Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects are developed to address needs for critical infrastructure as well as non-processing infrastructures, such as buildings and bridges. The EPC contract encompasses engineering design, procurement of the necessary equipment and materials, as well as construction. It relieves the purchaser of all of the risks associated with the project, which are instead transferred to the contractor who bids on and delivers the asset at a fixed price. How is success measured and how can you guarantee success in your next EPC project?

Defining a Successful EPC Project

To deliver valuable assets EPC contractors must address functional requirements, anticipate resource lead times, and account for all other variables that affect cost and delivery dates. A successful project is financially beneficial to all parties involved with assets delivered by or before the expected delivery date. In order to guarantee success, it is imperative that each phase of the project is executed with precision which in turn drives down costs and maintains a time schedule.

Factors to Consider

Each EPC project is unique either by infrastructure requirements or by its surrounding environment. Regardless of the build or site selection the top factors affecting lead times and costs are related to materials requisition, isometric drawings and piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs).

Materials requisitions are a set of design and contractual specifications for materials and equipment requirements. Detailed material requisitions help project managers deliver fair quotes while an agile system allows for effective materials management once materials procurement begins and takes into account any materials or equipment changes that could increase costs or extend lead times.

Development of an agile materials requisition process or incorporation of an online materials requisition tool that increases data transparency, like that which is supplied by Lytbulb, helps to deliver cost savings and enables procurement efficiency.

Intelligent P&IDs foster collaboration and increase operational efficiency. The P&ID is essentially a side view that relates how all processes are interconnected in the proposed building plans. They are typically not drawn to scale. They aid in integrated development plans and concurrent workflows. Implementation of intelligent P&IDs addresses data consistency as preliminary data is subject to change and design engineers that rely on P&IDs need keen insight into any revisions or design changes that affect line sizing, instrumentation and equipment designations.

Piping isometric drawings are graphical representations of three-dimensional piping systems supplied in a two-dimensional format. These highly detailed drawings indicated line-sizing, component and fitting types as well as environmental and operating conditions and insulation requirements. Piping is one of the most labor-intensive activities involved in the design phase for many different EPC projects and the value of isometric drawings is comparably equal to that of material requisition lists and P&IDs. Likewise, any changes to these drawings need to be transparent throughout all accompanying documentation.

Conclusion

The success of your next EPC project could be a measure of data transparency. The expectation for a rapid development cycle often hinders a more cost-saving approach. In the procurement phase, there is ample room to modify materials and equipment referenced in the associated materials requisition list and P&IDs that can lead to substantial monetary savings so long as functional requirements are met. Equipment, materials and design changes need to be transparent so that the engineering staff can engage in concurrent workflows in such a manner that external interfaces are correctly sized and problematic scenarios are eliminated.

Resources:

Importance of Isometric Drawings For Piping Design