Landowner consents to access, coordinating schedules with contractors and surveyors, acquiring workspace... so many moving parts...

1. Centralized Project Management

One issue we have experienced with integrity programs is they are treated like operations and maintenance activities rather than "Projects." Management of these digs within the operating company is often not centralized to a single project manager who is ultimately responsible for ensuring all required pieces are in place to enable the program to run smoothly. This often results in delays in the program and costly delays as contractor crews are on standby as people scramble to get a forgotten authorization, permit or approval in place. There are many moving parts to an integrity dig program. Landowners must consent to access, that access must be suitable to the contractor, working space must be obtained, surveys must be undertaken, archaeological / wildlife or fisheries authorizations may need to be obtained, and construction timing constraints may apply. That is why each individual dig must be managed as a mini-project and the dig program must    be managed as a major project for the operating company. Tools that work on major projects, such as Project scheduling that includes all inter-related and inter-dependent tasks, March Charts to identify all timing constraints, construction alignment sheets and centralized information (discussed below), should be implemented for dig programs as well. These project tools and controls don't have to be elaborate or time or cost intensive, they just need to be in place and the team needs to be strictly dedicated to using them.

2. Close communication between Survey / Land / Environment and Contractor

We have encountered several situations where the access acquired by the land team has been suitable for the environment and survey teams but inaccessible for the construction contractor. We have also seen situations where a lack of communication has not ensured commitments to landowners have been met. Formal and informal means of communication with the various team disciplines is essential to ensure that the program runs smoothly and minimizes the potential for waste in time and money. Periodic meetings of the entire Project Team are important to prevent "gaps" from occurring and systems to identify and track issues and concerns are essential. HMA's LADI database has been an essential tool for identifying and tracking issues and concerns to resolution. The systems must support many forms of documentation including consultation summaries, agreements, reports, drawings and photographs. All data should be spatially referenced and available on-line for real time availability.

3. Centralized shared database (e.g. GIS, SharePoint)

Building on points 1 & 2, Project Management is really about information sharing and communication management. The left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing and often, since project management is decentralized, various project information is siloed. Project Management and communication tools such as shared GIS, SharePoint or Base Camp are excellent ways to ensure all are informed and that project inter-dependencies are well understood and documented.

4. Collect ECI Information at the same time

Integrity Digs are often concentrated in specific areas in a particular season or year and fit well into the operating company's Landowner Visitation Program. These programs are typically focused on collecting Emergency Contact Information (ECI) data at a given time frequency (e.g. every three or four years), so why not collect information in areas of integrity digs while Land Agents and other integrity personnel are in the field already? This is a cost saving measure, but it also works well for public relations to inform landowners and residents of proposed activities in their area and provide information vital to living and working around pipelines.

5. Get the land team started early

Many of the Project sub-teams are seasonally time constrained. For example, the environmental work must be undertaken at certain biologically or environmentally relevant time periods. Survey crews and contractor crews may also be limited by season or  ground conditions. Conducting landowner notification and/or obtaining necessary agreements is not typically seasonally constrained; therefore it's often beneficial to kick off the land crews early in the year so we can  contact potentially affected landowners and obtain  survey consent, working space and other agreements in advance. In this way once the weather or ground conditions are favourable, work activities can proceed quickly and simultaneously to optimize the amount of work that can be accomplished in the time windows available.