The AWP Matrix is the single controlled list of every work package on the project and the relationships between them. One person owns it, no package changes outside it, and every other system aligns to it only after the updated matrix has been issued.
What the Matrix Holds
Each row is one construction work package. Against it sit the construction work area, the discipline and sub-discipline, the CWP code and description, the engineering work package that feeds it, any general or standards EWPs that also apply, the vendor engineering package, the fabrication engineering package, the procurement work package, the fabrication procurement package, the module work package and the date each EWP was added. The matrix is built at the start of detailed design from the path of construction and the work packaging hierarchy, and it is maintained for the life of the project.
Two documents travel with it. The EWP change log records every addition, deletion, split, merge and re-allocation with the date, the originator and the packages affected. The discipline and sub-discipline code register supports the naming convention the matrix enforces.
Who May Change It
The owner's AWP lead owns the matrix and the change log. No work package is created, deleted, split, merged or re-allocated anywhere else, and every request for a change goes through the AWP lead. The schedule, the master document register, the document system, the 3D model, the AWP software and the procurement system are downstream of the matrix, and each is aligned to a change only after the updated matrix has been issued. A scheduler who adds a CWP directly, or a model administrator who splits an EWP attribute on request, has created a package the rest of the project cannot see.
The Weekly Cycle
Through the week the AWP lead collects change requests from project controls on each side, the EWP coordinator and the engineering disciplines. Each request is reviewed and approved with the affected teams before anything is changed. The AWP lead then updates the matrix, records the change in the log, and issues both weekly through the document system to the integrated project controls team and every AWP stakeholder. Only then do the teams align their systems. Project controls updates the schedule, document control re-assigns documents in the register and the document system, engineering updates the model attributes and the MTO, procurement updates the PWPs, and workface planning updates CWP and IWP scope in the AWP software.
Once a month the AWP lead sits with the integrated project controls team to verify that the matrix, the Level 3 schedule, the register and the AWP software agree, and to resolve whatever does not.
Why One List Matters
What Advanced Work Packaging promises is that engineering, procurement and construction plan against the same packages. Without a single controlled list, each system drifts toward its own version of the package set, and the weekly meeting spends its first half agreeing on what exists. The matrix settles what exists before the meeting opens, and the change process keeps the list current. Building the matrix and running its cycle is part of AWP consulting. The matrix, the change log and the code register belong to the owner and remain with the owner after the contract closes.