Engineering, Procurement and Construction Project Management Course

Course Introduction

Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) projects are complex delivery arrangements that integrate engineering design, equipment and material procurement, construction, testing, and commissioning within a coordinated project framework. They are widely used in energy, oil and gas, power generation, water infrastructure, industrial facilities, manufacturing, mining, and large-scale infrastructure development. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction Project Management Course equips professionals with the practical knowledge, management frameworks, and technical coordination skills required to plan, execute, monitor, and complete EPC projects safely, efficiently, and within approved cost, schedule, quality, and performance parameters.

Successful EPC project delivery requires rigorous front-end planning, clear scope definition, realistic cost estimates, mature engineering designs, effective procurement strategies, and disciplined construction management. Decisions made during early project development can significantly influence construction productivity, contractual exposure, commissioning readiness, and whole-life operating costs. This course examines how to establish reliable project baselines, coordinate multidisciplinary engineering teams, manage design reviews, verify technical requirements, and align procurement and construction activities with project objectives. Participants will explore methods for identifying execution constraints early, improving project readiness, and reducing costly rework, schedule slippage, and avoidable changes.

Procurement is a critical driver of EPC project performance because long-lead equipment, specialized materials, international suppliers, logistics arrangements, and complex subcontracting relationships can directly affect construction progress. Participants will examine procurement planning, supplier qualification, technical bid evaluation, commercial negotiation, expediting, inspection, logistics coordination, and materials management. The programme also addresses supply-chain volatility, geopolitical disruption, customs and import requirements, price escalation, supplier insolvency, and ethical procurement risks. Particular emphasis is placed on integrating procurement schedules with engineering deliverables and construction priorities to ensure that equipment and materials arrive in the right condition, at the right location, and when required.

EPC project management also demands robust commercial governance and effective contractual risk management. Project teams must manage contractual obligations, payment milestones, performance guarantees, variation orders, extension-of-time claims, liquidated damages, subcontractor performance, and disputes while maintaining constructive working relationships. This course explores project controls, earned value management, integrated scheduling, cost forecasting, change control, quantitative risk analysis, and performance reporting. Participants will learn how to identify deviations from approved baselines, evaluate the consequences of proposed changes, establish corrective actions, and maintain reliable documentation that supports commercial decisions, contract compliance, and audit readiness.

Emerging technologies are transforming the way EPC projects are engineered, procured, constructed, and monitored. Building information modelling, digital twins, common data environments, automated progress reporting, drones, geospatial monitoring, predictive analytics, and artificial intelligence can improve design coordination, materials visibility, construction productivity, and early identification of delivery risks. The course examines how these tools can be incorporated into project management systems while addressing cybersecurity, data integrity, interoperability, responsible AI use, and human oversight. Participants will also consider modular construction, off-site fabrication, modern construction methods, decarbonization, climate resilience, and sustainability requirements that increasingly influence project specifications, procurement decisions, and operational performance.

By the end of the programme, participants will be better equipped to manage the complete EPC lifecycle, from project definition and engineering development through procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning, and final handover. The learning approach combines practical planning exercises, case studies, contract scenarios, risk assessments, scheduling techniques, and project performance simulations. Participants will develop actionable methods for coordinating engineering, procurement, and construction teams; strengthening contractor and supplier accountability; improving safety and quality performance; and ensuring that completed facilities satisfy contractual requirements, operational needs, and long-term business objectives.

Duration

10 days

Who Should Attend

• EPC project directors and project managers responsible for major engineering and construction investments.

• Engineering managers and discipline leads coordinating multidisciplinary design and technical deliverables.

• Procurement managers and strategic sourcing specialists managing equipment, materials, and subcontracting arrangements.

• Construction managers and site managers overseeing field execution, contractor coordination, and productivity.

• Project controls managers responsible for scheduling, cost control, forecasting, and performance reporting.

• Contract managers and commercial specialists handling EPC contracts, variations, claims, and disputes.

