PARALLEL ACTIVITIES - Two or more activities than can be done at the same time. Allows a project to be completed faster than if activities were arranged sequentially. See also: FAST-TRACK(ING). (August 2007) PARAMETRIC ESTIMATE - In estimating practice, describes estimating algorithms or cost estimating relationships that are highly probabilistic in nature (i.e., the parameters or quantification inputs to the algorithm tend to be abstractions of the scope). Typical parametric algorithms include, but are not limited to, factoring techniques, gross unit costs, and cost models (i.e., algorithms intended to replicate the cost performance of a process of system). Parametric estimates can be as accurate as definitive estimates. (January 2003) PARAMETRIC RISK ANALYSIS - Methods using parametric estimating wherein the input parameters are risk drivers and the outputs are a quantification of risk. Typically applied for systemic risks. See also: RISK, SYSTEMIC; RISK ANALYSIS. (December 2011) PARENT - A higher-level element in a hierarchical structure. See also: CHILD. (June 2007) PARENT ACTIVITY - Task within the work breakdown structure that embodies several subordinate child tasks. (June 2007) PARETO DIAGRAM - A histogram, arranged by frequency of occurrence, which shows how many results were generated by each identified cause. (June 2007) PARETO’S LAW - Syn.: EIGHTY-TWENTY RULE. (December 2011) PARTIAL UTILIZATION - Placing a portion of the work in service for the purpose for which it is intended (or a related purpose) before reaching substantial completion for all the work. (November 1990) PATH - A continuous chain of activities within a network. (June 2007) PATH CONVERGENCE - A condition where multiple CPM activities precede a shared event. (August 2007) PATH DIVERGENCE - A condition where multiple CPM activities succeed a shared event. (August 2007) PATH FLOAT - Syn.: FLOAT; SLACK. (June 2007) PAYBACK METHOD - A technique of economic evaluation that determines the time required for the cumulative benefits from an investment to recover the investment cost and other accrued costs. See also: DISCOUNTED PAYBACK PERIOD (DPP); SIMPLE PAYBACK PERIOD (SPP). \[1\] (November 1990) PAYOFF (PAYBACK) PERIOD - Syn.: PAYOUT TIME. (November 1990) PAYOUT TIME - The time required to recover the original fixed investment from profit and depreciation. Most recent practice is to base payout time on an actual sales projection. Syn.: PAYOFF (PAYBACK) PERIOD. See also: SIMPLE PAYBACK PERIOD (SPP). (November 1990) PAYROLL BURDEN - Syn.: LABOR BURDEN. (May 2012) PDM - Syn.: PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMMING METHOD (PDM). (November 1990) PDM ARROW - A graphical symbol in PDM networks used to represent the lag describing the relationship between work items. (November 1990) PDM FINISH TO FINISH RELATIONSHIP - This relationship restricts the finish of the work item until some specified duration following the finish of another work item. (November 1990) PDM FINISH TO START RELATIONSHIP - The standard node relationship, where a successor activity starts after the predecessor finishes. Routinely used in ADM. (August 2007) PDM START TO FINISH RELATIONSHIP - The relationship restricts the finish of the work item until some duration following the start of another work item. (November 1990) PDM START TO START RELATIONSHIP - This relationship restricts the start of the work item until some specified duration following the start of the preceding work item. (November 1990) PERCENT COMPLETE - An estimate of the percentage complete for an element as of a particular data date. Percent complete is calculated differently in different context: (1)In scheduling, this term means completed duration over total duration. (2)In earned value, a comparison of the technical work completed compared with the current project of total work required. It is not based on resources expended but rather technical scope completed. In other words, technical accomplishment (earned value) percent complete is work accomplished divided by total scope. (3)In earned value, overall earned value (EV) percent complete can be calculated as Budgeted Cost of Work Performed /Budget at Completion (or BCWP/BAC). (4)In earned value, percent complete as spent is Actual Cost of Work Performed/Estimate at Completion (or ACWP/EAC). (October 2013) PERCENT ON DIMINISHING VALUE - Syn.: DECLINING BALANCE DEPRECIATION. (November 1990) PERFECT (AND IMPERFECT) INFORMATION - Perfect information is information or data that is known to be absolutely correct (i.e., there is no uncertainty associated with it). Imperfect information is information or data for which there exists uncertainty. See also: VALUE OF PERFECT INFORMATION. (December 2011) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT BASELINE (PMB) – (1)The time-phased budget plan against