Industry Survey for Determining the State of Practice of Front End Engineering Design for Industrial Construction

Abstract

Planning work conducted early during a construction project, known as front end planning (FEP), has a large impact on project outcomes and significant influence on the configuration of the final project. As a key component of FEP, front end engineering design (FEED) plays an essential role in the overall success of large industrial projects. This work was motivated by the existing confusion about the quality and completeness of the desired engineering deliverables at the end of FEED. The objective of this research was to determine the perception of the FEED process by administering a thorough survey to experienced FEED professionals working on industrial projects. A key finding of the survey is that the industry lacks a consistent, agreed-upon FEED definition, which causes industry misunderstandings. To address this gap, a comprehensive FEED definition was developed based on the 80 survey responses received, and builds on the existing literature. The contributions of this work include: (1) developing a tested FEED definition for the large industrial projects sector; (2) determining the industry’s state of practice for measuring FEED deliverables; and (3) reaffirming that 30% of engineering design complete is a threshold for FEED. These contributions to the FEED body of knowledge will add consistency and clarity regarding FEED for large industrial projects, promoting the alignment of academics and project stakeholders on a common understanding of FEED and improving communication about FEED expectations. In addition, this work is intended to serve as a foundation and definition for future FEED research.