• Planning engineers and project schedulers coordinating engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning activities.

• Cost engineers and financial controllers monitoring budgets, commitments, cash flow, and estimates at completion.

• Supply-chain, logistics, expediting, and materials management professionals supporting project execution.

• Quality assurance and quality control specialists responsible for inspections, testing, and technical compliance.

• Health, safety, and environmental professionals overseeing site safety, environmental controls, and regulatory obligations.

• Risk managers and project assurance professionals assessing uncertainty, compliance, and delivery performance.

• Commissioning managers and operations representatives preparing facilities for testing, acceptance, and handover.

• Engineering consultants and EPC contractors involved in design development, procurement, construction, and project delivery.

• Oil and gas, power, renewable energy, water, mining, and industrial infrastructure professionals managing capital projects.

• Digital transformation and information management specialists implementing BIM, digital twins, and integrated project systems.

• Senior executives and investment sponsors seeking stronger oversight of project cost, schedule, quality, and commercial risk.

• Project finance and legal professionals supporting EPC contracting, payment arrangements, guarantees, and dispute resolution.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Develop comprehensive EPC project execution strategies that integrate engineering deliverables, procurement activities, construction sequencing, commissioning requirements, and overall business objectives.

• Establish clear project scope, technical requirements, work breakdown structures, responsibility matrices, and deliverable registers to improve accountability across multidisciplinary teams.

• Prepare and maintain integrated master schedules that connect engineering approvals, equipment procurement, manufacturing lead times, site readiness, construction milestones, and commissioning activities.

• Apply cost engineering and financial control techniques to establish credible budgets, track commitments and expenditure, forecast final project costs, and manage contingency provisions.

• Design procurement strategies that incorporate supplier qualification, technical and commercial evaluation, contract packaging, expediting, logistics planning, and effective materials availability controls.

• Strengthen EPC contract administration by monitoring contractual obligations, payment milestones, performance guarantees, variations, claims, extension-of-time requests, and dispute resolution processes.

• Implement systematic risk management methods that identify, assess, prioritize, and mitigate technical, commercial, financial, environmental, safety, schedule, and supply-chain risks.

• Apply integrated project controls, earned value management, critical-path analysis, progress verification, and performance dashboards to detect deviations and initiate timely corrective action.

• Improve construction execution through work packaging, site coordination, productivity monitoring, contractor supervision, constructability reviews, and effective management of work-front readiness.

• Integrate quality assurance, occupational health and safety, environmental compliance, and inspection and testing requirements into engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction activities.

• Apply digital technologies, predictive analytics, BIM, digital twins, automation, and responsible AI-supported insights to strengthen coordination, transparency, and delivery decision-making.

• Establish effective pre-commissioning, commissioning, operational readiness, final acceptance, and handover procedures to ensure that completed facilities meet technical and contractual performance requirements.

Comprehensive Course Outline

Module 1: EPC Project Fundamentals and Delivery Frameworks

• Characteristics of EPC contracting, including integrated delivery responsibilities, single-point accountability, technical interfaces, and performance obligations.

• Comparison of EPC, EPCM, design-build, traditional contracting, and other delivery models across different project sectors and risk environments.

• Definition of project success through cost, schedule, quality, safety, operational performance, contractual compliance, and stakeholder satisfaction.

• Identification of common EPC project failure factors, including incomplete scope definition, weak coordination, unrealistic schedules, procurement delays, and poor change control.

Module 2: Project Definition, Feasibility and Execution Planning

• Development of project objectives, business requirements, feasibility assessments, technical alternatives, investment assumptions, and project success criteria.

• Preparation of project execution plans covering organization, engineering, procurement, construction, project controls, quality, safety, and commissioning.

• Establishment of project scope statements, work breakdown structures, responsibility assignment matrices, deliverable registers, and interface management plans.

