Measuring work Progress

1. PROJECT CONTROLS
Diaa Khalaf,
Civil Engineer, PMP,PMI-RMP
Sr. Project Controls Engineer

2. MeasuringWork Progress
Brief description of the project

3. Several methods for measuring work progress are suggested.
Five of these methods are as follows :
Calculating or Estimating the percent complete for .
Activity Project
1. Units Completed
2. Cost or Time Ratio
3. Start – Finish
4. Supervisor’s Opinion
5. Incremental Milestones

4. This method works well for activities with Small, Identical, Repetitive components, of easily measured production of easily
measured ,when each piece requires approximately the same level of effort.
1- Units Completed
Work Progress =
Units completed
Total units
For example, in an activity involving installing 5000 concrete blocks, 2000 have
been installed.
Percent complete =
2000
5000
*100 = 40 %
40%
• Laying bricks or CMUs (concrete masonry units),
• Excavating,
• Fishing electric wire, Installing tile or carpet, …..

5. For example, a project supervision activity scheduled for 10 months with a budget of SAR 200,000. After 2 months if SAR 38,000
is already spent, what is the percent complete ?
Cost Ratio =
Cost to Date
Total Budget Time Ratio =
Time Elapsed
Total Duration
Activities that Uniform throughout the project,
Long duration tasks or that are continuous during the life of a project,
which are estimated and budgeted on bulk allocations of money and workhours rather than on the basis of production.
• Project Management,
• Quality Assurance,
• Contract Administration,
• Project Controls ,
• Safety Inspection
Percent complete =
2
10
*100 = 20 %
Percent complete =
38,000
220,000
*100 = 17 % 17COST RATIO
20TIME RATIO
2- COST OR TIME RATIO:

6. Examples : Planning activities, flushing ,cleaning, testing
3- Start – Finish :
Have not started yet 0%
Started but not yet finished
(an arbitrary amount)
40% or 50%
Finished 100 %
Small activities or with no or a short
duration.
Where no intermediate milestones can
be defined
The effort/time required is very
difficult to estimate.

7. This method relies totally on the foreman or superintendent’s judgment.
Because it does not require actual measurements, it is considered the quickest
method.
Examples : Dewatering, Temporary construction, Landscaping
4- Supervisor’s opinion:
Used only for relatively minor tasks and where developing a more objective status
is not feasible.
used when no other method can be suitably
Be careful not to overuse this method.

8. The task is segmented into subtasks and each is assigned an increment of progress
“weight” for the entire task. Completing a subtask is the achievement task. of a
milestone.
Each subtasks assigned a ‘‘weight’’ that is approximately equal to its percentage share
of effort in the total task .
The milestone percentage is normally based. on the number of workhours required
5- Incremental Milestones:
Suitable for large and complex or multistage activities.

9. By Júlio Reis - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=934562
Roman milestone XXIX on Via Romana XVIII – the road linking the Iberian cities of Bracara Augusta and Asturica
Augusta
Milestones

10. http://www.dsw-photo.com/Travel/Road-Trip-To-Saudi-Arabia-Qata
Milestones

11. KANBAN BOARD

12. REFERENCE
Mubarak, Saleh. “Construction Project Scheduling and Control, Second Edition,”