The work process is characterized by the following basic steps:
1) Identification and notification of a potential change
2) Preparation and verification of the change report
3) Review of change request by other affected areas
4) Review of change request by quality department
5) Approval of the change report
6) Approved change request
7) Rejected change request
8) Planning and implementation of change
9) Closure of change request
10) Follow up actions
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DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES
The work process is characterized by the following basic steps:
1) Identification and notification of a potential change
2) Preparation and verification of the change report
3) Review of change request by other affected areas
4) Review of change request by quality department
5) Approval of the change report
6) Approved change request
7) Rejected change request
8) Planning and implementation of change
9) Closure of change request
10) Follow up actions
The operating practices and responsibilities for each of the above-mentioned steps are described in
the following sections.
1) IDENTIFICATION AND NOTIFICATION OF A POTENTIAL CHANGE
Any member of a project team can request a change whenever there is a deviation or have identified
a problem or an improvement opportunity by reporting the situation to his immediate supervisor or
Project Manager. This also shall be a permanent item into the weekly department HSE meetings.
Another source for changes can be the Non Conformances raised as audits result that will require
adjustments in procedures and/or documents based on regulations or technical requirements.
Due to the importance of properly tracking the Changes, the Project manager is responsible for the
correct definition and implementation of the process with the support of the Sponsor since the
project start up. All the members of the Project Team shall be made fully aware of the paramount
importance of properly detecting, managing and tracking all the Remarkable Changes occurring
during the project life and in particular if deliverables have been already issued as “Approved for
Design” or information have been frozen. The project manager will ensure the applicability of a
change request at project level guaranteeing that Changes are promptly identified and tracked.
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Identification and notification of the occurrence involving a potential Change is ensured by each
team member. Project manager analyzes the occurrence and decides if it requires issuing a Change
Report.
For example, the following events should normally result in a Change:
Requests by Client or Sponsor causing a Change to the contractual scope of work, to the
strategy already defined and implemented or to the schedule;
Changes in the split of scope of work among partners;
Changes in the strategy, materials or services supply, that were defined in the bidding phase
and constituted the basis for building-up the budget, due to:
- Contract document review with effects on existing strategy;
- Review from which better solutions emerge;
- Review from which internal errors or underestimates emerge;
- Detection of supply nonconformities;
- Discovery of problems in the project;
Work sequences or operating practices different from those planned;
Changes or delays in the activities of a discipline that significantly affect the activities of
other disciplines;
revision of documents that have been subjected to the freezing procedure and have been
already frozen;
revision of documents corresponding to phase of the project already complete;
reworks due to configuration errors;
modifications due to vendors;
Modifications due to executing functions.
In case a project function other than the sponsor originates the Change, the originating function
notifies the need of the Change and the change control board activates the Change Management
procedure.
Project manager and Sponsor, together with the project organization positions affected by the
Change, define the impact on the project in terms of both costs and time.
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2) PREPARATION AND VERIFICATION OF THE CHANGE REPORT
On receipt of a Change Request the Project Manager shall perform an appraisal to the change
request to assess whether the change is necessary and applicable; if it is then he will issue a report
the Change Request to other affected Areas Managers, quality department, sponsor and
management.
The following aspects shall be considered:
Identify items and areas affected by the change;
Report to HSE Area about the change requirement and get the identification number for the
change requirement form;
Check whether procedures or work instructions need to be revised as a result of the change;
Identify technical requirements;
Identify additional personnel training requirements;
Require the additional affected areas their validation for the change (including client and
third party companies depending on the change effect), by sending them copy of the Change
Request;
Perform with the related areas and positions the Risk Assessment for the proposed change;
Review and update documents for those operations that will be affected with the change,
including the new conditions when introduced with the change.
Communicate the change requirement with the complementary information to Quality and
HSE areas for review and approval consideration.
Once the project manager has established that an occurrence results in a potential Change, he
ensures the preparation of the relevant Change Report and notifies all the impacted functions of the
project.
Project manager generating the Change shall fill in the form, including the collection of any
necessary related information from other project organization positions affected by the Change. The
Change Report shall summarize the items resulting from the Change and the relevant impacts in
terms of quantity, resource, cost and shall indicate whether the Change entails a Contract Change or
not.
The Change Report and the supporting documentation shall be verified and signed by Change
Control Board and then transmitted to project manager for approval. Project manager shall record
the Change as “in progress” in the Change Log.
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The quality department, supported by the Project HSE team, shall review the Change Log and the
Change Reports and fill the “HSE Impact” field in the form, to highlight any impact related to HSE
issues and identify the need for any corrective action or preventing or mitigating measures.
If the Change also entails a Contract Change, Sponsor, project manager and Contract Administrator
shall ensure, within their fields of expertise and with support from the Project Team, the preparation
of the necessary documentation for developing the Contract Change and shall support the project
functions in charge of the negotiation phase with the Client, Partner or third parties.