• Assessment of front-end engineering readiness, constructability, site conditions, implementation capacity, regulatory approvals, and major execution constraints.

Module 3: Engineering Management and Design Coordination

• Coordination of process, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control, and other engineering disciplines through defined deliverables and review processes.

• Management of design schedules, technical specifications, design calculations, drawings, document reviews, interdisciplinary checks, and approval workflows.

• Application of design verification, value engineering, constructability reviews, technical query management, and design change control to reduce rework.

• Integration of BIM, digital engineering, common data environments, model coordination, and digital design reviews to improve information consistency and technical collaboration.

Module 4: Procurement Strategy and Materials Management

• Development of procurement plans, sourcing strategies, package definitions, purchasing schedules, and commercial evaluation criteria aligned with execution priorities.

• Application of supplier prequalification, technical bid evaluation, commercial analysis, due diligence, and procurement governance to support defensible purchasing decisions.

• Management of purchase orders, supplier documentation, manufacturing schedules, inspection requirements, expediting activities, and delivery commitments.

• Establishment of materials management systems covering inventory visibility, warehouse controls, material traceability, preservation, site distribution, and shortage resolution.

Module 5: Supply-Chain Resilience and Logistics Coordination

• Assessment of global supply-chain exposure, supplier concentration, geopolitical risks, commodity volatility, sanctions compliance, and international trade restrictions.

• Planning of transportation routes, freight arrangements, customs clearance, import documentation, heavy-lift logistics, and oversized equipment delivery.

• Development of supplier contingency plans, alternative sourcing arrangements, buffer strategies, and recovery measures for critical long-lead items.

• Application of digital supply-chain tracking, automated alerts, predictive analytics, and supplier performance dashboards to improve delivery visibility and responsiveness.

Module 6: Integrated Project Scheduling and Planning

• Development of integrated master schedules linking engineering deliverables, procurement milestones, manufacturing activities, construction work fronts, and commissioning.

• Application of critical-path analysis, schedule logic validation, resource loading, milestone planning, and baseline approval procedures.

• Management of interfaces between design release dates, vendor information, material availability, site access, subcontractor mobilization, and construction sequencing.

• Use of schedule risk analysis, progress measurement, look-ahead planning, delay analysis, and early-warning indicators to protect contractual completion dates.

Module 7: Cost Engineering, Budgeting and Financial Controls

• Preparation of EPC project budgets incorporating engineering costs, equipment procurement, construction labour, subcontracting, logistics, indirect costs, and contingency allowances.

• Establishment of cost breakdown structures, commitments registers, cash-flow forecasts, expenditure controls, and estimates at completion.

• Application of earned value management, cost variance analysis, productivity measurement, trend forecasting, and independent validation of reported financial performance.

• Governance of contingency utilization, budget revisions, foreign exchange exposure, inflationary pressures, payment approvals, and corrective actions for adverse cost trends.

Module 8: EPC Contract Management and Commercial Administration

• Interpretation of EPC contract structures, scope obligations, technical schedules, completion requirements, payment terms, warranties, and performance guarantees.

• Administration of contractual notices, variations, extension-of-time requests, claims submissions, compensation events, and formal change approval procedures.

• Management of liquidated damages, milestone payments, retention, securities, subcontractor obligations, and commercial performance reporting.

• Application of negotiation, dispute avoidance, mediation, adjudication, and other contractually appropriate mechanisms for resolving commercial disagreements.

Module 9: Construction Management and Site Execution

• Planning and coordination of construction work packages, site establishment, workforce mobilization, temporary facilities, equipment, and work-front readiness.

• Management of civil works, structural installation, mechanical erection, electrical installation, instrumentation, and multidisciplinary site interfaces.

• Monitoring of labour productivity, equipment utilization, daily progress, subcontractor performance, material availability, and construction quality.

• Application of lean construction, workface planning, modularization, off-site fabrication, and constraint removal to improve site productivity and reduce rework.

