Para 10.2.2 — CONSULT_MANUAL

10.2.3 Reporting and Monitoring of Progress 1. Monitoring of Contract should ensure that Consultants adhere to contract terms, performance standards are achieved (such as timely deliverables, service outputs/ outcomes, adherence to the proper procedure for submitting invoices, and so on), and any problems are identified and resolved in a timely manner. Without a sound monitoring process, there can be no assurance that the buyer has received what was contracted and is paying only for what is received. A sound system for monitoring the performance of the contractor in a contract would also be useful in selecting a good consultant for future procurement of the same or similar assignments. Implementation of the contract should be strictly monitored, and notices should be issued promptly whenever a breach of provisions occurs.

1. Overall, Scope of Work; 2. Work Plan and Staffing Schedule; 3. Specific Terms of Reference; 4. Access to Professional and Logistic Support; 5. Working Arrangements and Liaison

2. Monitoring of progress: The timing, nature, and number of reports that the consultant should provide are normally contained in the Consultancy services contract. If the assignment is of a routine nature over an extended period (for example, implementation supervision), then monthly, quarterly, and annual progress reports may be required. On the other hand, if the assignment is to prepare a study or to implement a particular task, a more specific type of reporting may be required. This could entail, besides the inception report mentioned above, interim or midterm reports, design reports, reports at the end of each phase of the work, a draft final report, and a final report. These may be provided in a number of media and formats but normally will entail hard and soft copy versions. The production or acceptance of various reports is often used as a milestone for payments. CMC should review the reports as they are produced (in final report draft final report is also reviewed), to provide feedback, and to monitor the implementation progress of the assignment. Shortcomings in the quality of the work produced or deviations from the implementation schedule should be brought to the immediate attention of the CA, so that they can be addressed at the earliest opportunity.

10.2.2 Review of Inception Phase For more complex consultancies, the work is divided into phases, of which one of the most critical is the inception phase. The inception phase covers the submission and review of the work plan with the Procuring Entity, and the initiation of the field work. It is common for an inception report to be prepared to cover the consultant’s experience and observations during this period, and often a workshop or seminar is held to discuss it. This may also be a milestone for payment. Resulting from the factual study of ground situation by the consultants, following issues will need resolution at end of the inception phase:

3. Costs of Delays in Contract Management Decisions: Payments and decisions in contract management requested by the contractor should be made within a reasonable time. An atmosphere of lackadaisical dilatory functioning in such matters is liable to lead to bidders quoting higher prices in future bids, besides delays in services and disputes in the contract.

4. Monitoring Deliverables/ Outputs/ Outcomes: Especially in consultancy services, progress of deliverables/ outcomes/ outputs has also to be monitored. There should be a stipulation in the contract for large value works (magnitude to be specified), for the Consultant to submit project specific monthly progress report of the work in a computerized form (Management Information System Reports– MIS reports). The progress report shall contain the following apart from whatever else may be required to be specified:

a) Project information, giving the broad features of the contract. b) Introduction, giving a brief scope of the work/ Activity Schedule under the contract. c) Progress of assignment through a bar chart for the next three quarters for as may be specified, showing the milestones, targeted tasks and up to date progress. d) Progress chart of the various components of the assignment that are planned and achieved, for the month as well as cumulative up to the month, with reasons for deviations, if any, in a tabular format. e) Resources/ tools/ equipment statement, indicating those deployed, and their working status. f) Man-power statement, indicating individually the names of all the key-staff. Monthly or fortnightly progress review by Procuring Entity with contractor may be necessary to ensure that contractor deploys sufficient resources to meet the deadlines. g) Financial statement, indicating the broad details of all the running account payments received up to date, such as gross value of work done, advances taken, recoveries effected, amounts withheld, net payments, details of cheque payments received, etc. h) A statement showing the variations/ change requests submitted by the contractor, and the payments received against them, broad details of the bank Guarantees, clearly indicating their validity periods, broad details of the insurance policies taken, if any, the advances received and adjusted from the department, etc. i) Progress photographs/ videography, in colour, of the various items/ components of the work done up to date, to indicate visually the actual progress of the work. Use of Geotagging (adding geographical metadata - latitude and longitude coordinates) in photos, videos, reports, may help in monitoring physical progress on the ground. Such information would also be useful later during use of such facilities. j) Quality assurance and quality control tests conducted (for example in the case of construction supervision consultancy contracts) during the month, with the results thereof. k) Any hold-up shall be specified. l) Dispute, if any, shall also be highlighted.

5. Monitoring a Time-based Contract: As indicated earlier, the performance of a timebased contract may depend on the progress in other contracts (for example, the progress of a construction supervision contract depends on the progress of a construction contract). In such situations, the mobilisation and demobilisation of resources/ key experts and time employed by them should be mobilised and monitored carefully as it is possible that the contract period and the total amount under the contract are spent fully, and construction work being supervised is not even half complete. These situations could lead to claims and disputes. 6. Monitoring a Lump-sum Contract: As Lump-sum contract is based on output and deliverables, it important that the quality of draft reports is checked carefully before release of stage payment as subsequent dispute after completion of the task could lead to disputes. In this form of contract, if there are extra additional services, there should be timely amendment to the contract to reflect these increases and to regulate payment. In general, in a lump-sum contract, the increase should not be more than 10-15 (ten to fifteen) per cent.