The heart of this research is to understand the drivers of late P&ID changes and to create solutions that reduce these costly changes and schedule delays. Early input can greatly improve the performance of projects in this area. To obtain this early input to P&IDs, the owner’s project team should be organized at the beginning of a project and assist in the progress of the project. In addition, lack of input by personnel from operations, maintenance and construction at the early stage of projects is also a main contributor to project uncertainty. Some companies have increased early input from these areas in order to minimize uncertainty in the piping process.
The research found that the following 6 stages best describe the flow of the P&ID development process (Integrated Flowchart for P&ID Development Process): (RS47-1, p. 7)
- Approval for preliminary review (AFP)
- Approval for multi-disciplinary review (AFM)
- Approval for owner review (AFO)
- Approval for detailed design (AFD)
- Approval for construction (AFC)
- Approval for start-up and operations (AFS)
To improve P&ID development and reviews, the research developed the following five tools:
- Pre-P&ID Information List
- P&ID Standardization List
- P&ID Review Checklist
- Responsibility Assignment Chart for P&ID,
- Strategies for Avoiding Artificially Frozen P&IDs