An EPC contractor’s construction execution plan explains how the facility will actually be built: in what order, with what resources, by which contractors, and with what handover to commissioning. Written well, it becomes the reference everyone on site works from. Written as a tender formality, it sits on a shelf. Below is what a construction execution plan for EPC projects should contain, and how to keep it useful once construction starts.
What is a construction execution plan?
A construction execution plan (CEP) sets out the strategy, sequence, organization, resources and controls an EPC contractor will use to build a project. It translates the design and the project schedule into a practical plan for site work.
What the plan should cover
Construction strategy
How much will be modularized or prefabricated off site, how the site is divided into construction areas, and the general direction in which construction will move.
Path of construction
Early work is usually organized by area. As the project moves toward completion, the focus shifts to systems, because commissioning accepts work system by system. Utilities such as power, instrument air and cooling water are typically needed first, so the path of construction should get them finished early. The criteria commissioning will apply are set out in the commissioning readiness checklist.
Site layout and temporary facilities
Laydown areas, fabrication yards, offices, welfare facilities, temporary power and water, access roads and crane positions. Draw these on a site logistics plan and update it as the plant fills up, because space that is free in month two is often gone by month eight.
Heavy lifts and logistics
Lift studies for critical items, transport routes and crane schedules.
Subcontracting plan
How the work is packaged: by discipline, by area or a mix. Fewer packages mean fewer interfaces but less competition, and every interface needs an owner.
Manpower
A histogram by discipline and month, with the peak identified and a realistic ramp-up. Ramp-up speed is limited by things the histogram does not show: visa and mobilization lead times, camp capacity, supervisor availability and how many work fronts are genuinely open. If the plan doubles headcount in a month, check that each of those can double too.
Controls
Progress measurement rules, look-ahead planning, reporting, change management, and references to the HSE and quality plans.
Completions and handover
How systems will be defined, completed, punched and handed over to commissioning.
Common weaknesses
- A path of construction disconnected from the commissioning sequence
- A manpower histogram that ramps up faster than people can realistically be mobilized
- Laydown space underestimated
- Delivery sequences assumed rather than confirmed with fabricators, a problem explained in planning structural fabrication
- No allowance for climate, including the summer midday working restrictions applied in Gulf countries
Keep the plan current
Review the plan at key milestones: start of construction, peak and pre-commissioning. Update look-ahead schedules weekly. A plan that has not been revised in six months is describing a different project. Before mobilization, many items in the plan turn into checks on the industrial site readiness checklist.
Support from Apex Core Engineering
Apex Core Engineering supports EPC contractors with construction management, and with manpower plans built around the construction histogram through its workforce planning service. For the wider picture, see industrial construction management services.
Frequently asked questions
Who prepares the construction execution plan?
The EPC contractor’s construction team, usually led by the construction manager with input from planning, engineering and HSE.
When is the construction execution plan written?
An outline version is often part of the tender or early project phase. It is then developed in detail before mobilization.
What is a path of construction?
The planned order in which areas or systems are built, chosen to support access, logistics and the commissioning sequence.
Working on a construction execution plan? Apex Core Engineering can review it with your team.