工程造價專業(yè)外文文獻(xiàn)翻譯項目成本控制

1、外文文獻(xiàn)：Project Cost Control: The Way it WorksBy R. Max WidemanIn a recent consulting assignment we realized that there was some lack of understanding of the whole system of project cost control, how it is setup and applied

2、. So we decided to write up a description of how it works. Project cost control is not that difficult to follow in theory.First you establish a set of reference baselines. Then, as work progresses, you monitor the work,

3、analyze the findings, forecast the end results and compare those with the reference baselines. If the end results are not satisfactory then you make adjustments as necessary to the work in progress, and repeat the cycle

4、at suitable intervals. If the end results get really out of line with the baseline plan, you may have to change the plan. More likely, there will be (or have been) scope changes that change the reference baselines which

5、means that every time that happens you have to change the baseline plan anyway.But project cost control is a lot more difficult to do in practice, as is evidenced by the number of projects that fail to contain costs. It

6、also involves a significant amount of work, as we shall see, and we might as well start at the beginning. So let us follow the thread of project cost control through the entire project life span.And, while we are at it,

7、we will take the opportunity to point out the proper places for several significant documents. These include the Business Case, the Request for (a capital) Appropriation (for execution), Work Packages and the Work Breakd

8、own Structure, the Project Charter (or Brief), the Project Budget or Cost Plan, Earned Value and the Cost Baseline. All of these contribute to the organization's ability to effectively control project costs.FootnoteI

9、 am indebted to my friend Quentin Fleming, the guru of Earned Value, for checking and correcting my work on this topic.The Business Case and Application for (execution) FundingIt is important to note that project cost co

10、ntrol is most effective when the executive management responsible has a good understanding of how projects should unfold through the project life span. This means that they exercise their responsibilities at the key deci

11、sion points The Project Management Plan, Project Brief or Project Charter? If the deliverable consists of a number of different elements, these are identified and assembled into Work Packages (WPs) and presented in the f

12、orm of a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).? Each WP involves a set of activities, the “work“ that is planned and scheduled as a part of the Project Management Plan. Note, however, that the planning will still be at a relat

13、ively high level,and more detailed planning will be necessary during execution if the project is given the go ahead.? This Project Management Plan, by the way, should become the “bible“ for the execution phase of the pro

14、ject and is sometimes referred to as the “Project Brief“ or the “Project Charter“.? The cost of doing the various activities is then estimated and these estimated costs are aggregated to determine the estimated cost of t

15、he WP. This approach is known as “detailed estimating“ or “bottom up estimating“. There are other approaches to estimating that we'll come to in a minute. Either way, the result is an estimated cost of the total work

16、 of the project.Note: that project risk management planning is an important part of this exercise. This should examine the project's assumptions and environmental conditions to identify any weaknesses in the plan thu

17、s far, and identify those potential risk events that warrant attention for mitigation. This might take the form of specific contingency planning, and/or the setting aside of prudent funding reserves.Request for capitalCo

18、nverting the estimate? However, an estimate of the work alone is not sufficient for a capital request. To arrive at a capital request some conversion is necessary, for example, by adding prudent allowances such asoverhea

19、ds, a contingency allowance to cover normal project risks and management reserves to cover unknowns and possible scope changes.? In addition, it may be necessary to convert the estimating data into a financial accounting

20、 formatthat satisfies the corporate or sponsor's format for purposes of comparison with other projects and consequent funding approval.? In practice all the data for the type of “bottom up“ approach just described ma