Case study · Plant engineering
A boiler room delivered with the progress report matching the hours
Industrial plant contractor · 22 people · Lombardy
Refit of a boiler room planned at 1,140 hours. The piping item was slipping: it surfaced in week three instead of at commissioning.
- when the deviation surfaced
- Week 3
- planned hours read from the report
- 1,140 h
- hours counted twice
- 0
Where they started
The progress report was written by hand before every client meeting, from signed sheets and the site manager’s memory. The margin was known only once the job was closed.
What changed
The contractual report PDF was uploaded on day one: six items with estimated hours, from dismantling to start-up. The crew kept signing the weekly sheet, photographed every Friday.
By week three, steam and condensate piping had used 69% of its hours against 55% declared progress. The owner raised it with the client before the meeting, not during it.
The outcome
A variation agreed in time instead of a dispute at the end, and a margin visible every week instead of at final accounts.
“I used to write the progress report on Sunday night. Now I open it on Friday and already know which item I need to explain to the client.”