which contract performance is measured. (2)In earned value management according to the ANSI EIA 748 standard, the assignment of budgets to scheduled segments of work produces a plan against which actual performance can be compared. The PMB is the time-phased project execution plan against which performance is measured. It includes direct and indirect costs and all cost elements. It also contains undistributed budget. PMB + management reserve (MR) = contract budget base (CBB) unless an over target baseline (OTB) has been implemented. See also: BASELINE. (October 2013) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM – (1)An organization’s defined processes for monitoring and updating project and/or organization progress at a detailed level over time. (2)A quantitative tool (for example, rate, ratio, index, percentage) that provides an indication of an organization's performance in relation to a specified process or outcome. See also: KEY PERFORMANCE INDICTATORS (KPI). (June 2007) PERT (PROGRAM (OR PROJECT) EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE) - Along with CPM, PERT is a probabilistic technique for planning and evaluating progress of complex programs. Attempts to determine the time required to complete each element in terms of pessimistic, optimistic, and best-guess estimates. (June 2007) PERT ANALYSIS - A process by which you evaluate a probable outcome based on three scenarios: 1) Best-case; 2) Expected-case; and 3) Worst-case. The outcome in question may be duration of a task, its start date, or its finish date. (June 2007) PERT CHART - A flowchart that shows all tasks and task dependencies. Tasks are represented by boxes and task dependencies are represented by lines connecting the boxes. In this instance, a PERT chart is not based on PERT probabilistic activity durations. (June 2007) PESSIMISTIC TIME ESTIMATE - The maximum time required for an activity under adverse conditions. It is generally held that an activity would have no more than one chance in a hundred of exceeding this amount of time. (November 1990) PHANTOM FLOAT - The difference between the “theoretical remaining” total float and the “actual remaining” total float. (March 2010) PHASE - A major period in the life of an asset or project. A phase may encompass several stages. See also: LIFE CYCLE. (June 2007) PHASED CONSTRUCTION - Implies that construction of a facility or system or subsystem commences before final design is complete. Phased construction is used in order to achieve beneficial use at an advanced date. See also: FAST-TRACK(ING). (August 2007) PHYSICAL PERCENTAGE COMPLETE - Percentage of technical work scope of an activity or project achieved as of a particular date. Physical completion of any activity represents the most accurate, unbiased measure or appraisal, tempered with judgment and experience. Physical completion is not linked to work hours budgeted or expended. (October 2013) PHYSICAL PROGRESS - The status of a task, activity, or discipline based on pre-established guidelines related to the amount or extent of work completed. See also: METHOD OF MEASUREMENT; PHYSICAL PERCENTAGE COMPLETE. (November 1990) PHYSICAL RESTRAINT - A situation in which a physical activity or work item must be completed before the next activity or work items in the sequence can begin (e.g., concrete must harden before removing formwork). (June 2007) PLAN – (1)Formalized, written method of accomplishing a project task. (2)An intended future course of action. (3)The basis for project controls. (4)A generic term used for a statement of intentions whether they relate to time, cost or quality in their many forms. (5)A predetermined course of action over a specified period of time which represents a projected response to an anticipated environment in order to accomplish a specific set of adaptive objectives. (June 2007) PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) CYCLE – (1)Universal improvement methodology, advanced by W. Edwards Deming and based on the work of Walter Shewart, designed to continually improve processes by which an organization produces a product or delivers a service. (2)The foundation for the Total Cost Management (TCM) process. Syn.: DEMING CYCLE. \[8\] (June 2007) PLANNED ADVERSE WEATHER DAY - Expressed as the number of days within a period of time (typically specified month) that a project can be expected to be affected by adverse weather. The number of planned adverse weather days is calculated by a review of historical weather data obtained from a reliable weather source supplemented or validated by actual experience at or near the work site. See also: ADVERSE WEATHER; NORMAL WEATHER; UNUSUALLY ADVERSE WEATHER DAY; WEATHER DAY: WEATHER EVENT; WEATHER PREPARATION DAY; WEATHER RECOVERY DAY. (September 2015) PLANNED COST - The approved estimated cost for a work package or