During project planning, you can streamline processes and set a clear foundation by writing a well-defined Scope of Work (SOW). It provides a clear roadmap for all stakeholders involved, helping to avoid misunderstandings and keep projects on track.
Imagine a project where the team knows exactly what to do, when to do it, and who is responsible. With a precise SOW, you can avoid scope creep, align team efforts, and keep projects on schedule, ultimately boosting efficiency and reducing frustrations.
What is a scope of work?
A scope of work (SOW) is an official document that names and defines the tasks, due dates, leadership, price, and any other information required to plan for a project. In other words, the template defines the scope of the project in terms of partial services or service items. In project management, scopes are mainly used in construction and plant engineering, but due to their success rate, they are now gaining popularity in planning other types of projects in different industries.
Service specifications are used for three purposes:
- Designation of required deliverables for a project by a client
- Description of deliverable services by a provider
- Definition of agreed services in a contract between client and contractor
The scope of work should include a complete list of all services provided. At the same time, it also outlines project cost projections, planning of work packages, the consignment of company resources, and an estimate for the project’s duration. This document is of crucial importance to avoid time-consuming and expensive corrective work and legal disputes regarding withheld payments, poor craftsmanship, or scheduling issues.
What belongs in a scope of work?
When formulating a scope of work, certain guidelines must be followed. Simplicity will be your friend here.
For example, the scope of work should only contain key information that is relevant to the project. Therefore, only required services that are in agreement with the contract or commercial customs should be listed. That means there will be services that do not need to appear on the scope of work. Adding them will only make the document needlessly complicated, which could cause delays in production or mistakes from miscommunications.
Accordingly, only the type and scope of the services to be performed as well as the circumstances affecting their performance are to be mentioned.
These details should not be missing in a scope of work:
- Details of client and contractor
- Project location, period, and scope
- Description of services to be performed
- Scope and quantity of services to be performed
- Circumstances concerning the performance of the services
Here’s a summary of what’s involved with a scope of work for a project:
Scope of work vs. statement of work
What is a statement of work vs. a scope of work? The most prominent difference is its purpose, function, and length.
It’s important to note that these two SOWs will appear in the same document, but they play vitally different roles.
The two documents are also not always mutually exclusive. All scopes of work are a statement of work, but not all statements of work are a scope of work.
Confused yet? Don’t worry. That was really just a roundabout way of saying that a statement of work document will always go before a scope of work document.
A statement of work is a long document, varying from 12 to 15 pages in length, and provides an overview of the project’s parameters after work has been contracted out. It is a brief rundown of the project’s highlights, deliverables, budget, and timeline.
On the other hand, a scope of work will go into detail about what each task’s execution might look like in terms of pricing, how many personnel it will take to complete the task, start and end dates, the tools or equipment to be used, and step-by-step instructions. In this way, a scope of work can be written up for each deliverable or specific ones that are more complex and might require more work to plan.
How many scopes of work you plan to include will depend on the complexity of the current project. When in doubt, it’s always better to include more detail than not. A thoroughly planned out affair is less likely to result in missed deadlines, client disputes, or costly reworks.
To recap, a statement of work will always be written before a project commences to help with planning, budgeting, and making sure all legal documents are in order. Although it is not a legally binding contract, it can still be used as evidence in court if disputes arise between contractor and client or, better yet, help prevent such a dispute from occurring in the first place. A scope of work does not need to be included within this document although it is highly advisable for the reasons mentioned above.
How to write a scope of work: 4 easy steps
Writing a project management scope of work can be a complex and time-consuming matter. It is crucial to define all the necessary details about a project to avoid unexpected problems and costs. Here are four tips for your SOW:
1. Define the goal
The reason for the project and why you were hired by the client should be clearly stated. This minimizes ambiguity and ensures that all parties agree on the proposed terms of the services. Be sure to ask the client thorough questions about their objectives and desired outcomes. Then, break down the overall goal into specific, measurable targets to establish clear benchmarks for success.
2. Define the timeframe
It is critical to define a timeline and timeframe for the proposed work. This helps to specify how long certain steps will take and can avoid misunderstandings if the work happens to take longer than expected. After all, sometimes deadlines are missed and the due dates may have to be extended. This isn’t the result of lazy workers but of an overextension of money and resources because of insufficient planning and projections.
3. Assign tasks
Specific tasks should be assigned to specific people. Nothing will get done if employees don’t know they’re supposed to be doing something in the first place. Communication and faulty planning methods are perhaps the number one culprits in why projects are over time and over budget. To avoid this, the project’s outcome should be clearly stated as well as documented.
4. Set a budget
You should estimate the necessary budget for the project as accurately as possible. Budget overruns are common in large-scale projects, so it is advisable to break down estimated costs by tasks, materials, labor, taxes, property, and cost of professional services. There will most likely be other expenses that don’t fall under these aforementioned categories. Break down other projected expenses into two groups: indirect and direct costs.
Best practices for writing a scope of work
Let’s explore some writing hacks that will make a normally very tedious process a little easier to stomach:
- Collect the deliverables. The deliverables should already be defined by the time you get to writing the scope of work, so this will probably be the easiest step in the whole process.
- Outline the specific tasks of each deliverable. Now that you’ve put all the deliverables in the same place, it’s time to get started outlining. Include any and all information that’s relevant to completing the task. This could look like instructions or a simple bullet point to-do list, but make sure to include specifics such as a timeline up to the project’s completion with start and end dates, the task’s objectives and goals, the responsible persons, and the rundown of costs.
- Rinse and repeat. You should be an old pro at this by now. Repeat this process for each deliverable, and you will have a completed scope of work within your statement of work document.
Don’t worry if you’re still not clear on what to do. If you keep reading, there’s an example of what a scope of work will look like for you to model your own off of.
