CASE STUDY #3 - Office Building Expansion Project Management

Company: Design Place Company  Role: Founder & Project Lead Duration: January 2019 - April 2023 Industry: Commercial Construction / Office Development Methodology:  Waterfall / Traditional Construction PM Tools Used: MS Project Professional, Earned Value Management (EVM)

Problem

Office building expansion projects involve high-value, multi-phase delivery environments where budget overruns and schedule slippage can compund quickly across Foundation, Structure, MEP Systrms, and Finishes phases. Managing a project of this financial scale witha total EAC of over $1M requires more than task tracking. It requires rigorous earned value management to detect cost and schedule variances early, forecast final costs accurately, and keep stakeholders informed with objective performance data throughout delivery.

My Role

As Project Lead, I owned the full lifecycle of this office building expansion building the integrated master schedule in MS Project, establishing and tracking project baselines, implementing Earned Value Management (EVM) across all phases. I monitored schedule and cost performance using SPI, CPI, EAC, and VAC metrics, managed resources across multiple trade disciplines, and maintained financial control over a $1M+ project budget from initation through closeout.

Key Actions 

• Built a fully baseline, resource - loaded master schedule in MS Project covering Design & Engineering, Foundation, Structure, Mechanical/Electrical Systems, Elevator/Lift, HVAC, Floor & Carpeting, and Finishes phases with full predecessor logic and named resource assignments.

• Implemented EVM tracking Schedule Variance(SV), Cost Variance (CV), Schedule Performance Index (SPI), Cost Performance Index (CPI), Estimate at Completion (EAC), and Variance at Completion (VAC) at task and phase level throughout delivery

• Coordinated multi-trade resources across Ironworks, Electricians, Rough and Finish Carpenters, Excavators, Elevator Installers, HVAC contractors, Painters, and Project Controls teams sequencing work across overlapping phases without delivery conflict

• Managed full project procurement lifecycle for finish trades including flooring sample submission, bid solicitation, contract awards, fabrication/delivery sequencing, and installation through to final occupancy

EVM Summary Table

Project -level Earned Value Management : SV, CV, SPI, CPI, EAC, and VAC tracked at phase and task level across a $1M+ office building expansion.

Baseline + EAC + Gantt

Baseline vs. actual tracking with EAC forecasting:  Planned vs. actual start/finish dates and cost-to-complete monitored in real time across all construction phases.

MEP/HVAC Phase

Mechanical, Electrical & HVAC phase management: Elevator/Lift and HVAC systems tracked with schedule variance and named contractor assignments across concurrent workstreams.

Floor & Carpeting Phase 

Finish trades procurement and delivery sequencing:  Flooring samples, bid review, contract award, fabrication, delivery, and installation managed through to project closeout.

Impact

• Managed a $1M+ construction project with full Earned Value Management tracking SPU, CPI< EAC, and VAC across all delivery phases

• Identified a -$80,310 Schedule Variance at project level and managed coorective actions to control forecast cost at completion

• Delivered a fully baselined, multi-phase construction schedule with real-time variance tracking across Foundation, Structure, MEP, and Finishes phases 

• Coordinated 10+ trade disciplines simultaneously sequencing overlapping workstreams without delivery conflict across a multi-year project timeline

• Executed end-to-end procurement for finish trades through formal bid, award, and delivery sequencing maintaining schedule integrity through to final occupancy 

Key Takeaway

This case study demonstrates advanced construction project management capability combining MS Project scheduling, formal baseline management, and Earned Value Management to maintain financial control and delivery accountability across a $1M+ commercial building project.