Guild of Project Controls: Compendium | Roles | Assessment | Certifications | Membership

Darren McCarthy

First Name: 
Darren
Last Name: 
McCarthy

After graduating from high school in 2007, I decided to take the opportunity to further my studies through tertiary education as I was offered a full bursary to do so. I have obtained a Diploma in Business Administration and majored in finance and business management.

Initially I started off in the commercial department and was an assistant Quantity Surveyor, this is where I applied my finance background and knowledge to provide assistance to the project with regards to claims, invoices to the client and pricing of additional work over and above the projects scope of work. My current position is an SMEIP (structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and piping) Project Planner for SNC- Lavalin which has bought out Kentz engineers and constructors (they initially hired me). Ideally I wish to be all round project controls efficient, hence why I have done costing and planning thus far in my career. I have worked mainly on oil and gas plants whilst in South Africa, and also have experience in metals and mining where I have just recently returned from abroad (Mozambique, Moatize Coal Mine).

I am generally site based, but currently working at SNC-Lavalin head office (Africa's construction business unit / field operations division) based in Midrand, South Africa. I have been given the opportunity to provide my services to the estimations and proposals department to assist with tender schedules when bidding for potential new jobs. This shows my diversity in being able to build planned schedules at tender stage and project specific baseline / execution planned schedules. I am very proficient on Primavera P6 and Microsoft projects, as I have completed and certified in the basic and advanced courses respectively. My other roles as a Planner are as follows:

  • Being able to do full MTO's (material take-offs) to determine the man-hours required to complete the project as per client specifications.
  • Building a baseline/ execution plans from scratch.
  • Providing resource histograms that is required for the duration of the project, and progress s-curves to show forecasted vs actual projections.
  • Ensure accurate information is being portrayed to the client and internally via weekly and monthly reports.
  • Provide assistance to the construction team with regards to critical items on the schedule and ensuring it's completed in time.
Professional Since: 
Jul-2012 (11.7 yrs experience)
Years Experience: 
0

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