summary item. This cost when totaled with the estimated costs for all other work packages results in the total cost estimate committed under the contract for the program or project. (November 1990) PLANNED DURATION (PD) - The planned project schedule duration in time increments. (November 2014) PLANNED DURATION OF WORK REMAINING (PDWR) - The unearned portion of the project planned duration. (November 2014) PLANNED VALUE (PV) - Measure of the amount of money budgeted to complete the scheduled work as of the data date. PV changes are subject to baseline control restrictions. Syn.: BUDGETED COST OF WORK SCHEDULED (BCWS). (October 2013) PLANNER - In project control, a team member with the responsibility for planning, scheduling and tracking of projects. They are often primarily concerned with schedule, progress and manpower resources. (June 2007) PLANNING – (1)The determination of a project's objectives with identification of the activities to be performed, methods and resources (cost, hours, time, materials, etc.) to be used for accomplishing the tasks, assessment of both value and risks, assignment of responsibility and accountability, and establishment of an integrated plan to achieve completion as required. (2)In planning and scheduling, the identification of the project objectives and the ordered activity necessary to complete the project (the thinking part) and not to be confused with scheduling; the process by which the duration of the project task is applied to the plan. It involves answering the questions: 1) What must be done in the future to reach the project objective?; 2) How it will be done?; 3) Who will do it?; and 4) When it will be done? (October 2006) PLANNING HORIZON - In an MRP system, the span of time from the current to some future date for which material plans are generated. This must cover at least the cumulative purchasing and manufacturing lead time and is usually substantially longer to facilitate MRP II. See also: MRP; MRP II. (November 1990) PLANNING PACKAGE - A logical aggregation of work within a cost account, normally the far term effort that can be identified and budgeted in early baseline planning, but which will be further defined into work packages, level of effort (LOE), or apportioned effort. See also: WORK PACKAGE. (November 1990) PLANNING PHASE - Syn.: DEFINITION PHASE; DEVELOPMENT PHASE; FRONT END. (June 2007) PLANNING SESSION - A meeting of the principal members of the project team for the purpose of establishing a consistent scope basis for control by defining manageable segments that meet the specific needs of the project. (June 2007) PLANT OVERHEAD - Those costs in a plant that are not directly attributable to any one production or processing unit and are allocated on some arbitrary basis believed to be equitable. Includes plant management salaries, payroll department, local purchasing and accounting, etc. Syn.: FACTORY EXPENSE. (November 1990) PLUG DATE - A date assigned externally to an activity that establishes the earliest or latest date when the activity is scheduled to start or finish. Syn.: CONSTRAINT DATE. (November 1990) POINT ESTIMATE - Syn.: BASE ESTIMATE; SINGLE POINT ESTIMATE. (December 2011) POLICY - Definitive position of an organization on a specific issue. A policy provides a basis for consistent and appropriate decision making and defines authority and accountability within the organization. See also: DECISION POLICY. (June 2007) PORTFOLIO - An array of assets–projects, programs, or other valuable and often revenue-producing items–that are grouped for management convenience or strategic purpose. When strategically combined, the portfolio assets serve to create synergies among and otherwise complement one-another. (August 2007) PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT – (1)Direction and oversight of an array of assets grouped together for strategic purpose or convenience. (2)In total cost management (TCM), this is considered an aspect of strategic asset management (SAM). See also: PORTFOLIO. (August 2007) POSITIVE FLOAT - Amount of time available to complete non-critical activities or work items without affecting the total project duration. See also: FLOAT. (June 2007) PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMMING METHOD (PDM) – (1)A notation of a network that places the activity on a single node. A superset of the activity on node (AON) method, which allows additional precedent relationships along with lead and lag times. See also: FINISH-TO-FINISH (FF); START-TO-FINISH (SF); START-TO-START (SS). (2)An activity-oriented system in which activities are displayed in uniform boxes complete with activity number, start duration and finish dates. The logical relation between activity boxes is shown by logic connector lines. Lead and lag times can also be shown. The display is more effective than arrow