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3. PROJECT SCHEDULE, MANAGEMENT AND QUALITY CONTROL URS has established quality control procedures that are tailored to every project. One of the key elements of this process is the development of a PMP that contains all of the information needed to execute the project successfully. The PMP will include the project scope, schedule, task and subtask budgets, charge codes for accumulating costs appropriately, the quality control forms and procedures tailored for the project, contact information for agencies and other personnel involved in the project, filing categories for document control, and other useful data for day-to-day activities. The PMP is distributed to every staff member that expects to work on the project. This becomes their guide to the successful completion of the project. It is bound in a three-ring binder to simplify revisions and the addition of new information. The PMP will also contain an entire chapter on the project-specific quality control procedures that are expected to be applied to this particular project. These procedures include detailed checking "checklists," independent technical reviews (ITRs), and back-checking procedures, and editing requirements to ensure that each deliverable is properly checked for accuracy and appropriate communication methods (clear and grammatically correct) for the intended audience. The URS Quality Assurance/Control Officer is responsible for auditing and spot- checking the quality control process for conformance with the established procedures. Many projects are audited quarterly to maintain a high level of visibility for quality control functions, which in turn creates an office culture that considers quality control to be an element of equal importance to design development, technical report writing or field review surveys. The Project Manager also plays an active role in anticipating the quality control staffing needs for projects and assigning the staff with the appropriate skills and experience to perform various technical reviews. Again, the schedule is an important tool for quality control since many quality assurance programs will fail unless the time for quality control efforts is factored into the scheduled deadlines so that quality control is not sacrificed to meet a critical submittal date. Responsibility for maintaining the project schedule and budget is a team effort, but the Project Manager is ultimately responsible for managing these elements of the project. One method that will be employed by URS to manage the schedule and the budget will be through strict observance of the critical milestone activities identified in the schedule. Projects that stay on schedule generally stay within budget. Therefore, development of a realistic schedule, as shown in the previous section, and weekly monitoring of that schedule, will ensure that the project meets the critical milestones and that the project remains on budget. Also, staying on top of cost accounting and invoicing will allow for the early identification of any activities that may be lagging behind and accruing more costs than budgeted. Finally, the key ingredient to maintaining schedule and budget control is timely identification of issues or events that could cause schedule and budget problems. This requires a seasoned Project Manager that can proactively forecast activities that appear to be affecting the schedule so that workarounds can be initiated at a point in the process where they will be implemented in time to avoid a schedule delay. The same is true for the budget. Certain activities are 17