MCA Workplan Guidance
Practical guidance for MCA project and activity managers on building, baselining, and tracking schedules aligned to the PPMM — from pre-Entry into Force preparation through Compact completion.
A workplan is only useful if it stays alive. Too often, MCA workplans become compliance artifacts — submitted on schedule, then quietly ignored. This guidance is designed to help project and activity managers build schedules that reflect reality, hold up under scrutiny, and actually drive week-to-week decisions.
The three videos below walk through the core concepts: how to think about the right level of planning at each stage of a Compact, how to structure a workplan that is honest and manageable, and how to keep it current as conditions on the ground evolve.
The Three-Level Planning Architecture
Effective MCA schedule management works at three distinct levels. Understanding where each level lives — and who owns it — is the foundation of this guidance.
Program Milestone Map
A high-level view of the major gates across all projects — procurement awards, commencement dates, taking-over certificates, and disbursement targets. This is the leadership dashboard, not the operational tool.
PPMM-Based MCA Workplan
The core operational schedule, structured around the 10 PPMM steps. This is what the videos cover — how to build it, how to baseline it, and how to keep it honest. This is the tool you own and update.
FIDIC Contractor Programme
The detailed construction programme submitted by the contractor under FIDIC Clause 8.3. You review and monitor it, but you do not own it. Conflating this with the MCA workplan is a common and costly mistake.
Video Series
Watch in order for the full picture, or jump to the topic most relevant to your current challenge.
Key Principles
These ideas run through all three videos. Keep them in mind as you apply the guidance to your program.
Tool, Not Artifact
Your workplan should drive decisions, not just document them. If you only open it when MCC asks for an update, it has already failed.
Right Level of Detail
MCA managers oversee contracts and relationships — they do not execute work directly. Your workplan should reflect that reality, not try to replicate the contractor’s programme.
Baseline Discipline
A baseline only has value if it is locked and protected. Variance against baseline is information. Continuously moving the baseline erases the signal.
Honest Updating
Psychological safety for honest schedule reporting is as important as the technical structure. A team that hides slippage will always deliver worse outcomes than one that surfaces it early.
Know What You Own
The FIDIC contractor programme is submitted under Clause 8.3 — you review it and monitor against it, but you do not own it. Confusion about ownership leads to gaps and duplication.
Full Lifecycle View
Planning starts before Entry into Force and runs through Compact completion. Pre-EIF preparation activities need workplan coverage just as much as construction phases do.
IPM 