diagramming and is also easier to revise, update, and program on computer. Syn.: PDM. See also: CRITICAL PATH METHOD (CPM); PERT (PROJECT EVALUATION AND REVIEW TECHNIQUE). (June 2007) PRECEDING EVENT - Syn.: BEGINNING EVENT; PREDECESSOR EVENT; STARTING EVENT. (November 1990) PRECISION - Consistency that the value of repeated measurements are clustered and have little scatter. See also: ACCURACY. (November 2016) PRECONSTRUCTION CPM - A plan and schedule of the construction work developed during the design phase preceding the award of contract. (November 1990) PREDECESSOR - An activity that immediately precedes another activity. (March 2004) PREDECESSOR ACTIVITY – (1)An activity that must necessarily be completed before its successor activity may start. (2)Any activity that exists on a common path with the activity in question and occurs before the activity in question. (June 2007) PREDECESSOR EVENT - Syn.: BEGINNING EVENT; PRECEDING EVENT; STARTING EVENT. (November 1990) PREDICTABILITY - The degree of uncertainty in respect to predictions of behavior or occurrence (in TCM, typically used in respect to cost and schedule predictions and expressed as an accuracy range). See also: ACCURACY RANGE; CONFIDENCE INTERVAL; RANGE. (November 2020) PREFERENTIAL LOGIC – (1)Contractor's approach to sequencing work over and above those sequences indicated in or required by contract documents. Examples include equipment restraints, crew movements, form reuse, special logic (lead/lag) restraints, etc., factored into the progress schedule instead of disclosing the associated float times. (2)Modeling execution work flow in a CPM schedule using logic ties, constraints and other mechanisms contrary to the expected norm for that type of effort. May or may not be an attempt at float suppression, float ownership, or necessary to model the expected means and methods actually used in this instance more accurately. The term preferential logic normally has a negative connotation. See also: DISCRETIONARY DEPENDENCY. (June 2007) PRELIMINARY CPM PLAN - CPM analysis of the construction phase made before the award of contracts to determine a reasonable construction period. See also: PRECONSTRUCTION CPM. (November 1990) PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING - Includes all design-related services during the evaluation and definition phases of a project. (November 1990) PRESCRIPTIVE - Laid down as a guide, direction, or rule of action specified. Usually implies instructions that are given step-by-step in some detail and that are to be followed without questioning, i.e. what is to be done, rather than how it is to be done, i.e. descriptive. (June 2007) PRESENT VALUE - The value of a benefit or cost found by discounting future cash flows to the base time. Also, the system of comparing proposed investments, which involves discounting at a known interest rate (representing a cost of capital or a minimum acceptable rate of return) in order to choose the alternative having the highest present value per unit of investment. This technique eliminates the occasional difficulty with profitability index of multiple solutions but has the troublesome problem of choosing or calculating a "cost of capital" or minimum rate of return. Syn.: NET PRESENT VALUE; PRESENT WORTH. \[2\] (November 1990) PRESENT VALUE FACTOR – (1)The discount factor used to convert future values (benefits and costs) to present values. (2)A mathematical expression also known as the present value of an annuity of one. (3)One of a set of mathematical formulas used to facilitate calculation of present worth in economic analysis involving compound interest. Syn.: PRESENT WORTH FACTOR. \[2\] (November 1990) PRESENT WORTH - Syn.: NET PRESENT VALUE; PRESENT VALUE. (November 1990) PRESENT WORTH FACTOR - Syn.: PRESENT VALUE FACTOR. (November 1990) PREVENTION - Quality activities employed to avoid deviations; includes such activities as quality systems development, quality program development, feasibility studies, quality system audits, contractor/subcontractor evaluation, vendors/suppliers of information/materials evaluation, quality orientation activities, and certification/qualification. (November 1990) PRICE - The amount of money asked or given for a product (e.g., exchange value). The chief function of price is rationing the existing supply among prospective buyers. (November 1990) PRICE INDEX - A number which relates the price of an item at a specific time to the corresponding price at some specified time. See also: COST INDEX. (May 2012) PRICING - In estimating practice, after costing an item, activity, or project, the determination of the amount of money asked in exchange for the item, activity, or project. Pricing determination considers business and other interests (e.g., profit, marketing, etc.) in addition to inherent costs. The price may