Introduction to

Interface Management

By Ketan Shanishchara, P.Eng., PMP

May 3, 2014

Table of Content
What is Interface?

What is Interface Management?

Why Interface & Interface Management?
Who is Affected by Interface Management
How does Interface Management Process work

Interface Management Organization Structure

Interface Management Process Requirements
Interface Management Documentation
Interface Management Storage Location
Activities in Interface Management Process
Interface Management Process Flow Diagram
Basic Rules to Follow While Filling Out Interface Agreement (IA)
When can the IA be generated?

Questions & Answers

What is Interface?
An interface is defined as a boundary or point of connect
between entities working on a common project. This point
can be:
Physical - Physical interaction between components
e.g. flange connection details, cable connections, etc.
Functional - Functional Requirements between systems
e,g. DCS controls for communication, fire alarms, etc.
Contractual - Interactions between subcontractors/suppliers
e.g. scope of work, exclusion, assumption, etc.
Organizational - Information exchanged between disciplines
e.g. drawing back grounds, use of the latest design revisions
Knowledge - General information exchanged between parties
e.g. schedule, site specific logistics, etc.
Resource - Points of dependencies between equipment, material, and
labor suppliers
e.g. sharing resources like accommodation, utilities, transportation,
etc. with other organizations

What is Interface Management?

The Interface Management is a process that is
designed to provide a method to formally
document and track the exchange of
information between project participants and
to monitor the performance of all participants
in making available the required information.
Interface Management is a risk mitigating
process.

Why Interface?

Why Interface? (contd.)

Why Interface? (contd.)

Why Interface Management?

Effective management of the interfaces will facilitate good communication

and transparency across these boundaries and allow each party to
request, offer or exchange data and technical information in the best
interest of the Project.
A formal communication process of effective interface management
provides an auditable trail to project decisions and developments.
As the number of different entities and scope of a project increases, so
does the risk associated with interfaces.
Informal or Improper interfacing can negatively impact the cost and
schedule of the project and lead to excessive re-work.
This process enhances awareness of critical issues to large audience of
stakeholders
Many expensive project failings are reported worldwide that are resultant
of informal interface management processes.

Why Interface management? Emails wont do?

The answer is NO.
The Interface Management process encourages meaningful
communication between the various project stakeholders,
assisting in breaking down barriers between organizations.
The requirement to provide specific, detailed requests means
that the party making the request must give careful thought
t the
to
th d
details
t il off th
the iinformation
f
ti requested,
t d and
d tto th
the ti
timing
i
of the delivery of information as opposed to composing
informal email which contains interface information that may
be key to the success or failure of the project.
The Interface Management process promotes clear, accurate,
timely, and consistent communication for exchanging
interface information towards process success.

Who is Affected by Interface Management

How does Interface Management Process work

Interface Management Organization Structure

To meet the intent of interface management, each organization
shall nominate a representative as Interface Manager to act
as a single point of contact for all interface correspondences
between the parties;
Interface Manager of each organization has overall
responsibility for implementation and maintenance of the
interface management process through out the project life
cycle by following the
interface management work process;
recording and logging the interface agreements;
monitoring and chasing progress;
ensuring that schedule requirements are maintained;
and highlighting any area of concern to the top management
team of the project.

Interface Management Organization Structure (contd.)

Interface manager of each organization must promote effective
and timely communication and exchange of information
between participants;
The Owner nominates the Lead Interface (LI) who has the
overall responsibility to lead the interface management process
with all parties engaged on the Project;
Discipline leads, being the subject experts within each
organization, are responsible and accountable for identifying
respective interfaces, and effectively responding to Interface
requests in timely manner.

Interface Management Process Requirements

In order to ensure an effective exchange of critical
information for project success, the process must be
simple to understand and follow to coordinate
activities directly with other project participants.
Process must be formal, robust and transparent to all
participants, and more importantly must be
managed by someone who is aware of the criticality
of the process for project success.
Process requires a management structure with the
ability to cross the relevant participants boundaries
without impacting or overriding the contractual
relationships.

