Capital Projects Update Q4 2019
Title: Capital Projects Update - Q4 2019Seeing important projects stay on time and on budget is an important issue for many residents. There have been many concerns in the past regarding the City’s project management process, and in 2015 there were clear recommendations on changes that needed to be made. You can read more about these changes in my previous blog post: Project Management Throughout the Years. As project management is an ongoing conversation, I think it is important to keep you all updated on the latest performance reports provided to city council.
Project Development and Delivery Model
The Project Development Delivery Model (PDDM) was recently implemented and no profiles have yet been completed under this new approach. This is a new approach that was put in place because of the previous audit of some of our significant capital projects. This new approach provides further oversight to projects by completing checkpoints throughout the duration of the project. I feel that it’s important to separate this method for our reporting so we can see if we have improved from our previous performance.
Of the 41 significant standalone capital profiles in this report, 15 profiles are being delivered under PDDM. 15 out of 15 (100%) are reporting within an acceptable tolerance (composite profiles with green or yellow status) for budget and 12 out of 15 (80%) are within acceptable tolerance for schedule. The majority of composite profiles are new in the 2019-2022 Capital Budget, and as a result 68.3 percent of approved budget for significant composite profiles is being delivered under the PDDM. While we are only a year into using our new model, I don’t want to get too excited about the results but the trend is certainly positive. The results over the next two years will provide us with a better picture of the effectiveness of the changes that have been made. I’m confident as these changes were all informed by a thorough audit by our City Auditor.
The Reporting Process
There was an adjustment made to how we classify each project and I want to share that information with you so you know what is considered a green, yellow, or red project.
Red Project Status
Develop stage projects with a greater than 30% variance from adjusted original budget or schedule.
Deliver stage projects with greater than 20% variance from adjusted original budget or schedule.
Profiles/projects not being delivered under the Project Design and Deliver Model with greater than 20% variance from last approved budget or schedule.
Yellow Project Status
Yellow status is meant to flag profiles that are projecting over the approved budget or schedule, but still within an acceptable tolerance.
Develop stage projects report yellow status when between 0%‐30% variance from adjusted original budget or schedule.
Deliver stage projects report yellow status when between 0%‐20% variance from adjusted original budget or schedule.
Legacy projects report yellow status when between 0%‐20% variance from last approved budget or schedule.
Green Project Status
Project is on/under cost and on/ahead of schedule.
The percentages below include projects that are listed under the yellow status. This is because these projects have been identified as having a strong potential to be brought back into green status. This is also a standard reporting process in many other industries.
Standalone Capital Projects Of the 220 current standalone profiles within the 2019-2022 Capital Budget, 41 are considered significant and included in the December 31, 2019 Capital Financial Update. For reference, significant capital projects include those projects over $20 million in value as well as a few projects that fall below that threshold but are considered significant due to their impact on communities (ex: neighbourhood renewal.) These 41 standalone projects make up 89.4% of the approved budget for standalone profiles. 99.8% - On budget93.6% - On or ahead of schedule
Composite Capital Projects There are 125 composite profiles active in the 2019-2022 Capital Budget, of which 34 are considered significant and reported in the December 31, 2019 Capital Financial Update. Some of the spending in 2019 is being captured in 2015-2018 composite profiles in projects that were underway prior to 2019.
96.9% - On budget
96.5% - On schedule
Council receives Capital Financial Updates quarterly and I will be sure to post those as we receive them. In the meantime, feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions or concerns.
Written by K. Machin and A. Knack
