Monitoring progress

The purpose of monitoring progress is to identify problems areas and to provide the latest estimate of likely completion of the works. Monitoring progress is carried out regularly on most, if not all, construction projects and the employer will usually require regular reports and updates.

Generally, progress will be monitored by simply entering data into the planned programme and setting the computer to recalculate the activity timings (reschedule) using the updated information or to produce a simple graphical representation. This task does not require further commentary and the following considers the monitoring of progress in other ways.

Record keeping 

Maintaining appropriate records is essential, particularly when a dispute requires a retrospective view of the project. It also reflects effective project management and control.

Contractors maintain records, either as a matter of company policy, as a management tool, due to contract requirements and/or to comply with statutory duty. Many records provide information about the progress of the works, for example:

• progress meeting records;
• programme progress updates;
• contemporaneous short term programmes and updates;
• marked-up drawings;
• progress photographs, video and webcams;
• general correspondence;
• concrete pour records;
• quality control inspection sheets;
• daily weather records;
• general meeting minutes; and
• formal subcontractors' handover and inspection sheets.

Unfortunately in practice many of these records turn out to be either in insufficient detail, inaccurate or are incomplete and in some cases not kept at all. It is inevitable that some of the contractor's site staff will be more conscientious than others when it comes to record keeping. As a result, the quality and detail of records is likely to vary considerably for different sections and time periods of the works.

As-built programme

An 'as-built' programme indicates the actual timing of the activities rather than the planned timing. These programmes are retrospective rather than prospective. They provide a means of monitoring progress and, if necessary, providing evidence to substantiate and quantify the assessment of delays.

Some planning computer software will allow actual start and finish dates to be recorded as part of the updating process and thus an as-built programme is compiled simply by regularly updating the planned programme with the progress achieved. This will produce a programme that provides a comparison between what was planned and what actually occurred.

This will however only record as-built progress in respect of what was planned and will not necessarily include additional works. Furthermore only actual start and end timings will be recorded which will not indicate any periods of inactivity. As such additional records will need to be maintained.