Module 10: Project Risk Management and Uncertainty Control

• Establishment of risk management frameworks covering technical design, procurement, construction, contract performance, financing, safety, environmental, and schedule uncertainties.

• Application of qualitative risk assessment, probability-impact analysis, quantitative cost and schedule modelling, scenario analysis, and sensitivity testing.

• Assignment of risk owners, mitigation measures, escalation thresholds, contingency responses, review schedules, and residual risk acceptance responsibilities.

• Management of emerging risks related to climate events, cyber incidents, supply-chain interruptions, labour shortages, regulatory changes, and contractor underperformance.

Module 11: Quality Assurance, Safety and Environmental Compliance

• Development of project quality plans, inspection and test plans, technical acceptance criteria, material certification requirements, and nonconformance procedures.

• Integration of occupational health and safety management, construction risk assessments, permit-to-work systems, and incident investigation processes.

• Monitoring of environmental permits, waste management, emissions, resource efficiency, hazardous materials, and community protection requirements.

• Application of digital quality records, traceability systems, inspection reporting, corrective action tracking, and independent compliance verification throughout project delivery.

Module 12: Project Controls, Performance Monitoring and Reporting

• Integration of scope, schedule, cost, risk, procurement, engineering, construction, and commissioning information into a coherent project controls framework.

• Design of performance indicators, management dashboards, milestone reports, progress verification procedures, and executive exception reporting.

• Application of trend analysis, earned value metrics, schedule performance indicators, forecast completion dates, and corrective action tracking.

• Establishment of reliable reporting governance through data validation, consistent measurement rules, controlled baselines, audit trails, and clear accountability for performance information.

Module 13: Change Management, Technical Interfaces and Claims Prevention

• Establishment of formal change control procedures for scope revisions, design modifications, procurement substitutions, construction changes, and contractual adjustments.

• Assessment of change impacts on cost, schedule, technical compliance, safety, quality, environmental obligations, and downstream commissioning activities.

• Management of interface registers, technical queries, requests for information, design discrepancies, and cross-contractor dependencies to prevent coordination failures.

• Use of contemporaneous records, contractual notices, decision logs, impact assessments, and early negotiation to reduce avoidable claims and disputes.

Module 14: Digital EPC Delivery, AI and Emerging Technologies

• Application of BIM, digital twins, common data environments, and integrated project management systems to improve engineering coordination and information control.

• Use of drones, geospatial tools, reality capture, automated progress monitoring, and computer vision to verify site conditions and construction progress.

• Integration of predictive analytics, machine learning, and responsible AI-assisted forecasting to identify schedule threats, cost pressures, and equipment delivery risks.

• Governance of cybersecurity, data access, interoperability, model quality, digital records, and human validation of technology-supported recommendations.

Module 15: Pre-Commissioning, Commissioning and Operational Readiness

• Development of systemization plans, completion dossiers, inspection records, mechanical completion certificates, and pre-commissioning checklists.

• Coordination of equipment testing, flushing, cleaning, energization, calibration, functional testing, safety verification, and integrated systems commissioning.

• Management of punch lists, defect rectification, performance testing, acceptance criteria, warranties, and contractual completion requirements.

• Preparation of operations teams, maintenance procedures, spare parts, training materials, asset registers, and technical documentation for effective facility handover.

Module 16: Project Closeout, Sustainability and Lessons Learned

• Completion of final account settlements, contract closeout, claims resolution, procurement reconciliation, documentation handover, and outstanding obligation management.

• Evaluation of project outcomes against approved cost, schedule, quality, safety, environmental, operational, and contractual performance targets.

• Application of lifecycle cost analysis, energy efficiency assessments, emissions monitoring, climate resilience measures, and sustainable asset management practices.

• Conduct of structured lessons-learned reviews, knowledge capture, digital performance analysis, and continuous improvement planning for future EPC projects.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808

Training Venue 

The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.

Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808

Terms of Payment:

Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.