Effective management of design change controls

Change is clearly the order of the day in the highly evolutionary technology of the power industry. Most Architect/Engineers (A/Es) have paid dearly before learning to accommodate changes by providing some degree of flexibility and extra margins in the design of systems and facilities. Unfortunately, there is still insufficient recognition of the fact that efficient control of the mechanics of making changes will result in final drawings and specifications reflecting the as-built plant--a rather obvious and always present objective. The lack of adequate procedures inevitably results in a mountain of confused paperwork requiring costly and time-consuming measures to correct. The paper presents a set of administrative procedures based on coordinated change controls which can be applied uniformly throughout the evolution of the project. In particular, it focuses attention on the later phases of the project, from finish of construction through initial plant startup