Topock Final Remedy Construction Program Management

Preconstruction Program Management 

• PMO Development and Kickoff:
  • In collaboration with PGE, PMO partner, and program team members, developed PMO team, and PMO/Owner/Program team responsibilties during Topock Remedy construction program.
  • Developed schedule, financial, and change management controls.
  • Developed construction contract requirements to meet PG&E and PMO financial, safety, and regulatory/compliance requirements and manage program risks.
• Construction Scope Development:
  • Contract Scope Development: Converted project specifications and requirements into a project work breakdown structure and contractable scopes of work.
  • Developed procurement strategy for scopes of work, including evaluating procurement approach (e.g., sole source vs. bids) and required contractor qualifications for each construction scope of work.
  • Evaluated scope risks associated with the various construction scopes of work, recommend procurement and management approaches to mitigate these risks.
• Construction Engineering:
  • Value engineering: Reviewed project design and provided recommendations to Owner and PMO on potential design modifications that could reduce construction costs, and scope items that could be deferred/eliminated without risking essential Remedy effectiveness. 
  • Cost estimating: Developed budgetary estimates to aid Project Owner’s internal funding/budget development.
• Procurement:
  • PIVOX completed an industry survey of contractors, identifying an overall contractor pool, and pre-qualifying potential contractors for each scope of work.
  • Developed bid documents and selection criteria for each scope of work to be bid.  Administered the overall bid process, including soliciting bids, leading bidder conferences, coordinating responses bidder questions between the CM, engineer, owner, compliance.
  • Worked with the Owner, PMO, and engineer during proposal review to select a contractor.
• Construction Management Workflow:
  • Prior to mobilization, PIVOX worked with all project leads to push project readiness.  PIVOX developed and manage a project launch checklist to ensure the project was ready to safely launch and mobilize at the externally committed date.
  • PIVOX identified, procured, and setup the CM software platform (Procore).  Developed Procore workflows, including submittal, RFI, subcontracting, project meetings, project documents, and drawings.
  • Worked with Project Owner and compliance leads to develop and deliver construction orientation meetings to external stakeholders. 

Health and Safety Program Development and Administration

• Programmatic Safety Approach:
  • During preconstruction, PIVOX evaluated the project’s various H&S risks, and recommended the Owner adopt a top-down programmatic H&S approach, as opposed to relying on each contractor to independently develop and implement contractor-specific H&S measures.  This approach was instrumental in developing an overall culture of safety and consistent safety practices across a site with multiple contractors otherwise working independently.
  • PIVOX identified and subcontracted a specialist construction safety firm to develop and implement the sitewide construction H&S program.
  • PIVOX worked with the lead H&S management contractor, PMO, and Owner to write a programmatic health and safety plan that communicated project H&S risks, established project wide safety standards, and established a behavior-based approach for managing and tracking safety performance. This programmatic plan was provided to bidders to ensure that bidders had realistic expectations during bid development and was provided to contractors and external stakeholders to aid in development of their contract-specific H&S plans.
• Construction Safety Management and Oversight:
  • During construction, PIVOX provided top-level H&S oversight of all construction activities at the site, including confirming that all contractors were in compliance with their approved H&S plans.  Established and implemented a periodic contractor H&S audit approach to ensure conformance and establish a culture of continuous safety improvement.
  • Due to the remote nature of the site, challenging/limited-access work locations, and multiple simultaneous construction activities on any given day, PIVOX developed a site-wide personnel check-in/check-out and attendance management software platform and personnel badging system to ensure project leads were aware of all personnel on site.  PIVOX also developed a site-wide automated communications systems to allow rapid communication of site conditions or safety-related direction (e.g., evacuation notices) to all personnel on site regardless of location.
  • Reviewed all contractor H&S submittals, including all contractor job safety analyses, H&S plans, and personnel safety-related certifications.
  • Led collection of H&S tracking data and compiled/reported data to the Owner as part of the Owner’s H&S management program.
• Proactive Management to Site-Specific Hazards:
  • The PIVOX H&S team worked with contractor to develop protocols to manage extreme heat during the summer working season.  PIVOX developed hot-weather working protocols, including personnel body temperature monitoring, personnel acclimatization, and work/break cycles.
  • Developed site-wide COVID-19 protocols for all personnel to implement while on site.  Site-wide COVID-19 protocols were based on public health agency recommendations, Owner’s corporate COVID-19 protocols, and actual site conditions and construction requirements.  Protocols included personnel health assessments, required PPE, changes to ways-of-working, and efforts to minimize personnel on-site.  Construction activities were allowed to continue with zero on site COVID-19 transmission. 

 Construction Management:

• Contractor onboarding: PIVOX worked closely with all new contractors prior to and during their mobilization to ensure contractor leads (especially on-site leads) were aware of complexities with the project and complied with all QA, engineering, safety, and compliance requirements, such that each contractor was able to efficiently mobilize and initiate work.
• Project schedule: develop initial/baseline schedule, and update schedule periodically throughout project duration.  Develop customized schedules filters and reports as needed for project decision-making and external reporting.
• Scope: Track potential and realized changes in project scope, and coordinate execution of changes with contractors, engineers, and others.
• Financial Management: Earned Value tracking, budget burn rate tracking and forecasting.  
• Change Management: Develop and contract change events based on Owner/project-identified changes. Review contractor change claims and provide assessment to Owner and PMO.
• Workflow: Managed all construction management workflows, including submittals, RFIs, project meetings, archive all formal project documents.
• Closeout: Manage the final/acceptance inspection process with contractors, engineer, Owner/PMO.  Coordinate formal acceptance of work and contract closeout.