes, storage and archive
- Information Management Plan (IT Strategy and Standards)
- Implementation Assistance
Design:
- Design Information Management Plan
- General Information standards / procedures (Naming, numbering,
Review and Approval, distribution, storage etc.)
- Design / CAD / Modelling Standards:
- File / layer naming, line-styles, grids, orientation, viewports,
etc.
- Deliverables management, validation, revision management
- Definition of management targets: deliverables, budgets,
schedules, manpower, change control, progress assessment, reporting.
Procurement:
- Information Management aspects of:
- Contracts
- Procurement Procedures:
- Scope definition, bid evaluation, change control, progress
reporting, audit, vendor data management
Construction:
- Information Standards and Procedures in:
- Scope definition, production rates, change control
- Budgets, schedules
- Progress assessment
- Reporting, audit
- Hand-over / as built documentation