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An independent Primavera P6 schedule audit surfaces broken logic, false float and critical-path manipulation before they cost you at tribunal.
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Project Controls & EVM
Measure the work. Forecast the finish.
Earned value only works when scope, schedule and cost sit on one baseline and progress is measured rather than estimated. We set up, run and test project controls for owners, lenders and contractors in India and the GCC, from the framework to the monthly forecast. The aim is a reported position that matches the site and the ledger.
Baseline. Evidence. Outturn.
In brief
What is project controls & EVM?
Project controls and earned value management (EVM) is the discipline of integrating scope, schedule and cost into one performance baseline, measuring physical progress objectively, and comparing earned value with planned value and actual cost. The resulting variances and indices, such as SPI and CPI, support forecasts of final cost and completion while there is still time to act.
What we deliver
Project Controls & EVM services
- Controls set-upProcedures, coding structures, roles and reporting calendars set up before mobilisation, scaled to the contract and the owner's governance.
- Cost-loaded schedulesWork and cost breakdown structures mapped to control accounts, so each Primavera P6 activity carries a budget and a measurable scope.
- Rules of credit and measurementAgreed rules of credit and quantities measured to NRM2, CESMM4, SMM7 or IS 1200, as the contract requires.
- Contemporaneous progress recordsDaily progress, labour, plant and quality records captured at the work face and kept audit-ready for valuation, EVM and claims.
- Monthly performance reportsMonthly reports and dashboards showing planned, earned and actual value, SPI and CPI, written for boards, funders and site teams.
- EAC and forecast reviewsEstimates at completion and forecast dates tested against performance trends, with independent and contractor forecasts compared side by side.
- Controls auditsAn independent review of an existing controls system: baseline integrity, schedule quality, progress rules, change control and reporting accuracy.
Method
The earned value control cycle
BaselineTie scope, schedule and cost to one performance measurement baseline. Each control account has a budget, a schedule window and a named owner.
RecordRecord physical progress against agreed rules of credit and measured quantities, drawn from contemporaneous site records. Evidence replaces opinion-based per cent complete.
ExplainCompare earned value with planned value and actual cost. Trace schedule and cost variances, SPI and CPI back to the activities and causes behind them.
ProjectProject the estimate at completion and the completion date from current performance, then test both against the risk-adjusted programme.
DecideAgree corrective actions, process approved changes into the baseline under change control, and carry decisions into the next period. The cycle then repeats.
Continuous cycle
Foundations
Building the right foundations.
Earned value only works when these are in place. Where they are not, we put them in place first.
01
Defined WBS
A defined work breakdown structure, so every piece of work has one home and nothing is counted twice.
02
Linked programme
A logically linked Primavera P6 programme that passes basic quality checks and reflects how the work will actually be built.
03
Signed-off budget
Budgets assigned to control accounts and time-phased against the schedule, signed off before performance is measured.
04
Measured progress
Rules of credit and measured quantities agreed in advance, backed by contemporaneous site records.
05
Change control
Approved changes enter the baseline formally and traceably, so variances reflect performance rather than scope drift.
Progress measurement
Objective ways to measure progress.
- Contemporaneous recordsDaily progress, labour, plant and quality data captured at the time the work happens, timestamped and kept audit-ready.
- Standards-based measurementNRM2 for building works, CESMM4 for civil engineering, SMM7 where a legacy contract names it, and IS 1200 in India.
- Rules of creditUnits completed, weighted milestones or measured quantities agreed per work type, with per cent complete as the last resort.
Performance measures
What we report.
