Managing Scope Changes in Construction 

Over my career in the construction industry, starting out as an HVAC specialist and more recently as a consultant engineer in megaprojects across the Middle East, I’ve seen a lot of projects morph and adapt to scope changes. Scope changes are unavoidable in construction, and there are many reasons why a variation or a delay might arise: it could be a supply chain issue, an unexpected weather event, a compliance challenge… the list goes on. But what’s important isn’t trying to eliminate all instances of scope changes, as that is impossible – it’s about having a clear process for dealing with them, documenting them, and communicating with every stakeholder that needs to be on board. 

Early Experiences of Scope Changes

Early in my career, I worked as a trainee engineer contractor on a project in a defence laboratory. This is where I learnt that yes, there is a contract and we need to deliver something, but unfortunately, things come up that can create obstacles to delivering on time. In the lab project, we found out during the installation that the client wanted to be able to keep some areas of the lab’s HVAC system functioning 24/7, but for sustainability reasons, they didn’t want to have to keep the whole premises up and running. 

This was well within our capability, but it did mean that the lead times for material delivery and installation added weeks onto the project schedule. Because it was a client request, they were happy with this, but this was one of the moments in my career where I realised the importance of having specific processes for proposing, approving and communicating scope changes with all stakeholders on a construction project. Verbal changes happen all the time, but it’s critical that you document these variations so that there is transparency across all teams.

The Importance of Documenting Scope Changes

In that role I became the first project engineer in charge of implementing written documentation of scope changes for the next project I worked on. I created the process because I thought: “Well, irrespective of clients being happy with verbal approvals of changes, we are professionals delivering a project and we need to have something on paper.” If a key team member on the project left tomorrow, and no one knows what they have agreed with the client, it could be very problematic. We must have a paper trail so that anyone can understand the changes that have been made to a scope — it’s really important that this is documented and available to everyone who needs it. 

In my role as a project engineer, we used a company letterhead and wrote to the client about the specific change. We then included all of the supporting documents like quotations, and then added our company stamp to submit it officially. This meant that we had an official document and paper trail of every change made so that we could refer back to them as the project went on.

The Evolution of Documenting Scope Changes

The early example I just mentioned was at the beginning of my career, when digital processes were not yet common. We continued to create those handwritten documents, made Xerox copies, and filed them like that. But as I progressed, I started working as a consultant engineer in Saudi Arabia and digital processes for documenting scope changes became the standard. We handled all of these processes and documentation through SAP, with which we could create an electronic copy of a scope change document and then submit it to stakeholders. 

The software tracked actions like receipt of the document, sign off, and the date and time of approval. This creates a more centralised, user-friendly trail of documentation, which is really useful for making sure that everything is happening as it should be, and means everyone understands how a project’s scope has adapted and changed. Having this trail of evidence about scope changes, in strong processes with official documentation, is key to avoiding any disputes down the line. Whatever software you use, it’s really important to create and store all of the documentation regarding scope changes. 

Challenges with Scope Changes

One of the main challenges I’ve seen with scope changes concerns the level of detail that a client gives about what they want to change. As they say, the devil is in the detail! Sometimes people give a broad view of the variation that they want to implement, but it’s really important that you have clear and comprehensive information about everything that concerns the change. And if you don’t confirm these things at the beginning, they can soon create a bottleneck. The biggest issue here is often the budget. The client might not realise the financial impact of a variation because what might seem like a small change can have a knock-on effect on many other project actions and delay other activities. And extra time means extra budget. 

As an example, I once worked on a project in Qatar where there was a government regulation to procure locally produced materials. The client had a specific material in mind that they wanted to import, but we explained that in order to comply with the regulation, they needed to use a Qatari product. Initially, they weren’t keen, but regulations are regulations. When they found out that using that product would actually lead to a negative budget impact, meaning they would save money, and that the project could be completed quicker using the local product, they were very happy to agree to the scope change. 

Timely project completion was crucial, so understanding that the scope change to use Qatari resources would help them complete on time, as opposed to using the imported product with longer lead times, helped them understand that the change made sense. Of course, they needed to comply with the regulation anyway but showing them the time benefit made them happy. This is where documentation about scope changes can really help to show the benefit or impact of a variation. 

Strategies for Managing Scope Changes

The way I work on a project is I always try to see the entire project from start to finish. Every week we have a meeting on the monthly issues and the monthly forecast. But then on a monthly basis, I have to have a focus of where the entire project is, and how today’s activities will have an impact on activities at a later date, for example in six months’ time. For things like long lead items, this is really important. If we don’t have a ‘green signal’ on deliveries for this week’s items, this creates a domino effect on future activities, like installation. I need to coordinate with different disciplines on site, like dry liners, lift technicians and electrical engineers, so that everybody can do their jobs on schedule. 

The moment that any activities are delayed, the handover process could be delayed, too. So it’s really important to have a clear view on the status of every single activity and item to make sure that no one’s schedule is impacted, and that if there might be a delay, you communicate it well in advance. You need to think “how will today’s decision affect activities tomorrow, or next week, or next month?” Communicating every outcome is crucial. 

How Technology Helps Manage Scope Changes

Technology has a really positive impact on managing scope changes. We have lots of software available on site that helps everybody to see and review all the changes to scope that affect a project. We can save a lot of time using technology, because it makes it really easy to communicate with everyone.

For example, I can create a notification that immediately informs everybody of what change has been implemented that affects the scope and who will be impacted. Rather than waiting for a meeting, it allows us to generate these communications really quickly and make sure that everyone knows what has changed and if they will be impacted. And I can show them graphs or charts that indicate the changes to the timelines, that show them if we have saved time with a change, or if schedules will be delayed. This gives you much more visibility, which helps everyone understand the reality of a scope change. 

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