be greater or less than the cost depending on the business or other objectives. In the cost estimating process, pricing follows costing and precedes budgeting. (June 2007) PRICING, FORWARD - An estimation of the cost of work prior to actual performance. It is also known as prospective pricing. Pricing forward is generally used relative to the pricing of proposed change orders. See also: PRICING. (November 1990) PRICING, RETROSPECTIVE - The pricing of work after it has been accomplished. See also: PRICING. (November 1990) PRIMARY CLASSIFICATION - The classification of commodities by "commodity type." (November 1990) PRIME CONTRACTOR - The principal (or only) contractor performing a contract for an owner. (June 2007) PROACTIVE - Acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes. See also: MITIGATION. (June 2007) PROBABILISTIC DEPENDENCIES - Dependencies between activities that indicate alternative sequences of logic that have probabilities attached to them. (June 2007) PROBABILISTIC NETWORK - Network containing alternative paths with which probabilities are associated rather than deterministic relationships between activities. (June 2007) PROBABILISTIC RISK ASSESSMENT - a quantitative process used to evaluate risks in a way that provides probabilistic information. (December 2011) PROBABILITY OF UNDERRUN OR OVERRUN − In risk analysis and contingency estimating, the chance that the cost or time will be less (underrun) or more (overrun) than a given cost or time from the distribution of outcomes of the risk analysis model. See also: CONFIDENCE LEVEL. (December 2011) PROCEDURE - A prescribed method for performing specified work. (June 2007) PROCESS - Set of steps or activities required to achieve an output. (June 2007) PROCESS CONTROL - Managing a process to a proven standard. (June 2007) PROCESS DESIGN - Design of a process, which may be a management process either as required in corporate management, or technical as in commercial or industrial engineering. (June 2007) PROCUREMENT - A process for establishing contractual relationships to accomplish project objectives. Typically, the acquisition (and directly related matters) of equipment, material, and non-personal services (including construction) by such means as purchasing, renting, leasing (including real property), contracting, or bartering, but not by seizure, condemnation, or donation. Includes preparation of inquiry packages, requisitions, and bid evaluations; purchase order award and documentation; plus expediting, in-plant inspection, reporting, and evaluation of vendor performance. The assembly, tendering and award of contracts or commitment documents. Specific procedures should be established for the procurement process. (June 2007) PROCUREMENT LOG - The procurement log (also known as a procurement register, and similar to the submittal log, or submittal register) is a detailed list of all items requiring formal submittal, approval, fabrication, and delivery to the project site. Each action within the process is recorded establishing the date each phase of the procurement process starts and finishes. (December 2016) PROCUREMENT SCHEDULE - The procurement schedule is a subset of the CPM project schedule that tracks the procurement process through the submittal process, fabrication, and delivery to the project site. The level of detail of this schedule is less than what is recorded in the procurement log and submittals may be grouped by submittal package, or selected significant items, unless specific tracking is required. Each line item should be linked in a path from preparation, approval, fabrication, delivery, and then to the schedule activity that actually installs the material and/or equipment within the project. Such schedule activities help ensure that the procurement process is moving forward, and the delivery of material and/or equipment does not delay the project. (December 2016) PRODUCT - The output from a process in tangible or intangible form. Examples include the project brief as an output from the planning phases, or the completed facility as an output from the producing phases. See also: DELIVERABLE; END ITEM. (June 2007) PRODUCT BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (PBS) - Structure that identifies the products that are required and that must be produced. It displays the system in a hierarchic way. (June 2007) PRODUCTION PLAN - The agreed upon strategy that comes from the production planning function. See also: PRODUCTION PLANNING. (November 1990) PRODUCTION PLANNING - The function of setting the overall level of manufacturing or construction output. Its prime purpose is to establish production rates that will achieve management's objective, while usually attempting to keep the production force relatively stable. (November 1990) PRODUCTION RATE - The amount of work, which may be