- Planned value (PV)
- Earned value (EV)
- Actual cost (AC)
- Schedule performance index (SPI)
- Cost performance index (CPI)
- Estimate at completion (EAC)
- To-complete performance index (TCPI)
Standards and practice
The standards we work to
International
- EIA-748-E Earned Value Management Systems (SAE International, February 2026), the current revision of the standard often cited as ANSI/EIA-748
- ISO 21508:2018 Earned value management in project and programme management
- ANSI/PMI 19-006-2019 The Standard for Earned Value Management
- AACE International Recommended Practice 82R-13: Earned Value Management (EVM) Overview and Recommended Practices Consistent with EIA-748-C (revised 2017)
- AACE International Total Cost Management (TCM) Framework, 2nd edition (2015)
- ISO 21502:2020 Project, programme and portfolio management: Guidance on project management
- RICS NRM 2: Detailed measurement for building works, 2nd edition (October 2021)
- CESMM4 Civil Engineering Standard Method of Measurement, 4th edition (ICE, 2012; CESMM4 Revised, 2019)
- SMM7 Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works, 7th edition (1988, revised 1998), withdrawn in the UK in 2013 but still named in some legacy contracts
- RICS Principles of Measurement (International) (POMI, 1979), still referenced in some older contracts in the region
India
- IS 1200 Method of Measurement of Building and Civil Engineering Works (Bureau of Indian Standards), a multi-part series with parts revised separately
- Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
- MoSPI PAIMANA portal reporting for central sector infrastructure projects of Rs 150 crore and above
GCC
- FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction (Red Book), 1999 and 2017 editions: Sub-Clause 8.3 Programme; Progress Reports at Sub-Clause 4.21 (1999) and 4.20 (2017)
- Abu Dhabi General Conditions Contract (ADGCC), as updated by the Abu Dhabi Projects and Infrastructure Centre in 2024
- UAE Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration
- Saudi Government Tenders and Procurement Law (Royal Decree M/128, 2019) and its Implementing Regulations, which govern until the new law takes effect and continue to apply to works tendered under them
- Saudi Government Tenders and Procurement Law (Royal Decree M/76, 27/2/1448H), published in the Umm Al-Qura Official Gazette on 4 September 2026 and taking effect 120 days after publication under Article 101, in early January 2027
- Saudi Civil Transactions Law (Royal Decree M/191), in force since 16 December 2023
- Oman Tender Law (Royal Decree 36/2008)
- Oman Standard Documents for Building and Civil Engineering Works (4th edition, 1999) and the Standard Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Works (May 2019, Rev. 01), based on the FIDIC 1999 Red Book
Regional practice
Project Controls & EVM in India and the GCC
India
Central sector infrastructure projects of Rs 150 crore and above report physical and financial progress to MoSPI through the PAIMANA portal, so owner-side controls have to reconcile with what is reported upward. Public works pay running account bills against quantities recorded in the measurement book, usually to the relevant part of IS 1200, which gives earned value an objective base when the records are kept properly. Where a dispute goes to arbitration, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 applies, and the measurement and progress record becomes the evidence.
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi government capital projects use the Abu Dhabi General Conditions Contract, which ADPIC updated in 2024 with mandatory Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Boards, so current and agreed progress data matters during delivery, not only after it. On FIDIC-based contracts across the Emirates, the monthly progress report (Sub-Clause 4.21 in the 1999 edition, 4.20 in 2017) compares actual with planned progress and supports each interim payment application. Arbitration seated onshore is governed by Federal Law No. 6 of 2018, with DIAC in Dubai and arbitrateAD in Abu Dhabi the main local institutions.
Saudi Arabia
The Expenditure Efficiency and Government Projects Authority (EXPRO), set up in 2021 and absorbing the former Mashroat programme, works with government entities on capital spending efficiency and project quality, so cost and progress reporting is read closely. The Civil Transactions Law, in force since 16 December 2023, now sets statutory rules for construction contracts (muqawala), including variations and price adjustment. Under Saudi Arabia's new Government Tenders and Procurement Law, every change order should be logged against the Article 67 limits, 10% for new items and 20% in total, or against the Article 69 cap of a 10% increase in contract value on contracts tendered under the 2019 law, so that budgets, baselines and estimates at completion show how much variation headroom remains. See what the new procurement law changes.
Oman
Public tendering falls under the Tender Law (Royal Decree 36/2008), and Royal Decree 57/2025 renamed the Secretariat General of the Tender Board as the Projects, Tenders and Local Content Authority. Government works commonly use either the Standard Documents for Building and Civil Engineering Works (4th edition, 1999) or the Standard Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Works (May 2019, Rev. 01). The 2019 Standard Contract is based on the FIDIC 1999 Red Book and requires a contract programme under Sub-Clause 8.3, 'Time Program', which gives an earned value baseline a contractual starting point. Where a contract provides for arbitration, the Oman Commercial Arbitration Centre, established by Royal Decree 26/2018, is the local institution.
