Objective

The main objective of this article is to provide a bird’s view of the Construction extension of the Project Management Body Of Knowledge which comprises of more than two hundred pages.

About the Construction extension of PMBOK

The Project Management Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) by PMI, USA comprises of the globally accepted project management best practices applicable to most of the projects, most of the time. The Construction Extension to the Project Management Body of Knowledge provides project management best practices specific to construction projects. Whenever a new version of the PMBOK is released, the construction extension also gets revised. As you might already know, the new PMBOK is principle based and covers predictive, agile and hybrid project management. Construction extension (latest) is fully aligned to these approaches and at the same time have additional knowledge areas relevant for construction projects. The latest construction extension of PMBOK have;

• All project resources than just human resources
• Project health, safety, security and environmental aspects
• Project financial management in addition to cost management
• Management of claims in construction

Comparison of Knowledge areas of PMBOK and the Construction Extension

The following table provides a comparison of knowledge areas between the generic PMBOK and the construction extension of PMBOK;

PMBOK (General)	PMBOK (Construction)
Integration Management	Integration Management
Scope Management	Scope Management
Schedule Management	Schedule Management
Cost Management	Cost Management
Quality Management	Quality Management
Resource Management	Resource Management
Communications management	Communications Management
Risk Management	Risk Management
Procurement Management	Procurement Management
Stakeholder Management	Stakeholder Management
	Project Health, Safety, Security & Environment (HSSE) Management
	Project financial management

Though there is one to one mapping across most of the knowledge areas except HSSE and Project financial management, the similarity ends there. In the construction extension of PMBOK, the content within each knowledge area is more specific to construction projects.

Tabular representation of the contents of Construction extension to PMBOK

The table below provides more information on the contents of the construction extension of PMBOK arranged knowledge area wise and process group wise;

Knowledge Area	Initiation	Planning	Execution	Monitoring & Controlling	Closing
Integration Management	Project Charter (Owner) Contract (Contractor) Project stakeholders Enterprise environmental factor considerations Project service provider engagement	Value engineering Intermittent contract closures and commissioning Project strategy	Work performance and inspection Value engineering Construction administration Initiate and manage partnering Change order management	Project management information system (PMIS) Building information modeling (BIM) Integrated change control	Formal closure of each phase of the project Closeout documentation Project walk through Project punch list Beneficial occupancy and substantial completion Close contracts Final project report and lessons learned
Scope Management		Define scope Create WBS		Scope validation and verification Scope creep and change management
Schedule Management		Define activities Detailed WBS Decomposition Define activity attributes Progress measurement plan and criteria Sequence activities Estimate activity resources Estimate activity durations Activity weightage definition Develop schedule Vendor or subcontractor schedule analysis Constraint analysis Schedule baseline Schedule dictionary Schedule risk analysis		Progress curve updates Schedule impacts Progress and performance reviews
Project cost management		Analogous estimation Parametric estimation Bottom up estimation Three point estimation Bill of quantities Allowances, contingencies and management reserves Escalation, inflation and currency exchange Metrics Determine budget		Actual cost Earned value management Progress and performance reviews Forecasting of estimate at completion
Project quality management		Contract requirements Project stakeholder requirements Quality policy Quality assurance measurements Quality checklist Project requirements review Quality management plan	Quality audits Quality management reviews	Field deficiency reports (FDR) Non conformance reports (NCR) Contract violation notices (CVN) Observation reports (OR) Submittals
Project resource management		Human resource requirements Machinery requirements Tools requirements Permanent equipment requirements Bulk material requirements Consumption material requirements Consumption resource requirements Temporary facilities requirements	Stocking quantities management Expiration dates management Hazardous material management Materials requiring special storage conditions Machinery maintenance Permanent equipment preservation Staffing Team building Interpersonal skills	Monitoring productivity and consumption rates Productivity control Reporting Inventory management Turnover rate	Releasing resources
Project communications management		Communication management plan Project documentation assessment Communication workflows for change orders, rfi, instructions and variation requests Daily report Information and communication technology Project management information system (PMIS)	Managing conflict Managing meetings Project documentation and information distribution	Performance and progress reports Contractor performance evaluation (CPE)
Project risk management		Develop project risk management plan Identify risks Qualitative risk analysis Quantitative risk analysis Plan risk responses Insurance in construction projects		Risk register review Re-assessment of risks Updation of project risk information Monitoring and controlling of the effectiveness of risk response actions and control measures
Project procurement management		Make or buy analysis Project delivery methods identification Deciding the contract types Contract risk allocation	Procurement solicitation Contract statement of work Pre-qualification of service providers Bidder conferences Evaluation and selection of sellers	Contract management Contract administration Work performance reporting Approved change request status Buyer conducted performance review Inspection and audits Progress payment system Claims administration Records management system Project and contract documentation Project management plan updates	Project contract closure Punch list Administrative close out
Project stakeholder management	Identify both direct and indirect stakeholders	Develop stakeholder management plan	Engage with stakeholders Trust building exercises Stakeholder communication	Stakeholder engagement assessment matrix Monitor and control communication with stakeholders Monitor and control updations to stakeholder register
Project HSSE management		Project safety and environmental requirements review HSSE management planning Safety and environmental zoning & signage Safety and environmental training and induction requirement Traffic management plan Emergency response plan Permit to work management plan Waste management plan Safety and environmental programs	Project HSSE assurance Safety and environmental audits Safety and environmental hazard risk analysis Safety and environmental assurance measurements	Lost time in injury (LTI) Total recordable injury (TRI) Worked hours Near misses (NM) Unsafe acts and conditions (UA/UC) Serious incidents frequency (SIF) Accident investigation Defect repair review
Project financial management		Sources of funds Cash flow planning		Project accounting system Project financial audits (internal / external) Cash flow analysis Financial reports Ex-post evaluations
Claims management		Project partnering Dispute resolution board (DRB) Independent neutral Intervention partnering Mediation Joint recognition of changes and documentation		Claims identification and initial justification Claims quantification Claims resolution Contract law interpretation Bid protests Alternate dispute resolution (ADR) Ethics in construction

Conclusion

Though most of the knowledge areas of PMBOK and the Construction extension of PMBOK matches, the latter has additional knowledge areas HSSE, Project finance management knowledge areas. Apart from these two additional knowledge areas, there is a detailed section on Claims management. As we delve deep into the topics covered within knowledge areas, it is more specific to construction projects.

References

Construction extension to the PMBOK guide