Summary

Major construction projects undertaken by King County will have greater assurance of coming in on-time and on-budget, under action today by King County Executive Dow Constantine to create unified project management standards that will provide accountability and transparency to the public.

Story

Major construction projects undertaken by King County will have greater assurance of coming in on-time and on-budget, under action today by King County Executive Dow Constantine to create unified project management standards that will provide accountability and transparency to the public.

“King County builds an incredible array of capital infrastructure we rely on to get to work, keep us safe, and protect our environment,” said Executive Constantine. “This reform will give us the tools we need to receive early warning when projects are going off-course, and enable us to take swift action to get them back on track.”

Under the Executive Order signed today, managers must set a baseline of budgets and schedules before moving into detailed design and construction, and then track and report performance against that baseline. The single management system will provide a framework for alerting management of issues in delivering the project, and a common language and standards for defining project phases, conducting risk assessments, and measuring performance.

Many of the reforms are based on industry-standard practices for project reporting and performance tracking, and carry out recommendations made last year by the Washington State Auditor as well as guidance from the draft King County Strategic Plan.

“We are building a culture of performance into the King County Strategic Plan that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of county programs, services, and systems,” said Constantine. “These reforms to project management will provide decision-makers with more meaningful information on capital projects and make us better stewards of public funds.”

In addition to calling for results-focused performance measures, the draft King County Strategic Plan calls for the county to be more transparent and to publicly report on progress toward meeting goals and performance standards. The County’s ongoing Accountable Business Transformation (ABT) Program will support consistent project reporting by establishing a unified financial and capital project budgeting system by April 2012. The ABT Program should provide all county agencies with the tools to track expenditures and commitments on capital projects, creating a clear picture of project status for the public.

“This fundamental shift in the way we manage major projects will give us the tools we need to be efficient and effective,” said Executive Constantine.

King County manages a wide range of capital projects for wastewater treatment, solid waste disposal, building development and redevelopment, airport operations, surface water management, flood hazard reduction, habitat restoration, park and trail development and transportation.

Executive Constantine previewed his reform of capital projects management on March 8 as part of his “Blueprint for Reform” for King County. The Executive Order takes effect immediately today.