Project management (MOE), design/implementation phase

Project management (PM), during the design/construction phase, encompasses all the tasks involved in transforming a need into a delivered, compliant structure. This team (architect + engineering firms specializing in HVAC, electrical, structural engineering, etc.) designs the project, estimates costs, prepares the specifications, submits the tender documents, and then manages the execution: ensuring that what is installed corresponds to the plans, technical specifications, and expected performance levels (energy efficiency, comfort, safety). For technical projects (HVAC, building management systems, PV/solar, networks), the PM acts as the "control tower," balancing cost, schedule, quality, and future operation.

Project Management: Role and Scope in Design/Implementation

In the design phase, the project management team defines the need, verifies feasibility, and sets the target performance:

• ESQ / APS / APD: intentions, variants, pre-dimensioning, projected costs.
• PRO: detailed sizing, plans, diagrams and CCTP lot by lot (HVAC, plumbing, CFO/CFA, BMS, SSI…).
• DCE / ACT: consultation file, offer analysis, contract development.

In production, she controls, coordinates and receives:

• VISA: verifies companies' execution plans.
• DET (Works Execution Management): site meetings, material approvals, site checks, answering questions.
• OPC (often associated): planning, phasing, interfaces.
• AOR / OPR: testing, pre-acceptance, removal of reservations, DGD, DOE and PPSPS/safety aspects.
• Development: testing/balancing, commissioning, measurements (flow rates, ΔT, IAQ), BMS settings and operational training.

Benefits, limitations and points of attention of MOE

Benefits

• Quality & compliance: consistent plans, clear technical specifications, documented tests.
• Cost control: right quantities, optimized variants, limited amendments.
• Secure deadlines: coordination of interfaces, management of risks.
• Controlled performance: energy / comfort / IAQ objectives achieved and measured.
• Operability: clean DOE, settings transmitted, easy to use.

Boundaries

• Fee costs to be included (but often cheaper than site overruns).
• Depends on the availability of the project owner for key arbitrations.
• If the project management team is poorly equipped (commissioning, BMS), there is a risk of underperformance.

Points to consider

• Precise technical specifications (performance, tolerances, test protocol) and up-to-date plans.
• Technical coordination: HVAC ↔ electrical ↔ fire safety system ↔ architect (reservations, cable trays, dockings).
• Measurement & testing: PVI (verification points), FAT/SAT, balancing readings.
• Financial monitoring: progress, quantitative variances, amendment reviews.
• Operation: maintenance instructions, BMS parameters, anti-legionella guidelines, safety (gas, fumes).
• Closure: rigorous OPR, complete DOE (diagrams, identification, adjustments), warranty period followed.

Anecdote — “The technical specifications that calmed the rain in Rennes”

In Rennes, the renovation of an educational building was spiraling out of control: conflicts between the HVAC and facade work packages, forgotten reservations, and tight deadlines. The project management team rewrote the technical specifications, clarifying tolerances, markings, test sequences (network sealing, balancing, building management system), and a matrix of interfaces for each trade package. The result: a realigned schedule, limited amendments, and a handover with no critical reservations. The site manager quipped, "We couldn't stop the Breton rain... but we stopped the information leaks." Moral of the story: a clear and demanding project management team is sometimes better than a month of sunshine.