Project Management Consultant (PMC) Role - Myths and Truths

The Project Management Consultants (PMC) roles are applied in managing medium to large project for oil and gas companies all around middle eastern countries. Typically, it comprises of a multidisciplinary team of experienced engineers and managers, whose primary task, is to provide an independent oversight and progress monitoring and reporting, for necessary engineering and management specialties, for a given medium to major project, to the Oil & Gas company, hiring the PMC services.

Having spent some years as a PMC specialist I&C engineer myself, I have come across many in Oil Companies, as well as FEED and EPC Contractors, not to mention the PMC Hiring Companies- lot of myths of what a PMC function comprises as well as where and what are really their scope of responsibilities?

Here are some myths and truths about the PMC role of note. When I use the word Contractor in the context below, it may refer to a stage of engineering from Concept to FEED to EPC (or PC) as the contract may be.

Myth-1: PMC must thoroughly check all Contractor documents and any omission or error by Contractor is the responsibility of PMC.

Truth: PMC is given charge and responsibility ONLY of Review of Contractor documentation and NOT CHECKING for omissions, errors etc. Be very clear about this! Checking Contractor documents for technical accuracy is part of Contractor responsibility and not PMC. Technical accuracy and abiding by Contractual documentation, codes and standards, adhering to Contractual requirements etc are all the complete responsibility of the Contractor and not PMC. The key difference is in understanding what review is, as opposed to checking. Checking means looking for accuracy, integrity, technical compliance to project requirements, other discipline documents, contract, codes and standards etc. for any given project specification/datasheet/drawing etc. Reviewing is giving a second look, which has a broader function of looking for context, contractual oversight, content, implications to further engineering stages, procurement, construction, practical lessons learnt from previous applications, site issues etc. As one can see, the two are very different functions and have their own scope and responsibility.

Myth-2: Approval of any documentation of Contractor by PMC, now absolves the Contractor of fulfilling Contractual scope, and restrict only to approved documentation.

Truth: Approval of documentation by PMC is merely an engineering/management progress to the project. Fulfilling Contractual obligations, procedures, technical documentation is all still within Contractor’s legal binding. Any omission by Contractor from base contractual scope and any approved variation orders, is still the responsibility of Contractor, without prejudice to PMC Approval of the same. The final authority and responsibility of fulfilling Contractual requirements always lies with the Contractor, since they are legally bound by Contract and PMC services are merely administering and supervising Contractor works.

Myth-3: The PMC must check for correctness at technical, managerial levels, all Contractual documentation of the Contractor.

Truth: The PMC role is to administer, monitor, supervise and participate in the Contractor functions at all levels- engineering, technical, secretarial, documentation, planning, management, procurement, construction and other functions as required by Contract. PMC is appointed by Oil Company, primarily as a guardian of the Contract; so that progress of project within Contractual obligation is steadied all the time, and not subject to fluctuations of demands by additions, wish-lists of Oil Company Engineering/Operations involvement, during project execution by Contractor. To protect the Contract is one of the prime functions of the PMC, beyond all other aspects. Correctness falls within checking. PMC does reviewing and oversight. Refer Myth-1 for those differences. The PMC serves as a bridge between Oil Companies interests and Contractors obligations within Contractual Execution, to deliver the project on time, and multidisciplinary integrity and compliance to all codes, standards and procedures required per Contract.

Myth-4: The PMC must protect Company interests against variations issued by Contractor during project execution.

Truth: Contract administration and control, within budget of Contract, as well as timely execution is certainly one of the key responsibility of the PMC. However, if some equipment is required to fulfill contractual scope, but has been missed out within Contract, it is PMC responsibility to carry out administration, control and approval of variation orders, through parent Oil Company, to the Contractor. To suggest, that one must defend and try to procure as much as possible within the Contractual scope, not only is merely suggestive of professional misdemeanor and misconduct, but is unethical also. Contractual obligation is the key for both parties here- the Oil Company and the Contractor- Something not within the Contract- does become a variation. On the Contrary, something taken out of Contract, also becomes something to subtract from related sums given in Contract. PMC must be in integrity and firm in this regard, since they are the guardians of the Contract.

Myth-5: The PMC approval means, the document is completely meeting contractual requirement and any errors in procured material or equipment later by Contractor, as per Approved documents from PMC, means, PMC is is in error.

Truth: This is most common misinterpretation among Contractors and I see a lot of unecessary official communication back and forth between Company and Contractor due to the lack of understanding of very basic Contractual requirements by both Company and Contractor engineers and more importantly, managment on both sides. Please understand that a Contract is made between Company and Contractor and it is legally binding on both parties to abide by what is written there. The roles and responsibilities of both parties are mentioned specifically in the Contract. This is not a 3 way contract between Company, PMC and Contractor. This is just two parties, Company and Contractor. PMC only provides services of administering and supervising the ongoing Contract between these two parties. And it is vital to know the implications of the above. It is humanly not possible to memorize all of it, especially if it is a multi billion dollar contract. As said before, approval is given for progressing the project documentation and having achieved a certain level of accuracy. But since engineering design has various studies, site surveys, reports, workshops and many of which are ongoign parallel to submission of engineering documentation, the onus of ensuring correctness of engineering data and specifications, before going out to purchase and install the same, is ALWAYS the responsibility of Contractor and never of PMC.

Certain tips for PMC personnel is important here, since I see them not working efficiently, relative to their job profile.

1. Read the full contract first. It is a legal document and not just fancy words. Every engineer and manager must know and have a searchable full contract with all attachments, at all times on their laptop/desktop. Understanding scope and boundaries of each discipline is necessary in PMC for every discipline engineer. Many, I have seen, never have a complete understanding of Contract. Take the whole contract document with all the PDFs. Make it text searchable in Adobe Acrobat and index it, so you can always search through the volumes of enormous documentation that is the whole contract with all attachments and tender bulletins. Searching using PDF Indexing is invaluable in searching through 1000s of files with a keyword. I have used this with great effectiveness when resolving contractual conflicts within my discipline with Contractor and Company. Since PMC is intermediary, this is a key role to play.
2. Read the PMC statement of Requirements (you should have it from the Oil Company or parent Company hiring the PMC services), or such document, which enlist your prime responsibility first, before you take on the role. I have repeatedly come across engineers, senior and specialists as they may be, not having a firm grasp of PMC role and responsibility as I have listed above, based upon official documents and not just hearsay or worse, any manager, contractor personnel or oil company personnel- making up your role or responsibility as they go along- which just becomes a muddle of chaos and blaming and shaming, without proper understanding. Many PMC engineers tend to assume the role of the Lead Engineer for the project, since they only have experiences of lead, before taking on a PMC role. This is very misunderstood. Your role as PMC is very different compared to when you were a Lead Engineer. You are not designing now, you are not leading, you are administering a contract for your discipline. Please take time to really understand your role, since it is vastly different in terms of responsibility.

Finally the PMC role can be used more efficiently and responsibly by all parties concerned, as a collaborative, cooperative group of specialists, who are dedicated to project and contract success through teamwork and synergy of many parties involved, without partiality or favor to any single one. PMC can bring teamwork between Contractor and Company, if used wisely by the PMC team, bring forth their experience and knowledge to collaboration for project success.