Quantification of front end planning input parameters in capital projects

Front end planning (FEP) is recognized by both academia and industry for its potential for improving project success. Despite wide acceptance of its value, the FEP process varies in its implementation throughout the construction industry and from one project to another. Diverse circumstances will require different human and financial resources for successful implementation. The Construction Industry Institute (CII) has captured the FEP implementation efforts of leading owners and contractors since 1996 through CII’s Benchmarking and Metrics (BM&M) program. This paper quantifies several parameters for successful FEP implementation effort in terms of cost, schedule and project management (PM) team size. The paper also examines selected parameters in light of several project characteristics. Analyses show that FEP implementation efforts differ depending on project characteristics such as industry type and project nature, amongst others. The quantitative summaries presented in this paper will help practitioners plan for appropriate levels of implementation and resource utilization during front end planning.