Scope of work example
The following is a construction scope of work sample template. The example will be based on the premise of contracting a construction company to build a house and will be structured into twelve parts: Scope of work, deliverables, schedule, costs, acceptance criteria, variations, conditions of contract, project approval and signatures, clients, contractors, and signatures.
The following scope of work example is only meant to act as a reference guide while creating your own. It’s likely that your scope of work checklist will include many more variables than the ones mentioned here. For more information on how to write your own, please cross-reference the sections above.
Project statement
Start by defining why the construction process was inducted in the first place and what precisely the client plans to achieve when it’s concluded.
The client has hired us to construct a 3,000 square foot house with four bedrooms and three baths. They chose our company because we do it all in one, meaning we don’t subcontract out. We will draw up a blueprint, acquire the materials, and begin construction.
Scope of work
List the client’s deliverables using the S.M.A.R.T. (Specific Measurable Achievable Reasonable Time-Bound) criteria. In each deliverable, you can name a responsible person, the cost, and the target date of completion. You may also add supporting records (.e.g floor plan, design plan, Work Breakdown Structure) for further references. Write down a glossary/definition of terms to prevent miscommunication and misunderstandings down the line.
Deliverable 1: Draw up blueprint
- Cost: $3,000
- Responsible person: Annabelle Miller
- Target date: 2-1-2021
Deliverable 2: Buy construction materials
- Cost: $200,000
- Responsible person: Bill Jersey
- Target date: 2-10-2021
Deliverable 3: Pour foundation
- Cost: $8,000
- Responsible person: Jessica DiCarlo
- Target date: 4-5-2021
Definition of terms (glossary):
Cost: the projected cost of material and labor for the entirety of the task. The total project costs have a cushion of $6,000 of miscellaneous expenses, so responsible persons should try not to exceed these set rates if at all possible.
Responsible person: the person who will be in charge of the specific task assigned to them and responsible for updating the team lead, John Smith, about any delays, problems, or updates encountered during the process.
Target date: the day in which the task is projected to be completed.
Enter the deliverables required to achieve the goal
Deliverables
Person in charge: John Smith
Description: John Smith is the responsible person who will oversee the project from start to finish. If anyone has any problems that arise during any stage of the project, he will be the person to consult.
Costs: Projected cost: $500,000
Target Date: 1-1-2025
Project schedule
Explain your project’s timeline here. Classify milestones (e.g. securing of local authority’s building permission, completion of acquisition, 50% achievement of the project) to pinpoint critical issues that lead to the project’s fulfillment. You can also add visual directors, such as charts, boards, and roadmaps, to ensure everyone has a quick overview of the project schedule.
Summarize the schedule:
- Construction start date: 3-5-2025
- Land survey: 1-1-2025
- Blueprint draft: 2-1-2025
- Blueprint final copy:3-1-2025
- 50% completion:1-1-2026
- Construction end date:1-1-2027
Project costs
Total Costs: $500,000
Projects usually tend to go over budget, making it more relevant for project managers to perform a cost-benefit analysis before. This can assist you in determining the correct mix of resources (e.g. labor, machinery, safety facilities, and security) and the optimal cost. Ask experts when preparing this part to get precise costing for manpower, instruments, and equipment, and other demands.
Acceptance criteria
Acceptance criteria are used to assess the deliverables – whether they are operating fine according to the prescribed specs.
Acceptance criteria:
- Business continuity plan is in place in case of a unforeseen disaster
- Disaster recovery plan is in place in case of an unforeseen disaster
- Securing local authority’s building permissions
- Client sign-off
- Completion of acquisition
Variations
Many construction projects may vary from the original design and terms, which is why it’s imperative to decide whether to allow or not allow these kinds of changes. The variations sector can address the method by which the parties will adhere in case of change demands.
Explain the variations:
- Variations in blueprint designs can be changed based on land survey results.
- Cost of wood due to fluctuating lumber prices.
- Changes the client might make during the process.
Conditions of the contract
Here you can include further conditions that encourage your SOW. You can define details for objects, such as workmanship, working hours, security program, site clearance, and cleaning methods, warranty, and standard of performance.
Define the conditions of the contract: The client may rescind payment only on the basis of poor craftsmanship. For this reason, the client must sign off after each step of the construction process before the next one begins in order to mitigate this risk. After this sign-off, they are no longer permitted to withhold payment.
Project approval and signatures
Never start constructions without important signatures or approvals; these make your SOW enforceable. Project managers need to get all key signatories to agree on each project objective and milestone before ending the SOW. This will help guard all parties in case of legitimate disputes. You may also attach more signatories here in case there are more than one.
Client
Full name and signature of client representative(s):
Address: 4821 Ridge Top Cir, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA\
Contact details:
Name: Jeff Steele
Phone: 888-888-8888
Email: JeffSteele@jeffsteele.com
Date: 1-1-2025
Signatures
Name and Signature: John Smith
As you can see, the scope of work is pretty straightforward and, hopefully, easier to write now that you have an example to reference. To reiterate, a scope of work like this one can prevent unexpected costs that are common to construction projects and the project management field in general.
How can an app and software be used for a digital scope of work?
With Lumiform’s mobile app and desktop software, you can create a scope of work digitally using a free checklist, so you can be you don’t miss anything that will prevent your project from finishing on time and on budget. Go through your list point by point and then automatically create a performance report that you can send immediately.
With Lumiform, project managers can:
- Create new custom checklists at any time with the flexible form builder and customize them over and over again.
- Improve scopes of work by taking and attaching photos via the mobile app.
- Create scopes of work on the spot – online and offline.
- Automatically save the scopes of work in the cloud and access it anytime from anywhere.
- Collect all signatures for the project electronically.
- Easily connect Lumiform’s software to other software systems in the company.