accomplished in a given unit of time. (April 2004) PRODUCTION SCHEDULE – (1)In manufacturing, a plan which authorizes the factory to manufacture a certain quantity of a specific item. Usually initiated by the production planning department. (2)In projects, a short-interval schedule used to plan and coordinate a group of activities. (June 2007) PRODUCTIVITY - A measure of output relative to input. Productivity (or efficiency) is improved by increasing output for a given input or decreasing input for a given output. If the input is specifically work hours, the term commonly used is labor productivity. Syn.: EFFICIENCY. See also: LABOR PRODUCTIVITY. (June 2007) PRODUCTIVITY FACTOR - Syn.: LABOR PRODUCTIVITY FACTOR. (June 2007) PROFIT – 1.GROSS PROFIT - Earnings from an on-going business after direct and project indirect costs of goods sold have been deducted from sales revenue for a given period. 2.NET PROFIT - Earnings or income after subtracting miscellaneous income and expenses (patent royalties, interest, capital gains) and federal income tax from operating profit. 3.OPERATING PROFIT - Earnings or income after all expenses (selling, administrative, depreciation) have been deducted from gross profit. (June 2007) PROFIT ELEMENT - A quantified element of a profitability model whose change in value produces a favorable change in the bottom line. Syn.: PROFIT ITEM. (December 2011) PROFIT ITEM - Syn.: PROFIT ELEMENT. (December 2011) PROFIT MARGIN - A ratio of profit to either total cost or total revenue. Usage often varies depending on the type of company. Retail companies generally use the profit to revenue ratio. Wholesale companies and contractors generally use the profit to cost ratio. (June 2007) PROFITABILITY - A measure of the excess income over expenditure during a given period of time. (November 1990) PROFITABILITY ANALYSIS - The evaluation of the economics of a project, manufactured product, or service within a specific time frame. (November 1990) PROFITABILITY INDEX (PI) - The rate of compound interest at which the company's outstanding investment is repaid by proceeds for the project. All proceeds from the project, beyond that required for interest, are credited, by the method of solution, toward repayment of investment by this calculation. Also called discounted cash flow, interest rate of return, investor's method, internal rate of return. Although frequently requiring more time to calculate than other valid yardsticks, PI reflects in a single number both the dollar and the time values of all money involved in a project. In some very special cases, such as multiple changes of sign in cumulative cash position, false and multiple solutions can be obtained by this technique. (November 1990) PROGRAM – (1)A grouping of related projects usually managed using a master schedule. (2)A set of projects with a common strategic goal. (3)In Europe and elsewhere, the term 'program' or ‘programme’ may be used to mean a network schedule. (June 2007\) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT - Management of a series of related projects designed to accomplish broad goals, to which the individual projects contribute, and typically executed over an extended period of time. (June 2007) PROGRAM MANAGER - An official in the program division who has been assigned responsibility for accomplishing a specific set of program objectives. This involves planning, directing and controlling one or more projects of a new or continuing nature, initiation of any acquisition processes necessary to get project work under way, monitoring of contractor performance and the like. (November 1990) PROGRESS – (1)Development to a more advanced stage. Progress relates to a progression of development and therefore shows relationships between current conditions and past conditions. (2)Partial completion of a project, or a measure of it. Also, the act of entering current progress update information into project management software. See also: LIFE CYCLE; STATUS. (June 2007) PROGRESS DATE - Date used in order to calculate the progress of the project. All estimates to complete or remaining durations should be assessed in accordance with the progress date. See also: AS-OF-DATE; DATA DATE; TIME NOW. (June 2007) PROGRESS LINE - A visual representation of the progress of a project, displayed on the Gantt chart. For a given progress date, the progress line connects in-progress tasks, thereby creating a graph on the Gantt chart with peaks pointing to the left for work that is behind schedule and peaks pointing to the right for work that is ahead of schedule. The distance of a peak from the vertical line indicates the degree to which the task is ahead of or behind schedule at the progress date. (June 2007) PROGRESS MEASUREMENT - Measurement of the current amount of work completed for purposes of assessing progress of the