How to Implement Operability a ninth OA Pathway was developed to handle project

specific issues and Commissioning and Handover. The

Assurance (OA) on Major Capital
Projects
1.0 Introduction
The Operability Assurance (OA) Program ensures
timely and effective Operations involvement in
Capital Projects. OA is a structured process that
assures Capital Projects deliver safe, operable,
efficient, reliable and maintainable facilities.
Elements of the OA program ensure that Operations
Readiness will be achieved
9 Pathways are:
 Leadership & Management (LM)
 Human Performance (HP)
 Planning and Scheduling (P&S)
 Health Safety & Environment (HSE)
 Asset & Operating Integrity (A&OI)
 Maintenance & Reliability (M&R)
 Production Surveillance & Optimization (PS&O)
 Operations Cost Management (OCM)
 Project Specific with Commissioning & Handover
(PSCH)

The Operability Assurance (OA) Network of Excellence

Portal provides the guidelines and tools for project
Operations Representatives to develop a specific
project OA plan and schedule.
Subject matter experts (SME) should be engaged to
support the progression of OA within the Project
environment.
Effective implementation of the project OA Plan and
Schedule, integrated with the Capital Project
Management System (CPMS) provides an auditable
gateway to Operations Excellence (OE). OE Self-
Assessment Checklists addressing the 8 components of
the OE Framework (4 action and 4 enabling systems are
available for use by the Business Unit (BU) in the first
The OA Pathways identify specific activities to be
year of operation.
considered for each project phase. Each activity has a
unique number providing a basis for identifying
2.0 Operability Assurance Standard activities through the project phases.
The Operability Assurance Standard in CPMS defines
the minimum requirements for planning and
executing Operability Assurance (OA) for Capital
Projects by ConocoPhillips (COP) Project Management
Teams (PMT’s).
The OA involvement process is kicked off by the
appropriate project Operations Representative and
shall commence during FEL 2 before the concept
selection is finalized. This involvement provides the
basis for developing a project OA Plan and Schedule
that meets the minimum requirements of the OA
Standard. During the development of the Project OA
Plan, consideration should be given to the following:
 Greenfield/Brownfield and existing operating
assets
 Technology challenges
 Duration and size of the project
 Geographical / local content requirements
 Operator, Non-Operating Partner, Technical
Partnering and Joint Venture scenarios
 Involvement with Houston OA and existing BU’s

3.0 Operability Assurance Pathways

OA Pathways have been developed to address each of

the 8 components of the OE Framework. In addition,

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The Pathways do not contain a full list of all
Operability Assurance issues to consider: many
Projects provide unique challenges that impact
operability, reliability and maintainability. The main
objective of the pathways is to initiate critical
conversations which will help to establish the
necessary actions.
Each OA Pathway Activity includes guidance notes
focused on:
 The objective for the activity
 Instructions on how to carry out the activity
 Deliverables (e.g. minutes of meeting, Computer
Maintenance Management System (CMMS)
populated in accordance with SAP Specification,
Operating and Maintenance Procedures, Training
Programs, etc.)
The OA Pathways contain some topics and activities
that overlap between pathways and CPMS.
4.0 Project OA Plan
The Project OA Plan Development Guideline (CPMS-
OAU-GU-002) provides details of the OA Plan
development process.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance
on the development of an OA Plan and Schedule that
is aligned with and meets the Project and BU
requirements.
The OA Plan describes the high level OA deliverables
and activities required for each phase of the project
and serves as an agreement between the Senior
Operations Representative, Project Manager and BU
Management.
The OA Schedule developed from the OA Plan is a
timeline of the activities appropriately aligned and
integrated to the project execution schedule.
The OA Plan and Schedule will be the blueprint for the
Senior Operations Representative to follow to ensure
that the necessary OA tasks will be carried out in a
timely manner.
This guideline describes the process for developing an
OA Plan and Schedule based upon the output from the
OA Workshop.
5.0 PMT – OA Reporting
The Senior Operations Representative should be a
member of the Project Management Team (PMT)
reporting directly to the Project Manager with a
secondary reporting line to the Business Unit Manager
responsible for the new Facilities being developed.
6.0 Operations Representatives Role
The Senior Operations Representative will lead the
operations involvement in the project and provide the
operational deliverables required during the project
development phases and transition into operations.
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The position is responsible for development and
management of OA Plans, Schedules and Budgets and
ensures appropriate Operations Readiness for the
project.
A generic Senior Operations Representative job
description is available from the OA SharePoint site.
The title of “Senior Operations Representative” is
intended to be a functional title and not a position
title.
The Senior Operations Representative should:
 Gain a proficient level of OA and CPMS
knowledge to be able to effectively
collaborate, communicate and influence
decisions within the Project Team.
 Ensure Operations actively participates in all
phases of the project development to
achieve operability and maintainability.
 Develop an OA Plan and Schedule for the
Project and update it as required in each
Phase, driving the project OA activities and
deliverables.
 Engage stakeholders, SMEs and Project Team
in defining, developing and supporting the OA
Plan and Schedule to ensure alignment
 Define responsible, accountable, consult and
inform (RACI) roles within the OA Plan and
Schedule
 Align resource requirements and budgets
within the OA Plan and Schedule
 Agree, approve and communicate the OA Plan
and Schedule
 Align the project OA Plan and Schedule and
integrate it at a high level with the Project
Execution Plan and Schedule.
7.0 Major Contractor OA Support
FEED, EPCI, and third party specialist contractors are
important resources that should be engaged to
achieve OA objectives.
The Facilities are primarily engineered, procured,
constructed and installed by major contractors:
therefore these contractors are required to take
accountability for OA related to their work.
The OA Contract Exhibit Template (CPMS- GPS-TM-
119) provides a basis for developing specific OA
requirements tailored and aligned to the Project,
providing specifications and project OA deliverables to
the contractor; aligned with project payments and
milestones.
Major and third party support contractors should not
perform their work in isolation from the project OA
Team. Proactive involvement with major contractors
will contribute to successful achievement of
deliverables.
Revision 3 2 15 2013