Managing Progress Periods
Progress Periods specify the construction week, recording the start and end dates of a weekly period and specifying which days in that week are available to be worked.
The periods require creation in advance of the working week. The Calls function is required to be run prior to construction progress being entered so that the period is assigned to jobs with a site start date and are therefore available to capture the data.
The Progress Periods capture statistics about the working week:
- Completed Days and Activities from the Logistics Call Forward Programme
- Contract delays
- Progress delays
- Weekly Comments
These statistics are used to calculate the completion, progress, and revenue recognition percentages on the jobs, and therefore play an enormous part in reporting and analysis.
Benefits Of Managing Progress Periods
When each week is managed by Progress Periods, it allows for information about the week to be applied to all construction jobs. Typically a builder has a defined meeting or construction reporting day. Progress Periods are configured to end on the day prior to the meeting day, with the meeting day representing the day the period was “called”. Saturdays and Sundays are classified as Non-Possible days. However, when creating a Progress Period, other non-possible days can be created, either automatically from the Framework Calendar or by manually modifying the days in the period.
Example
The information captured against each of the Progress Periods can be viewed in the Logistics History screen.
What To Do
Requirements & Planning
One of the most important aspects of creating and calling the progress periods is determining the process of who, how and when. These decisions will be affected by how the construction data is entered into the system, and when it entered.
Progress Periods For Tablets
If data is entered via Framework Construction Logistics Tablet and synchronised to the office on a regular basis, it is recommended that Progress Periods be created at least two weeks in advance then called two weeks in advance and two weeks in arrears. Calling the forward Progress Periods ensures there is no interruption to supervisors capturing completion information if for some reason they are unable to synchronise for an extended period. Calling the two weeks prior ensures jobs may have recently site started (after the periods were originally called) can also correctly capture completion information.
Progress Periods For Data Entry To Framework
If data is entered directly into Framework via the Logistics Data Entry screen by the office, progress periods need only be called one week in advance and one week in arrears.
When To Call Progress Periods
The Progress Periods can be created at any time, but calling them should be timed to ensure they are available to relevant personnel in a timely manner. Calling periods (advance and arrears) should be done once per week, at a defined time (e.g., Monday morning). Completing this task regularly will ensure both office staff and supervisors have the information they require without interruption.
Who Calls The Progress Periods
The periods are created and called from within Framework Administration app. This is an area that is not accessible to Construction Logistics Tablet users, and it is recommended that the Security Permissions be set to allow only thoroughly trained staff access to this area.
It is recommended that a specific group or individual be assigned the task of creating and calling the periods at a set time each week.
Implementation
Creating A Progress Period
A Progress Period will be created for a specific timeframe and each day in the period can be individually set to be Possible (construction work can be done) or Non-possible (work cannot be done, e.g., Public Holidays), allowing for selection of a Non-Possible reason.
General Tab
When creating a new period, the Period From, To and Called dates will be automatically created, based on the previous period. If there is a difference between the working week between Region/Divisions (such as state specific holidays), separate periods can be created and notes explaining the differences can be entered.
Days Tab
By default, Days 1 to 5 are the working week days, and Day 6 and 7 are the Saturday and Sunday that are automatically set to Non-Possible. The Day is Possible? field can be toggled on each of the days to reflect the required status of the day.
Non-Possible reasons include Public Holiday, Weekend, Close Down Period, Rostered Day Off, etc. A range of Delay Reasons can be selected.
Assigning A Progress Period To An Individual Job
During the Calls process, a job will only be assigned a Progress Period if it already has a Site Start Date. If a Site Start is entered manually in Framework and a Progress Period is required to proceed with entering information against the Logistics Programme, Progress Periods can be allocated via the Logistics History screen.
Ongoing Management
As with any process, it is important that the process be well-defined and allocated to properly trained staff.
A failure to create and call Progress Periods will result in the inability of personnel to correctly enter construction data and capture completion information in the Logistics Call Forward Programme.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do I Have To Create The Public Holidays In The Framework Calendar And In Each Progress Period?
No. If Non-Possible days have been set in the Framework Calendar, when the Progress Period is created, those non-possible days will be reflected in the period and do not have to be re-entered manually.
Why Is The Called Date For A Progress Period Listed As The Day After The Period Finishes?
The Called date refers to the meeting day for that period, which is the day after the period has ended. This is when progress is considered to have been reported in full to the office for that week, thus allowing progress reports to be generated.
I Have Clicked On The Calls Button And I Receive A Message Stating That 0 Jobs Have Been Updated.
This usually means that the selected progress periods have already been called and therefore the periods have already been created against all the eligible jobs. To verify this, choose a job in construction and ensure the period appears in the history screen.
I Have Called Progress Periods Two Weeks In Advance, Why Can’t I See Them In The Data Entry Screen?
The progress period displayed in the Data Entry screen is dependent on the day it is being viewed. The Data Entry screen will display the current period up to and including the Called date. This is so that progress cannot accidentally be entered against any future progress periods. Once the Called date has passed, the next period will be displayed.