project or contract, as well as for determining amounts due under contract agreements. See also: METHOD OF MEASUREMENT; PHYSICAL PROGRESS. (June 2007) PROGRESS MILESTONES - Those project milestones identified as the basis for earning progress and/or making progress payments. (June 2007) PROGRESS OVERRIDE - One of two types of scheduling software logic used to handle activities that occur out of sequence. When specified, it treats an activity with out-of-sequence progress as though it has no predecessor constraints; its remaining duration is scheduled to start immediately, rather than wait for the activities predecessors to complete. See also: RETAINED LOGIC. (June 2007) PROGRESS REPORT - A report that informs management of overall project progress (physical percent complete), costs, performance and manpower at a specific reporting cut-off date. Includes major accomplishments, objectives for the upcoming report period, areas of concern, and other pertinent information necessary for management and control. See also: STATUS REPORT. (June 2007) PROGRESS TREND - Syn.: TREND. (June 2007) PROJECT - A temporary endeavor with a specific objective to be met within the prescribed time and monetary limitations and which has been assigned for definition or execution. (June 2007) PROJECT ATTRIBUTES - A group of descriptive characteristics and parameters to define project key information and data sets. Project attributes is the foundation for sorting, selecting, filtering, and analyzing data sets. These sets can be independent or relational in nature. (April 2019) PROJECT BOUNDARY - Boundary that defines how project interacts with other projects and non-project activity both within and outside the organization. See also: BATTERY LIMIT. (June 2007) PROJECT CALENDAR - Calendar that defines global project working and non-working periods. See also: CALENDAR. (June 2007) PROJECT CODE - Set of symbols assigned to a set of cost classes or sub-divisions of the scope of work in a project. The code reflects a systematic (or hierarchic) sub-division of scope. See also: CODE, CODE OF ACCOUNTS. (May 2012) PROJECT CONTROL - A management process for controlling the investment of resources in an asset where investments are made through the execution of a project. Project control includes the general steps of: 1) Project planning including establishing project cost and schedule control baselines; 2) Measuring project performance; 3) Comparing measurement against the project plans; and 4) Taking corrective, mitigating, or improvement action as may be determined through forecasting and further planning activity. (June 2007) PROJECT DEFINITION - Process of exploring thoroughly all aspects of proposed project and to explore relations between required performance, development time and cost. See also: DEFINITION (PROJECT); DEVELOPMENT PHASE; FRONT END. (June 2007) PROJECT DURATION – (1)The elapsed duration from project start date through project finish date. (2)The overall duration a project within which it is scheduled to be completed. Contractual requirements may impose a given project duration for successful completion, from which the schedule is developed to achieve. (June 2007) PROJECT EXECUTION PLAN (PEP) - A high-level management guide to the means, methods and tools that will be used by the team to manage the project. The PEP is an integration of individual project plans that covers a project life cycle view and stresses alignment of all plans. It covers all functions (or phases) including engineering, procurement, contracting strategy, fabrication, construction, commissioning and startup within the scope of work. The PEP also includes stakeholder management, safety, quality, project controls, risk, information, communication and other supporting functions. Syn.: INTEGRATED PROJECT PLAN (IPP). (November 2020) PROJECT FINISH DATE (SCHEDULE) - The latest scheduled calendar finish date of all activities on the project. (November 1990) PROJECT FLOAT - The time that exists between the early finish of the last activity of a CPM network and the contractual completion date of the project. Project float can be internalized into the network and become network float. See also: NETWORK FLOAT. (June 2007) PROJECT LIFE - Syn.: LIFE CYCLE, PROJECT LIFE CYCLE. (June 2007) PROJECT MANAGEMENT – (1)The utilization of skills and knowledge in coordinating the organizing, planning, scheduling, directing, controlling, monitoring and evaluating of prescribed activities to ensure that the stated objectives of a project, manufactured product, or service, are achieved. (2)The art and science of managing a project from inception to closure as evidenced by successful product delivery and transfer. (June 2007) PROJECT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE - A class of computer applications specifically designed to aid with