Whenever during the analysis the change is qualified as non-applicable, the result will be
documented, recorded on a form and a report will be done to the originator. Once the required
change has been authorized, the Project manager will implement all the required conditions for the
change to be effective, monitor the execution and feedback on the results after the change
application. For the temporary changes will keep close monitoring to maintain safe conditions
during operations. If the change is denied the Project manager will feedback the originator with the
relevant information for that decision, in any case will updated the format for Change Request Log.
3) REVIEW OF CHANGE REQUEST BY OTHER AFFECTED AREAS
Any proposed change can affect more than one area (location, procedures or personnel), in these
cases each area will be contacted and the area leader or manager will receive a copy of the change
requirement form already containing the information related to the change request, the affected
Area Manager shall:
Check the change requirement and identify the specific locations, procedures, documents,
equipment, materials or personnel under his area of responsibility will be affected.
Perform a risk assessment for the change and identify preventive actions to allow the
change, if acceptable.
Document the area analysis and decision on the change requirement form attaching all
relevant documents to be taken into account in order to apply the change in a safe manner
or reasons for deny the requirement and sign the requirement recording the decision.
Communicate the change requirement decision to the Project Manager who did the
requirement by signing on the Change Requirement Form.
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4) REVIEW OF CHANGE REQUEST BY QUALITY DEPARTMENT
Any change request must be reported to Quality Department in order to identify and verify different
documents, procedures, codes, etc. need to be taken in account during the change evaluation and
decision making process.
Quality function will report the different involved areas the necessary procedures adjustments
resulting from the proposed change, as well as any additional related technical consideration to be
validated during the process.
5) APPROVAL OF THE CHANGE REPORT
Project manager, assisted by the team members, the project control manager and the responsible of
the project functions impacted by the Change, shall analyze promptly the proposed Change Report
and, if deemed necessary, can revise the report updating the actions to be taken and the estimated
impacts in terms of costs and schedule.
Upon completion of the analysis and after obtaining any authorizations needed from the Client or
Sponsor (when necessary), project manager authorizes the Change by approving the document. A
copy of the document is sent to the concerned positions within the project organization.
Any activities related to the Change can’t be performed prior to project manager approval.
On receipt of communication related to the Change Request by the Project Manager, HSE function
shall:
Record the Change Requirement on the correspondent form Change Requirement Log.
Report to HSE Management the requirement for analysis and comments.
Advice Project Management on HSE aspects related with the change request.
Identify the need for detailed and multidisciplinary Risk Assessment and get involved in it.
Report the change requirement to the correspondent safety delegate for his comments.
6) APPROVED CHANGE REQUEST
Once the change request has been approved, the project manager shall ensure that all identified
previous requirements from different areas, necessary precautions and actions are taken to reduce or
minimize any risks incurred by the change implementation.
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The actions taken may include the amendment of a procedure or a work instruction and to
communicate this to relevant personnel, or it may mean that a meeting needs to be held to inform all
concerned parties of the impact of the change.
It also means that risk assessment analyses needs to be performed or updated with control measures
identified and implemented to minimize an risks represented by the change.
Particularly for operational, technical changes, the different area leaders should assist on the change
implementation for a final validation on conditions and arrangements prior to start the operation
under the new conditions.
7) REJECTED CHANGE REQUEST
A rejected change request shall be discussed with the originator or person who submitted it. The
reasons for the rejection shall be detailed on the change request and the Change request Register
updated. This feedback also shall be included on the department weekly meetings.
8) PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGE
Once the Change Request is approved, the implementation of the Changes is planned by the
concerned positions within the Project Team under project manager coordination and supervision.
Project manager keeps updated the Change Log. A copy of the log shall be distributed regularly to
project manager, project control, contract manager and contract administrator. The concerned
positions within Project Team will be in charge of implementing the necessary actions under the
supervision of the project manager. The project manager will be in charge of following up all
planned actions until their closure. When all necessary actions have been implemented, project
manager updates the Change status as “closed” in the Change Log.
9) CLOSURE OF CHANGE REQUEST
The project manager shall document on the change request a brief evaluation of the applied change
and any additional information related with the final implementation as additional measures taken
or specific points to monitor and feedback all the involved areas, with this final feedback the change
will be considered closed. Temporary changes must have a defined revision frequency and deadline
to return to a normal condition. Once the change is removed and back to normal condition, this also
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must be communicated to all personnel involved and included also on the welcome on board update
for the different crews.
10) FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Based on the approval process requirements for the change implementation HSE and QAQC
functions on the location will include the specific conditions into the regular area inspections in
order to ensure proper follow up to those conditions and any other unidentified hazard that could
appear after the change implementation.