Architecture and engineering project management

An architecture practice or an engineering firm lives off its hours: the product is the project, and the margin depends on the work costing what was estimated. At the same time, the project goes through well-defined stages (each with its deliverables and often its fees), through authorities that take as long as they take and through a client who changes their mind on seeing the drawings. Running it well takes three things: a plan by phases that matches the stages of the commission, hours control by phase and a change register that makes them visible.

The phases of an architecture or engineering project

PjMan comes with an "Architecture / Engineering" project template with six phases:

1. Preliminary design: the initial proposal, with the general solutions and how they fit the client's brief.
2. Basic design: the definition of the chosen solution, with the level of detail needed for approvals.
3. Detailed design: the full detail for construction, with drawings, specifications and bills of quantities.
4. Permits: processing permits and authorisations with the authorities.
5. Construction/Execution: following the construction or execution.
6. Handover: delivery, final checks and close-out.

When you create the project you pick the template and its phases are copied into the project, with their code (F001, F002…). They are independent copies: you can rename them, reorder them, add others (one phase per discipline, for example structures or services) or delete those you do not need, and each phase accepts sub-phases. If you later change the template, projects already created are left untouched. These phases are a proposal: adapt them to the terminology and stages of your country or your contract. (Creating a project, Master data and catalogues)

What tends to go wrong

• Fees are used up before the stages are. If nobody knows how many hours each phase takes, the deviation shows up when it can no longer be fixed.
• Client changes are absorbed without being charged. A "small" layout change forces drawings and quantities to be redone.
• Permits delay everything else, and the schedule depends on third parties you do not control.
• Many disciplines, many people. Coordination between architecture, structures and services gets lost in emails.
• Decisions are not put in writing. What was agreed with the client on a site visit is argued about months later.
• Project expenses are forgotten: travel, printing, professional endorsements, fees.

How PjMan helps

• Hours per phase, in plain sight. Each task carries its estimated hours, the team logs theirs and each phase shows logged against estimated hours. The project header gives the total deviation and you can set an hours budget. (Time and expense tracking)
• Planned and actual expenses. Record endorsements, fees, travel or materials, with their currency, on the project, on a phase or on a task, and compare planned with actual. (Expenses)
• Change requests. Each modification the client asks for is recorded with its estimated effort and its decision, so it can be justified and, where appropriate, charged. (Change requests)
• Contacts and communications. The register of the client's people, the authorities and other disciplines, and the project's email log, linked to phases and tasks. (Contacts, Communications)
• Minutes with follow-up tasks. Each agreement from a meeting or site visit generates its task, with owner and due date, so it is in writing. (Meeting minutes)
• Risks. A register with probability, impact and plan for what has not happened yet: a permit that is delayed, a supplier that does not deliver. (Risk register)
• Plan and work. The Gantt chart of the phases (read-only) to see the calendar, and a Kanban board of the tasks. (Kanban and Gantt)
• Each role, its own view. The PM runs the project, management sees the portfolio status read-only and each consultant sees their tasks.

A starting point, not a mould

The template's phases follow the usual sequence of a commission, but every project has its particulars: a small refurbishment may not need a separate basic design, and a large one may split the execution into construction stages. If you always work with the same pattern of stages, create your own template and use it in all your projects. The predefined template cannot be modified, but you can create your own from scratch.

Try it

Create your account, create a project with the "Architecture / Engineering" template and estimate the hours of the first tasks. Or explore the demo, which includes sample projects.