Why Project Controls Are the Backbone of Successful Delivery

In today’s increasingly complex project landscape—where scope, budget, risk and stakeholder expectations must be constantly balanced—project controls have become not just important, but essential. At Murray & Joy, we’ve long recognised that successful project delivery isn’t just about getting things built—it’s about delivering outcomes with certainty, consistency, and clarity.

What Are Project Controls?

Project controls encompass the systems, processes, tools, and expertise used to monitor and manage a project’s performance. This includes scheduling, cost control, risk management, performance forecasting, and progress reporting. When implemented effectively, project controls provide a clear, real-time picture of how a project is tracking against its baseline—enabling proactive decision-making and timely intervention.

Scheduling: The Critical Path to Delivery

A well-structured schedule is the foundation of any project. It’s more than a timeline—it’s a strategic tool that maps out dependencies, identifies the critical path, allocates resources, and highlights potential bottlenecks before they occur. At Murray & Joy, our teams use tools like Primavera P6 and MS Project to build and maintain fully integrated Level 3 and 4 schedules that support everything from pre-construction milestones to commissioning and close-out. These aren’t static documents—they’re living frameworks that evolve as the project progresses.

Cost Control: Managing the Budget Beyond the Numbers

Project budgets are under more scrutiny than ever, especially in the current climate of inflationary pressures and material cost volatility. Our cost engineers track planned versus actual expenditure, monitor variances, and work closely with commercial teams to deliver accurate forecasting and cash flow visibility. The integration of earned value management (EVM) ensures cost and schedule performance are viewed together—highlighting where real value is being delivered, or where corrective action is needed.

Risk Management: Planning for Uncertainty

Every project carries risk, but not every team is equipped to manage it. Our risk professionals identify and quantify potential risks early, then implement mitigation strategies that are embedded into the delivery plan. From high-level project risk registers to Monte Carlo simulations and quantitative cost/schedule risk assessments, we help clients understand exposure and improve resilience.

Reporting and Insight: Turning Data into Decisions

Timely and accurate reporting transforms project controls from a back-office function into a front-line leadership tool. Our interactive dashboards and structured reporting cycles deliver insight, not just information. Whether it’s a lookahead schedule, progress update, or critical path analysis, we tailor outputs to match stakeholder needs—ensuring the right people have the right information at the right time.

The Murray & Joy Approach

What sets us apart is not just the systems we use, but the way we apply them. At Murray & Joy, we don’t treat project controls as an administrative task—we treat them as a strategic capability. From large-scale infrastructure to bespoke commercial developments, our specialists are embedded within project teams, acting as a trusted partner and an early warning system for clients.

Project controls don’t just help you stay on course—they help you lead with confidence. That’s why we believe they are, and always will be, the backbone of successful project delivery.