13/04/2023 Ziad Albasir Bidding & Tendering, Budget, Business Development, Business Transformation, Cost Control, Project Cost Controls

Change Orders: Where It Can Be a Gateway to Construction Fraud and Misconduct

Agenda Contents Introduction. 2 Understanding the scope of works. 2 The Fraud Scenarios in Change Orders. 3 Conclusion. 5 Introduction Fraud and misconduct in construction have become a pervasive problem globally, with up to $5 trillion expected to be lost to corruption by 2030. One of the areas where these illicit activities often occur is during the change order process, where individuals on the client side collude with contractors to engage in fraudulent practices. The aim of this article […]

27/03/2023 Ziad Albasir Cost Control, Forecast, Leadership, Main Pages, Planning & Control, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office, Strategic Planning

“How Big Things Get Done” Book Review – Part 2, The Success

Success road is always paved with failure. Success which creates value and benefits is rare as shown in part 1 of this review. That’s why part 1 of the Book “How Big Things Get Done” review was first about failure not success. Success starts by learning from others’ failures before you learn from yours. The provided cases give us very good positive learning. The book discussed many successful mega medium and small projects cases to understand how projects team succeed […]

16/01/2023 Ziad Albasir Planning & Control, Portfolio Management, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office

Fighting Corruption In Construction Industry

The USA, Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs released the following on 14th Nov 2022 “A construction company owner became the third person to plead guilty for his role in a bid-rigging and bribery scheme involving California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) improvement and repair contracts. According to a plea agreement filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, Bill R. Miller engaged in a conspiracy, from April 2015 through at least December […]

15/01/2023 Ziad Albasir Cost Control, Planning & Control, Portfolio Management, PPMO, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office

Bidding Project Portfolio System

Winning new projects nowadays is very tough considering the market conditions and high competition. To compete successfully, businesses must have a clear understanding of their industry, the competition, and their customers. They must also create and implement strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition. This can include having a unique product offering, providing superior customer service, offering competitive pricing, and utilizing effective marketing and advertising tactics. Additionally, businesses must stay on top of industry trends and be agile in responding […]

15/01/2023 Ziad Albasir Cost Control, EPMO, EPPM, Planning & Control, Portfolio Management, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office

Cost Management For Contractors

Cost management is more crucial to the contractors than other parties during contract execution. Some contractors are still in the dilemma on working on huge unsecured excel sheets and late reports from site and misalignment between the construction team and the head office departments which support and monitor the project. EVM system is on tool to monitor the cost and profit on real time every single day using Primavera P6 EPPM system. Earned Value Management (EVM) is a widely used […]

27/11/2022 Ziad Albasir PMO, Portfolio Management, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office

Project Charter

The project charter is an important part of the project development. It is the first control ground for the project. If the project doesn’t have a project charter, the project owner is missing a very important control of the project. Having an approved project charter / brief means that the project manager and the board are: 1- Understand and agree the terms of reference of the project. 2- They are willing and able to commit their time to the direction […]

20/05/2019 Ziad Albasir Planning & Control, PMO, Portfolio Management, Project Cost Controls, Project Portfolio Management Office

Project Controls Vs. PMO

In the world of project management, there are several different terms used to describe the organizational structures that oversee projects. These terms include project control departments, Enterprise Project Management Offices (EPMOs), Program and Portfolio Management Offices (PPMOs), and Project Management Offices (PMOs). While each of these structures serves a similar purpose, there are some key differences between them that are important to understand, particularly for contractors and developers. Project Control Department A project control department is a centralized unit within […]

12/02/2019 Ziad Albasir Main Pages, PMO, Project Cost Controls, Shared Resources, Strategic Planning

Do You Measure GDP Contribution In Portfolio Management Model?

Investment on infrastructure is a critical factor for country economic health and wealth. It enables the private sector and individuals to invest and produce goods and services more efficiently. Infrastructure spending by the government or in partnership with private sector is generally, expected to result in higher economic output in the short term by stimulating demand and in the long term by increasing overall productivity. However, there are many factors involved to understand and calculate the infrastructure contribution to the […]

11/07/2018 Ziad Albasir Annual Budget, Budget, Cost Control, EPMO, EPPM, Forecast, PMO, Project Cost Controls, Resources Planning, Shared Resources

How to Budget EPMO/EPPM – Part1?

Calculation of the annual forecasted cost for budgeting purposes for EPMO and EPPM is a challenge for many Project Based Organisations (PBO). I am not talking here about contracted defined projects which is easy to forecast. I am talking here about permanent staff, shared staff and non-project cost budgeting. We see this also in pre-construction stage where the development of the project studies and design are on progress. We see this mainly in the client’s side, developers, consultants, project management […]