Software Spotlight: CEC Validator FAQs

The CEC Validator app simplifies the cost and schedule estimate validation process to help capital project teams prevent costly overruns and delays. Users get industry-level metrics and insights throughout the project life cycle to understand how realistic and competitive their estimates are at every step of the way. Below, IPA’s cost engineering experts answer the most frequently asked questions from current CEC Validator users.

Where do the underlying data in CEC Validator come from?

CEC Validator leverages IPA’s onshore database of 5,000 recently completed large projects, featuring detailed project data collected directly from more than 100 owner companies around the world. Large projects are defined as projects with total design and construction costs of more than US$20 million. The help section within the CEC Validator application provides more information about the breakdown of the CEC Validator dataset by various project characteristics.

Where do the industry norms in CEC Validator come from?

The industry norms included in CEC Validator reports are generated using multi-variable regressions on industry-specific subsets of the overall Validator database described above. In other words, the industry norms reflect the effects of project characteristics like process, project type, and the amount of bulk materials and major equipment. In addition, the effects of currency exchange rates, time, and location (regional all-in wage rates and craft productivity) are all normalized to make industry norms specific to your project.

How do the CEC Validator industry norms compare to CEC metrics tables?

The CEC Validator outputs are a more refined version of the CEC metrics from Excel-based metrics tables. Validator uses multi-variable regression to account for multiple characteristics of your project, as well as to account for the currency, time, and location differences.

How often is CEC Validator updated?

• Monthly: Currency exchange, price escalation, and location factors are updated
• Quarterly: Models are assessed to determine if an update is needed
• Bi-annually: Models are updated with new data
• Continuously: New features are added to improve the overall value and user experience

If I benchmark a project multiple times, does it count as multiple projects or a single project?

Multiple reports can be run on the same project by editing the project. Running multiple reports on the same project does not count as running multiple projects. You can edit the project and enter updated cost or schedule information or advance the project to next phase to run a new round of estimates. This is still counted as one project toward the total cost and schedule validation workflow usage based on the company’s membership tier (e.g., Tier 1 companies can run cost and schedule validation reports for up to 10 unique projects in the membership period).

If I benchmark multiple times within a phase, does it keep all the versions of my report or does it just keep the latest version?

CEC Validator will save the latest version of the report within each project phase (FEL 1, FEL 2, FEL 3, Execution, and Complete). That means if your project is in FEL 3, you can still access the last saved FEL 2 report. If you ran multiple reports within the FEL 2 phase, it will only keep the latest FEL 2 report.

What do the green, yellow, and red colors indicate in the app?

• Green: The project metric lies within the mid-50% industry range (P₂₅ to P₇₅)
• Yellow: The project metrics lie outside the mid-50% industry range but inside the mid-80% industry range (P₁₀ to P₂₅ or P₇₅ to P₉₀)
• Red: The project metric lies outside the mid-80% industry range (less than P₁₀ or more than P₉₀)

Why do I see both schedule-driven and non-schedule-driven comparisons on the schedule report?

The comparison of your project with industry norms is done based on your project strategy. Both schedule-driven and non-schedule-driven industry norms are shown to help users assess the impact of the project’s selected strategy.

What happens if my company uses all our available project slots for the Validate Project Schedule and Cost Estimate workflows?

You can still run unlimited projects through the Build Conceptual Schedule and Validate Project Schedule workflows. However, you will need to upgrade to the next tier to enter more projects through the Validate Project Schedule and Cost Estimate workflow.

What information shows up on the portfolio page?

The portfolio page shows aggregated system level trends for all projects that have benchmarked through the Cost and Schedule Validation workflow. It excludes projects that are archived.

When I archive a project, does it still show in the portfolio page?

No. Archived projects do not show up as part of the portfolio aggregation.

What does IPA do with the data I enter in the CEC Validator?

All the data entered in the CEC Validator are stored in accordance with IPA’s strict data confidentiality policy. No other member company can see the data that you enter in Validator. Only your own company and IPA can see it. IPA does not utilize data entered into Validator for any purposes other than troubleshooting when requested by the client company.

How many times can you run a report in CEC Validator?

For all tier levels, there is no limit to the number of projects you can enter for Workflow 1 (Build Conceptual Schedule) and Workflow 2 (Validate Project Schedules). Workflow 3 (Validate Project Schedule and Cost Estimate) is limited based on your subscription tier. At Tier 1, you can only enter up to 10 projects in Workflow 3. At Tier 2, you can enter up to 50 projects in Workflow 3. At Tier 3, there is no limit to the number of projects you can enter in Workflow 3.

How can I add users to or remove users from a project?

Anyone at the Administrator, Corporate User, or Regional User level can add users to or remove users from any project listed in the Projects tab. Simply open the Projects tab, click on any project, and then click Manage Project Users.

How can I validate cost and schedule for projects under US$20 million?

IPA has a separate web-based cost and schedule validation solution for projects under US$20 million called the Site Portfolio Tool (SPT). We are developing an IPA platform that will enable seamless interaction between Validator and SPT for companies that license both applications. We will share more details with the CEC Validator user group when the latest version of SPT is available in the new IPA platform.

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