(64b) “Owner's Role in Contracted Engineering”

At one time in the Chemical Industry, owner engineering organizations were ?full service? organizations ? that is, these engineering groups had the capability of developing and executing projects from concept through startup. In the past 10 ? 15 years, economic conditions and a declining capital work load drove owner companies to downsize internal engineering staffing and concentrate on retaining ?core skill? individuals who prepare Front End Engineering and Planning work. As the present economic crisis continues, owner companies are reducing staffing even further and the remaining internal resources have the task of overseeing the current capital project workload which is now being assigned to external engineering contractors. In utilizing this leveraged approach to executing projects, a shift has taken place in the responsibilities of the internal owner engineering resources, moving from ?doing the work yourself? to ?supervising the work.? The challenge is to effectively transition from the ?document producing? internal organization, to a ?document reviewing? organization without compromising the quality of the capital projects, and still meet the goals and objectives of the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to define the key aspects of effectively and efficiently supervising Engineering Contractor activities from the Owner's perspective. Topics include:

? Typical Project Organizations (Owner and Contractor) for the execution of capital projects ? The effects of different Contracting types (Lump Sum, Cost Plus, etc.) on the supervision of Contractor efforts ? Definition of the Owner core ?Project Team? and other Owner support personnel participating in the project on a part-time basis ? Clear delineation of Owner and Contractor Roles and Responsibilities in the development, review and approval of engineering and design documents ? The importance of obtaining Owner Construction, Operations and Maintenance input into the review of technical documentation ? Development of matrices for the distribution of engineering and design documents ? The difference between levels of Owner document review, including o Approval (including what critical documents should be approved) o Review o Comment ? Effective Review of 3-D Models ? Listing of engineering/design deliverables and their development status for each phase of the Project ? Management of Scope Control and Change Orders during the Basic and Detailed Engineering phases