planning and controlling project resources, costs and schedules. (June 2007) PROJECT MANAGER - An individual who has been assigned responsibility and authority for accomplishing a specifically designated unit of work effort or group of closely related efforts established to achieve stated or anticipated objectives, defined tasks, or other units of related effort on a schedule for performing the stated work funded as a part of the project. The project manager is responsible for the planning, controlling, and reporting of the project. \[4\] (November 1990) PROJECT NETWORK ANALYSIS - Syn.: NETWORK ANALYSIS. (June 2007) PROJECT OFFICE - The organization responsible for administration of the project management system, maintenance of project files and documents, and staff support for officials throughout the project life cycle. (November 1990) PROJECT PHASES - The main elements of a project life cycle. For engineering and construction projects, they typically include preplanning, design, procurement, construction, start-up, operation, and final disposition. See also: LIFE CYCLE - PROJECT LIFE CYCLE. (June 2007) PROJECT PLAN - The primary document for project activities. It covers the project from initiation through completion. See also: PLAN. (November 1990) PROJECT SCOPE - Syn.: SCOPE. (June 2007) PROJECT START DATE - The date a project is scheduled to start. Scheduling software uses the project start date as the starting date for all network calculations until a data date is used for calculating updated progress. (June 2007) PROJECT TIME - The time dimension in which the project is being planned. (November 1990) PROJECT WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (PWBS) - A summary WBS tailored by project management to the specific project and identifying the elements unique to the project. (November 1990) PROJECTED FINISH DATE - The current estimate of the calendar date when an activity or project will be completed. (June 2007) PROJECTED START DATE - The current estimate of the calendar date when an activity or project will begin. (June 2007) PROJECTION - An extension of a series, or any set of values, beyond the range of the observed data. See also: FORECASTING. (November 1990) PROMPT LIST - A risk breakdown structure (RBS) or similar document used as a checklist during risk identification, monitoring and other risk management process steps. (December 2011) PROPOSAL SCHEDULE - The first schedule issued on a project; accompanies either the client's request or the contractor's proposal. (November 1990) PROPOSED BASE CONTRACT PRICE - The sum total of the individual total price amounts for items of work designated as base bid items listed on the schedule of prices on the bid form (excluding alternates, if any). (November 1990) PROPOSED COMBINED CONTRACT PRICE - The sum total of bidder's proposed base contract price and all of the individual total price amounts for items of work designated as alternate bid items listed on the schedule of prices for alternate bid items on the bid form (excluding all additional alternates, if any). (November 1990) PROPOSED CHANGE ORDER - The form furnished by the owner or the engineer which is to be used: 1) By the owner, when signed by the owner, as a directive authorizing addition to, deletion from, or revision in the work, or an adjustment in contract price or contract time, or any combination thereof; 2) By the owner, when unsigned, to require that the contractor figure the potential effect on contract price or contract time of a proposed change, if the proposed change is ordered upon signing by the owner; 3) By the contractor, to notify the owner that in the opinion of the contractor, a change is required as provided in the applicable provisions of the contract documents. When signed by the owner, a proposed change order may or may not fully adjust contract price or contract time, but is evidence that the change directed by the proposed change order will be incorporated in a subsequently issued change order following negotiations as to its effect, if any, on contract price or contract time. When countersigned by the contractor, a proposed change order is evidence of the contractor's acceptance of the basis for contract adjustments provided, except as otherwise specifically noted. (November 1990) PRUDENT INVESTMENT - That amount invested in the acquisition of the property of an enterprise when all expenditures were made in a careful, businesslike, and competent manner. (November 1990) PUNCHLIST - A list generated by the owner, architect, engineer, or contractor of items yet to be completed by the contractor. Sometimes called a "but" list ("but" for these items the work is complete). (November 1990) PURE PRICE CHANGE - Change in the price of a particular commodity which is not attributable to change in its quality or quantity. (November 1990)