AS 4915-2002: Project management – General conditions
Below is a summary of a critical Project Management document in Australia – The document is called AS 4915-2002: Project management – General conditions document – the focus of the review will be on the initiation and planning stages of the document. It outlines some of the major documents required
Background
The AS 4915-2002 outlines the contractual conditions, nature and obligations of a project as per Australian Standards and includes templates and checklists various industries are able to use for project management work (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002, pp. 4-41). This publication was later amended include Amendment 1-2005. This revision was to ensure the currency of the information and updates in the industry (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002, p. 2).
Written for project management professionals, the easily readable general conditions on pages four to twenty-four and the templates and checklists provided on pages twenty-five to forty-one makes it really convenient for project management professionals to meet their legal requirements and contractual obligations. This reference guide is important as it explains the conditions in simple terms such as performance and payment, the project manager’s warranties element, discrepancies, intellectual property rights, and legislative requirements. More information here (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002, pp. 6-11).
Summary on the initiation and planning stage
The AS4915-2002 discusses the initial and planning stages in terms of a project manager’s contractual obligations. The document outlines the responsibility of the Project Manager for the duration of the project as well as post-project where applicable, such as in condition 20 – quality assurance, where it writes that the Project Manager is to plan, establish and maintain a conforming quality system – this is usually discussed and decided upon in the initiation and planning stages (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002 p. 15). It also describes the Project Manager’s representative and key personnel as well as employees and subcontractors – from who the representatives are defined as, the key personnel involved and Project Manager’s employees and subcontractors (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002 pp. 14-15). It is important that the AS4915-2002 details this as all details are to be agreed to prior to the project planning stage.
The publication also has templates such as the Contract and the task list in project management which is used in the initiation stage and the contents of the documents are decided upon and signed off on prior to the planning stage. The Contract is better known as the Project Charter in project management and it basically describes the project in its entirety. It contains the project scope, the roles and responsibilities of those involved, and outlines the project objectives. The project management task list is a detailed statement of the services to be provided by the Project Manager, ensuring that specific requirements are accurately and completely incorporated in the document (Standards Australia Committee OB-003 2002 pp. 25-38).