IndividualMember $99.00 | Non-Member $159.00
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INSTRUCTOR: Howard Birnberg
Course Length: 90 minutes
Purpose and Background
The preparation of design budgets and the monitoring of costs are major activities for design firm project managers. Although they are often performed separately, both are basic to a firm's profitability and success in providing effective professional services. The project budgeting process has two interdependent aspects: estimating compensation, and determining the actual detailed project budget by phase or activity. Neither can be adequately performed without the other. Once a budget and scope of services has been established, the project manager must monitor the work and segregate any labor and expenses for activities outside of the contractual scope. Scope creep is a major source of lost profits for engineers and requires establishing controls before any contract is signed. This webinar discusses what considerations need to be assessed before signing a design services contract. It also discusses the design fee budget and why projects run over their design budgets.
Primary Discussion Topics
- Before you sign a design services contract
- Scope preparation and controlling scope creep
- Managing project change orders-forms and process
- Design fee budgeting
- Why projects run over their design budget
- Controlling project design costs
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Evaluate your ability to meet the scope and budget requirements of a project
- Develop your ability to effectively control scope changes
- Describe the various approaches to project budgeting
- Discuss the factors contributing to your project exceeding its fee budget
- Examine the tools available to effectively monitor project design costs
- Review suggested scope planning and contract forms to help you plan a project's scope of services
Webinar Benefits
- Simplify the process of communicating scope changes to clients and project team members
- Learn about effective software for monitoring project budgets
- Objectively evaluate your firm's cost structure before signing a contract
- Develop the ability to examine why a project went over budget
- Consider approaches to turn troubled projects around
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).
Intended Audience
- Civil engineers
- Architects
- Other engineering disciplines
- Facilities managers/clients
Webinar Outline
- What to consider before you sign a design services contract
- Scope preparation and management
- Scope of services planning formats
- Managing project design change orders
- Suggested forms to communicate changes
- Communicating changes to clients and team members
- Design fee budgeting process
- Resources
- Contract types
- Monitoring design costs
- Forms
- Software
- Why projects run over their design budget
- How to control project design costs
How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.
How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?
1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]