Project planner / data management form

[cadtag]

Has anyone put together a document or form for kicking off a project, one that would list out the administrative information on the project, and segue into the cad-specific stuff? I'd need to include a scope of work, submittal(s) required, where/how data is handled (eg C3d stuff), client requirements, etc.

Ideally a single page Word doc, that can be updated/revised as the project goes forward. (Getting tired of ad-hoc non-solutions that always seem to bite me at the end of the budget)

[cadtag]

here's what I've slapped together to-date. comments and criticisms welcome

[BlackBox]

Hard to say; do you not typically have a signed contract before project kick-off?

I cull much of what I need from that; if it's not specified (or implied) in the contract, then it doesn't get worked on... It also doesn't hurt the budget to under-promise (yeah, that'll take a week) and over-deliver (hey boss, got that thing done a couple of days early; what do you need me to do next?). Haha

Regardless, perhaps it would be prudent to identify the municipalities/agencies with jurisdiction for on-site and off-site improvements, as a way of expediting some of the permit & code-required criteria gathering, for everything from zoning and unit density, to parking space dimensions, etc. Most of that is standard for each municipality / agency, but then there are those special circumstances where 'this' or 'that' is also required to accomplish what the client is wanting.

Have you considered using something like XMind or Visio?

[cadtag]

Thanks, presuming we actually have a contract up front, the PM is unlikely to communicate the real scope of work to the people doing the work. Part of what i want to accomplish with interjecting yet-another-form into the process is forcing communication to happen more effectively.

Including jurisdictions is a great idea, ought to help out as you indicate. And partners -- since we usually are teaming with half a dozen other outfits on ACOE jobs.

[BlackBox]

Thanks, presuming we actually have a contract up front, the PM is unlikely to communicate the real scope of work to the people doing the work. Part of what i want to accomplish with interjecting yet-another-form into the process is forcing communication to happen more effectively.

You can't fix stupid anymore than you can convince a smoker to stop smoking - they have to choose it for themselves.

Sometimes, it's easier to get what you want by giving them _exactly_ what they want, YMMV.

Including jurisdictions is a great idea, ought to help out as you indicate. And partners -- since we usually are teaming with half a dozen other outfits on ACOE jobs.

Happy to help; absolutely, including partners and their roles for a given project would be most helpful.

Don't forget to include CAD platform & version(s)... We had a similar situation once, where our partner was using a newer version of Civil 3D than our corporate CAD group had rolled out enterprise-wide, so I made the request based on the project's requirements to work with said partner, they asked for a copy of the contract (which included this version requirement) and they had to give it to our entire office... Which then became our standard version for everything, of course. Haha

Hope this helps!

[Wanderer]

Has anyone put together a document or form for kicking off a project, one that would list out the administrative information on the project, and segue into the cad-specific stuff? I'd need to include a scope of work, submittal(s) required, where/how data is handled (eg C3d stuff), client requirements, etc.

Ideally a single page Word doc, that can be updated/revised as the project goes forward. (Getting tired of ad-hoc non-solutions that always seem to bite me at the end of the budget)

Back when I worked at the hospital, I tried getting our corporate PM dept to make a form like this. We had a huge problem of document deliverables not funneling through a single point for any project. I wanted a form so their people (not versed in engineering documents) could check what trades were involved in a project and ensure the project wasn't closed out until they'd all been received, or for my side, since I didn't know the scope until after occupancy, I wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting time looking for disciplines that weren't touched by a particular renovation.
They'd finally just started doing it then let go the guy in charge and he was replaced with less experienced people and it never went anywhere.

So, in short... no, no form.