Management of Change (MOC) in Linear Infrastructure Projects

Change can impact key project areas

Management of Change (MOC) is commonly defined as a systematic approach to dealing with the transition of an organization’s goals, processes, or technologies. The purpose of MOC is to implement strategies for effecting change, controlling change, and facilitating individual’s adaption to change. MOC plays an important role in project management because each change request must be evaluated for its impact on the project. Project managers must evaluate how a change in one area of the project could affect other areas and what impact that change could have on the entirety. Organizations that effectively manage change can demonstrate their value and leverage this expertise as a differentiator.

When a change request has been approved or rejected, it must be documented to ensure the basis for the decision has been captured and kept as part of the project archives.

The wrinkle

Pipeline, fiber and electrical transmission capital projects add a wrinkle to an MOC process – geospatial context. For the initiated, MOC can refer specifically to the pipeline centerline. Throughout the evolution of a pipeline project the centerline is a critical component affecting all disciplines, functions, and phases. From Concept, FEED, Detailed Design, Construction to As-Built - effectively managing the centerline and communicating change is a constant challenge. Part of this challenge is due to all the stakeholders, often independent firms, which include:

Through the engineering & design phases keeping Engineering, Environmental, ROW and Survey in sync is crucial. These phases are also the most fluid thus changes are routine. So, the question becomes “which centerline are you using”.

I have personally been involved with projects where ROW is researching properties no longer affected, Environmental has surveyed wetlands no longer crossed and Engineering/GIS in possession of the current, approved centerline – not realizing any of these actions are occurring.

The power of where

Technology is a key component to solving the pipeline centerline MOC challenge. As previously discussed, pipeline centerline MOC requires a who, what, when and where workflow. During the engineering & design phases each stakeholder is a participant in the workflow and can initiate an MOC. Reroutes can occur for any number of reasons such as slope avoidance, future residential development, difficult landowner, archeological find, or even the mating season of an endangered species. The MOC workflow must capture the stakeholder initiating the change, reason for change, the affected location, proposed reroute and communication of the change. Stakeholders will use this map data to evaluate the reroute along with any remarks associated with the change. The change can come in from the field via a digital sketch, directly entered on a web map, etc. Each stakeholder is required to approve or reject the change and provide the rationale for their decision.

The path not taken

Projects weigh various aspects differently, for example a reroute originating from an environmental issue may cause additional land parcels to be crossed potentially increasing right-of-way costs. The environmental issue may outweigh the potential cost increase if it puts the project’s permit in jeopardy. These decisions can become complex and voluminous, so technology is a natural facilitator. All change requests must be logged regardless of approval or rejection as this provides the project with a valuable audit trail that will be used in the permitting process. From a regulatory perspective, where the centerline was not routed can be equally important as where it was routed.

Outperform

MOC’s key features include dashboards, reports, and maps that promote collaboration, alignment, and accountability of project team members. Managing change presents challenges to every pipeline project, but addressing those challenges also presents opportunities. Firms that properly manage change often can reduce costs, improve schedule, mitigate risk and secure the next project based on their performance.

Technology that can help

Project Management: Orbital Projects

Orbital Projects is a tool that helps you execute your project well. It now includes a powerful and flexible MOC module to keep your project on track. This in addition to project management reporting, mapping and data management tools. These combine to give you an accurate picture of where your project is today, and what needs to be done next.