Activities in Mobilization Schedule

1) Depending on the project requirements, activities such as:
recruitment, work camp procurement & construction, site office p&c, site utilities (power, water, drainage), lighting, access roads, wheel wash, construction plant & equipment, site security, toilets, logistics, etc

2) Yes. The schedule should including everything required by the contract, including documentation (and if relevant, client approval of those documents)

Gary,

I am from the Contractor side and my PM wants to avoid submitting this mobilization schedule (baseline schedule is under preparation).

He wants me to check on the contract documents if this schedule is really required. Is this really a deliverables as per Contract, if so, where it is stated?

Many thanks,
Edniel

Afraid I haven’t read your contract, so I can’t say what’s required!

As a general rule, I wouldn’t have thought a seperate mobilisation schedule would need to be submitted -just included within the baseline schedule.

But your PM is right -the only way to be sure is to check the contract documents.

Dear Edniel,

If your contract is under FIDIC, then the Program of Works requirements will be under clause 8/3. Where it will state that the Program of works should be submitted within 28 days from the Commencement Date.

Since you are talking about a Mobilization Schedule, then you need to check your Contract Clauses and ensure that the duration of mobilization is within the Project Duration or not. If mobilization period is not included in the Project Duration, then you are have a special condition. And if the Contract does not specify exactly what they want to be submitted, then it is advisable to follow the senior management decision in this case.

With kind regards,

Samer

Samer,

Our contract is under FIDIC and no documents that says we have to submit this schedule, but the Engineer is insisting on it.

Can I wrote a letter and say it’s not a deliverable? I might offend the Engineer.

Please help.

Edniel

Are you working as subcontractor?

If yes, It’s normal to submit Preliminary Schedule or sometimes called Mobilization Schedule.

This will be incorporated later on for Detailed Programme CL.14.

The Purpose is for A Quick Overview / Discussion of the Initial Works.

Dear Edniel,

It depends on the size of project that you have. Sometimes, you need to make sure that the Electicity, Water, Waste, Safety, Laydown area, and others are secured within a larger system. This might be needed for coordination purposes with other trades.

The best action plan would be for the Project Manager (your party) to meet with the Engineer and discuss why this schedule is called for. Then, it will be a senior manager decision to submit or not.

The requirements of the Program of Works is outlined in clause 8/3 in FIDIC 1999 RED BOOK. You might want to read it well and incorporate all the required information in the Contract Program of Works.

If you have any other specific question, please let us know.

With kind regards,

Samer

All,

This is normally asked by the Engineer while waiting for the submission of Baseline Schedule.

Not an specific contractual requirement but when submitted will help both parties early discussions of pending items during this period.

Will help also the Contractor to revise their baseline schedule (under preparation) incorporating the comments of the Engineer.

You can call it also your initial 30 days look-ahead schedule.

Best regards,
R. Catalan

Dear Rommel,

If the Contract Documents are not asking for the submittal of a schedule, then it is a strategic decision to submit or not. Unless there is a good reason to commit to a schedule, why do you want to submit one.

With kind regards,

Samer

Rommel,

The engineer need to know what’s your plan before approving payment for the prelim. I guess.


Cheers..

Samer,

Look-ahead schedule is part of the periodic schedule reports.

It is just right for the Engineer to know what’s the Contractor’s plan during the first 1-4 weeks (before submission of baseline schedule).

Best regards,

Dear Rommel,

Contractually, if it is not written, you do not have to submit it. The first 4 weeks are not addressed by FIDIC 1999. This causes problems in this case and in the case of very large projects (not enough time to submit a complete schedule).

That is why it is left for management to decide on what is best to do.

With kind regards,

Samer

Dear Samer,

We’re not talking about the submission of the complete schedule. It is just a 4 week schedule to inform the Engineer what the Contractor is planning during the first 4 weeks which normally falls under mobilization period. Submission of complete baseline schedule takes around 21-30 days from LOA.

Clause 4.21 of FIDIC 99 calls for submission of progress reports, and the first report shall cover the period of the first calendar month following commencement date.

On the same clause under (h), calls for comparisons of actual and planned progress. If the Engineer has the 4 weeks schedule from LOA date, then he/she could track the progress of the Contractor. With this schedule, pending items can be discussed during weekly meetings that follows the commencement date.

Best regards,
Rommel

Dear Rommel,

Thank you for the scenario. I agree the monthly report is required for record keeping and the progress reporting.

The first 28 days is a gap that can be filled with the actual completed events.

You are correct in mentioning the requirements of the clause 4.21. But we have two cases:

a) Mobilization is outside the project duration.
b) Mobilization is within the project duration (this case).

And we have two requirements for FIDIC 1999:

a) Clause 8/3; submitting a Program of Works within 28days.
b) Clause 4/21; submitting Monthly report within 1st 7 days of each month.

The contractor must satisfy both. Keep one schedule, and make sure that it satisfies all your contractual requirements at the early stage and to the best of your managmenet experience.

With kind regards,

Samer
With kind regards,

Samer

Activities in Mobilization Schedule?

Well, what’s the purpose of the kick-off meeting (if any)? And I supposed there will always be minutes of meeting.

If your contract does not require you to submit any preliminary or mobilization schedule, and if I were the "Engineer" I would require you to put and discuss in the minutes of meeting what are the things you are going to do during your mobilization and make sure you commit with dates.

cheers!

The early stages of the contract are supposed to be what they call honeymoon period between the contractor and the client/engineer. It is the contractor’s interest not to start the war that early.

Cheers,

Anoon,

Definitely there will be meetings in between and the schedule will be used to track their deliverables during mob. period (layout of offices, connection to mains, material submittals, insurances, safety/qa-qc plans, etc.)

Nestor,
From Client’s side it’s better to encourage the use of scheduling softwares even during mob. period. We planners are accustomed to using scheduling software than Excel worksheets in tracking project deliverables. Still remember I’ve done a program for my wedding to monitor and control dates, not easy having a 30 days duration.

Best regards,
Rommel

Hi R,

It’s fast track huh..

Cheers,
Nestor

Hi,
I think Mobilization schedule is more likely to be a start up schedule. Usually a 4 week schedule which covers the initial requirements for starting the actual work i.e. kick -off meetings/ workshops, agree way forward with client, obtain client objectives, obtain required doc., initial mobilization activities, data collection, site inspection, meet project parties &... If this is not part of your scope & the engineer is insisting to submit it, you can submit it "for info" and clarify that this is submitted upon engineer request & is for informtion only & does not bring any contractual obligation for you.