Interface Management Documentation

Interface Agreement Form

The Interface Agreement (IA) contains interface information and
Need Date by which the interface data to be made available for
resolution;
IA shall be the only recognized document for the sharing of interface
information between all parties;
There is one IA per interface with Unique identifier /numbering for
each IA;
The IA may contain more than one item as long as the general topic
and need dates are the same. The description of the interface should
be specific and detailed to avoid misunderstanding of the interface
requirements;
IA form can be supported by Interface Data Package, i.e. documents
and/or drawings that have relevance to interfaces such as P&IDs, Plot
Plans, battery limit tables, tie points etc.;
IA residing on the shared site for users actions and status review.

Interface Agreement Form

Doc No.

170216-0000-BA00-FRM-0002
Project

Interface No :

KSPC Legacy Project

Group
Area

Number

Rev :

Revision Date

IA Title :

Need Date

IA Short Description:

Forecast Date

Supplier :

Receiver :

Interface Contact :

Interface Contact :

Technical Contact :

Technical Contact :

Company Contact :

Company Contact :

IA Details (Deliverable/Activities Description) :

Sample format of Blank

Interface Agreement (IA)

IA Discussions / Comments :

IA Discussions / Comments :

IA Deliverables/Activities to be DELIVERED (Doc title/description and document rev/coding reqd for docs)

Interface AGREED

SUPPLIER:

RECEIVER:

Date
Printed Name :

Date
Printed Name :

DATE Interface Deliverables DELIVERED/Activities COMPLETED

Date:

Interface CLOSE OUT AGREED

SUPPLIER :

RECEIVER :

Date
Printed Name :

Date
Printed Name :

Interface Management Documentation (contd.)

Interface Data Register (IDR)

The IDR is a consolidated list that records the status of current
Interface Agreements (IA) identified with assigned action for each IA
within the parties;
IDR resides on the shared site for users actions and status review;
Lead Interface (LI) Manager own and maintain the IDR as an active
document and distribute to all parties as required
required. Parties having the
read access can also review the IA status and print the current IDR
report from the shared site at any time;
IDR is reviewed within Interface Managers on prescribed time
frequency in meetings.

Sample format of
Interface Data Register (IDR)

Interface
Register

IA No.

IA TITLE

IA DELIVERABLES/ACTIVITIES from
SUPPLIER

Supplier

Receiver

IA Revision #

IA Revision Date

NEED Date

FORECAST Delivery
Date

ACTUAL Delivery
Date

Agreed IA Close Out

Date

Comments

Interface Management Documentation (contd.)

Interface Data Package :

Interface Data Package (IDP) consists of document containing
Information that has relevance to Interfaces e.g. PFD, P&IDs, Plot
Plans, battery limit tables, tie points etc. to support the specific IA;
The customized interface data package shall be attached with
individual IA as deemed necessary for effective communication in
resolving that particular interface agreements.

Interface Management Information storage location

The interface management documents reside
on the common web server where all the
parties involved in Interface Management can
read.
The interface managers are the people who
should have read and upload rights, other
team members can have read only rights.
the process will notify all users with an auto
email update for any specific IA status update
on the web server.

Activities in Interface Management Process

Identification and recording an interface
Creating an interface agreement (IA)
Agreeing/ Resolving interface
Monitoring the status using Interface Data Register
( )
(IDR)
Reporting the status using Interface Data Register
(IDR)
Sign-off and Closing the interface agreement (IA)

Interface Management
Process Flow Diagram

Basic Rules to Follow While Filling Out

Interface Agreement (IA)
Breakdown the complex interface into multiple small
manageable interfaces
IA is used for two distinct entities- Originator and Responder
(no cc to multiple parties);
IA should be unidirectional from Originator to Responder and
back;
IA should be specific and simple to understand and with only
one request per IA;
Single IA should not be used to capture multiple items
(difficult to track the response);
IA should have a specific and realistic Need Date.

When can the IA be generated?

As soon as the discipline lead identifies or
foresees that he/she requires certain details from
other parties to complete or to complement their
own work, he/she in consultation with their
Interface Manager can initiate the IA.
Discipline lead should ideally review the project
schedule to determine the realistic NEED DATE
for each IA.
The success of interface management process lies
with early identification and generation of IA.

Questions & Answers