Management of large reconstruction and retrofit projects

The successful practice of project management requires organised effort to defeat Murphy's so-called 'law', that everything that can go wrong will go wrong, and at the most inconvenient time. It requires clear objectives, careful planning and reviewing, good organisation and communication, controlled execution, meticulous monitoring and effective cost control. Small projects are often handled in-house or by a single contractor. Large projects are usually best done by specialist contractors controlled by a project management team. Such a team typically consists of a consulting engineer working with a client to achieve the client's objectives. This paper discusses the principles and practices of project management by such a team, and presents some cane histories of recent reconstruction and retrofit projects.