Department of Transportation

Scope Management

Summary

Scope Management is a process that ensures a project or proposed project includes all the work that is required and that the work is planned and managed. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has developed a series of guidance documents that help to identify the scope of a project and manage that scope over the life of the project.

Objectives

The process goal is to ensure the work of the project or proposed project is authorized, defined, and managed over the life of the project. Accomplishing this goal helps to eliminate unauthorized work, minimize unwarranted changes, and ultimately minimize the cost of the project and the time required to complete the project.

Major Tasks

The Scope Management Process has two key functions:

  • Authorizing Work: During the Problem Screening phase, problem statements, that are generated from the NJDOT Management Systems are reviewed and screened to determine appropriate action. If a Problem Statement is to be recommended to advance into the Concept Development (CD) phase, Capital Investment Strategies (CIS) coordinates with Subject Matter Experts (SME) and presents documentation to the Capital Program Screening Committee (CPSC) for recommendation to the Capital Program Committee (CPC). In the end the CPC formally authorizes the Problem Statement to advance into the CD Phase.

  • Defining and Managing Scope: For all phases following Problem Screening, the scope of the effort must be formally defined and approved. This is accomplished by using a Scope Statement. There are separate Scope Statement templates for Preliminary Engineering (PE) and Final Design (FD).  Each Scope Statement template is based on the documented Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the Project Delivery Process and lists all of the products for the phase. Each Scope Statement is customized based on the project or proposed project specifics and is used to manage and control work.

Products
Scope Statement

Each Scope Statement is based on a standard template and documents the scope of work for the phase. It provides both the consultant and NJDOT the scope of work with the detail necessary to estimate the staff hours of work associated with the project phase. The Scope Statement also provides areas for the SME units to state any assumptions, customize standard activities and add new activities and descriptions. It is used as a quality control measure.

Some of the files below are in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free from the state Adobe Access page, to view the files.

Flow Charts
Guidance Documents


Last updated date: October 24, 2023 1:43 PM