SUBSIDIARY PROJECT PLAN REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

: In 2010, the Commission of Enquiry into the Construction Sector of Trinidad and Tobago found that Public Construction Projects (PCPs) in Trinidad and Tobago suffered significant schedule overrun due to a lack of project planning, specifically at the design stage, which costed the country several millions of TT dollars. The Enquiry’s revelation prompted this study, to assess the significance of the Subsidiary Project Plans (SPPs) at the design stage of PCPs. The assessment of the impact of SPPs on project schedule, based on its level of production, was executed via statistical analyses, in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, utilizing 62 questionnaire responses. The relationship between the level of production of each SPP and project schedule was investigated via a correlation analysis revealing that SPPs are significantly neglected at the design stage of PCPs in Trinidad and Tobago which in turn adversely affected project schedule. Further statistical analysis on each SPP revealed that only 22% of the total number of SPPs that can be produced were done, at 51% adequacy. This significant finding in the study highlighted its impact on and importance to project schedule and by extension, project cost. A minimum set of SPPs to be produced, at the design stage of Public Construction Projects in Trinidad and Tobago, is recommended for standardisation as it is expected to substantially reduce the probability of project delays and cost overruns. The findings will educate construction project professionals and stakeholders on the SPPs’ importance and its contribution to project success and sustainable construction standards. This study investigates the significance of all possible subsidiary project plans at DSP of public construction projects in T&T. The levels of SPPs production presents the adverse impacts its absence has on project schedule and its direct relation to the paucity of project success as it pertains to PCPs in Trinidad and Tobago. The study proposes a Standard Procedure Document (SPD) for PCPs in Trinidad and Tobago in the form of a minimum set of SPPs required at the design stage of PCPs. These SPPs are expected to allow for better control and monitoring of key aspects of Trinidad and Tobago’s PCPs from the design stage onward. Through the implementation of this SPD, a reduction of project delays is expected, along with reductions in cost overruns, potentially saving the economy of Trinidad and Tobago billions of TT dollars, further allowing for higher probabilities of achieving project success from all points of the “iron triangle”; quality, cost and time.