Our approach
How we approach project controls & EVM
We start with the foundations: a defined work breakdown structure, a linked programme, a signed-off budget, measured progress and disciplined change control. Where one is missing we fix it before reporting a single index, because earned value built on a weak baseline produces confident but wrong numbers. We then run the cycle with your team each month. For owners and funders, we report independently of the party whose performance is being measured.
Experience
Related projects
World Bank · Tawi River
Programme assurance where approvals sat on the critical path but were never modelled.
- Approval dependencies mapped
- Baseline revised to realistic timelines
- P50 and P80 scenarios for funder reporting
Palm Jebel Ali villa fit-outs
Independent design assurance on a high-specification villa fit-out programme.
- Independent design review across fit-out packages
- Coordination and buildability risks surfaced early
- Design assurance aligned to construction stage-gates
Hafeet Rail
EOT entitlement and forensic windows analysis on a major rail programme in dispute.
- Forensic windows analysis produced
- Design-change impacts separated from concurrent contractor causes
- EOT entitlement structured and substantiated
Insights
Further reading
DCMA 14-Point Assessment explained · with a worked P6 example
What the DCMA 14-point schedule assessment checks, why BEI and CPLI matter, and a worked Primavera P6 example of a failing programme.
ReadP50 vs P80: how to set a defensible completion date
A single completion date is a fiction. How QSRA turns P50, P80 and P90 into decisions on the working programme, commitment and contingency.
ReadFAQ
Project Controls & EVM: common questions
What is earned value management?
Earned value management is a way of measuring project performance by comparing the value of work actually completed with the work planned and the cost incurred. Those three figures give schedule and cost variances, the SPI and CPI indices, and forecasts of final cost and completion date. ISO 21508:2018 and the EIA-748 guidelines describe the practice in detail.
What must be in place before EVM gives reliable numbers?
Five foundations: a defined work breakdown structure, a properly linked programme, a signed-off budget, measured progress and disciplined change control. If any one is missing, the indices still calculate, but they describe the wrong project. We check these foundations first and repair them before reporting any performance figures to a board or funder.
How do you measure progress objectively?
We agree rules of credit for each type of work before measurement starts, such as units installed, weighted milestones or measured quantities. Quantities are measured to the method the contract names, for example NRM2, CESMM4, SMM7 or IS 1200, and backed by contemporaneous daily records. Subjective per cent complete is used only where nothing better exists.
What does a project controls health check cover?
A health check tests whether your controls system tells the truth. We review baseline integrity, schedule quality against the DCMA 14-point checks, cost and schedule integration, progress rules, change control and the accuracy of recent reports. You receive ranked findings and the specific fixes needed, often ahead of a funding gate, a re-baseline or a commercial dispute.
Can EVM be applied to Indian public works paid through running account bills?India
Yes, and the measurement book helps. Running account bills are paid against quantities recorded in the measurement book, usually to the relevant part of IS 1200, which gives an objective earned quantity for each item. We map those items to the schedule and cost baseline so that measured value and physical progress agree, including figures reported to MoSPI's PAIMANA portal on central sector projects.
How does EVM fit FIDIC monthly progress reporting in the UAE?UAE
Closely. Under FIDIC-based contracts the monthly progress report compares actual with planned progress and supports each interim payment application. Building that report from an earned value baseline means valuation, programme and progress tell one consistent story. On Abu Dhabi capital projects under the updated ADGCC, that consistency also helps the Dispute Avoidance and Adjudication Board resolve issues early.
What should project controls on Saudi government projects account for?Saudi Arabia
Three things. Cost reporting must reconcile to commitments and payments, because EXPRO works with government entities on capital spending efficiency. On contracts tendered under the new procurement law, log each change order against the Article 67 limits, 10% for new items and 20% in total. The Civil Transactions Law also sets statutory rules for construction contracts.
Do Oman's standard contract forms suit earned value reporting?Oman
Yes, where there is a contract programme and a priced bill of quantities to build the baseline from. The 2019 Standard Contract for Building and Civil Engineering Works is based on the FIDIC 1999 Red Book and requires a contract programme under Sub-Clause 8.3, 'Time Program'. In Oman, on the Barka waste-to-energy bid, we stress-tested the bid programme against design and permit lead times.
Test your controls before someone else does.
Send us your current baseline and latest monthly report. We will tell you plainly where the numbers hold, where they do not, and what it takes to fix them.