Change Controls and Contingency Usage
Change Controls
The change control process exists to manage project changes in a structured and transparent way. It ensures that when a potential change to a project is proposed, all parties are in a position to make informed decisions based on a full understanding of the implications of the change, certainty of commitment, and with a high degree of predictability of the outcome. All change controls must be approved by the University prior to any agreement or commitment with a supplier.
Project Contingencies
Due to the nature of projects, it is prudent to provide for risk within the initial and final costings. However, these contingency funds must be used correctly: there is a risk that contingencies may be viewed as a way of increasing the scope of a project, or spent simply because they exist; conversely, a project may not deliver its full benefits by failing to utilise contingencies when required.
The Capital Programme Governance Board, IT Financial Planning Committee, and Transformation Board hold the contingencies for projects but delegate authority for their use up to agreed limits.
In particular, a project must not exceed any individual budget line that formed part of the total budgeted cost supplied to an approving committee. Over or underspends cannot be transferred directly between budget lines but should first be routed through the contingency line.
For example, if a project underspends on one budgeted line then this underspend must follow the change control process and be returned to contingency. If a project then wishes to utilise some contingency to offset an overspend on another line, it must again follow the change control process to release the contingency.
The only exception relates to a change in delivery strategy, such as a change from internal to external resource, which does not require the use of contingency.
Project Overspends
In some cases, the contingency sum held is not sufficient to cover cost overruns resulting in an overspend against the approved project budget. In these cases a separate governance route should be followed.
This section of the Investments site contains a high level summary and the change control, contingency usage and project overspend approval rules for each of Estates, Information Services (IS) and Transformation. The rules are slightly different for each area, so please select the appropriate link below.
Change control and contingency usage rules will be reviewed in mid-2023.
Last updated: February 2023