Project Management Information Control
Management Information System
Some means of collecting, recording, and providing access to all of the essential information is needed in large public works projects, so the program manager assumes responsibility for establishing and maintaining a management information system.
This system incorporates budget and cost information from the master budget; schedule information; correspondence logs; status reports on safety, quality, and requests for information; project review schedules; and meeting minutes. The document contro1 process maybe incorporated into this system. The system can be equipped with a "firewall" that limits access to certain levels of information, depending on the requester's need for the information.
The trend today is to install the management information system on an Internet site so that all concerned parties can access the information. On major public works projects, portions of the information are even accessible to the general public. Examples include a description of the project, percentage complete, and pub1ic information bulletins (for example, notice of road closures). Passwords and various security measures control access to sensitive or private information such as workers' salaries.
Document Control
A major project involves thousands of documents. Most of these are critical, and if not properly handled can lead to additional expense to the owner. For example, the contractor may submit Requests For Information (RFIs) to the designer to clarify the designer's intent. If these requests are not handled promptly, the contractor may have to stop work on a particular task while waiting for information.
It is usual to establish a system by which every document is logged and tracked, and its receipt and eventual disposition is recorded. Documents requiring follow-up action are flagged in periodic reports. For example, if a change to the work is submitted, the resulting impact on the program budget and schedule are included in the cost forecast, and in the next update of the project schedule and critical path status.
The Document control system also interfaces with the cost and schedule modules.
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Time and Cost Control
