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etween risk reduction and risk acceptance typically occurs at the point where all market risk has
been mitigated, or early construction risk (geotechnical/utility) has also been mitigated, whichever
occurs later. Prior to this “break point”, unless otherwise provided for in a project strategy plan,
triggered mitigation is the first line of defense in order to preserve and the minimum contingency
balance must be met in order to provide sufficient funds for the completion of the project, or
revenue operations consistent with Project Strategy parameters defined in later deliverables.
6.6.2 Primary Cost Risk Mitigation Recommendations
The PMOC shall develop a unified list of cost mitigation activities, including scope, deliverables, and
outcomes, based upon products previously developed through this OP‐40 and other OPs. This list
shall be entitled “Primary Mitigation Deliverables and Outcomes”. This list will serve as a means to
provide recommendations and to monitor the reduction of project cost risk. The PMOC’s evaluation
of these Grantee’s activities as recommended shall be performed as part of 6.7 Specialized Risk
Management products.
6.6.3 Primary Schedule Risk Mitigation Recommendations
The PMOC shall develop a unified list of schedule mitigation activities, including scope, deliverables,
and outcomes, based upon products previously developed through this OP‐40 and other OPs. This
list shall be integrated with the list entitled “Primary Mitigation Deliverables and Outcomes”,
developed in 6.6.2, above. This list serves as means to provide recommendations and monitor
schedule risk to the project. The PMOC’s evaluation of the Grantee’s activities as recommended
shall be performed as part of 6.7 Specialized Risk Management products.
Schedule risk mitigation recommendations shall recognize that schedule risk is focused on the
homogeneity and stability of the project critical path. A critical path is homogeneous when its
activities are mapped out using a histogram and demonstrate a mode and mean activity duration
that is within 10% of each other. A critical path is ideally stable when all delays on other paths
consume their path float but do not result in a project delay and no event has consumed all float,
becoming critical.
Schedule risk mitigation recommendations should specifically treat both critical path and non‐
critical path activities. Frequent changes in the configuration of the project critical path are
disruptive and degrade the grantee’s ability to efficiently and effectively implement the project.
The role of schedule mitigation is to protect the critical path from non‐critical path activities
becoming critical themselves.
The primary objective of schedule risk management is keeping a necessary amount of path float
between the project critical path and all of its intersecting paths, i.e. to “buffer” the critical path and
thus preserve its stability. The secondary objective of schedule risk management is to keep
technical risks off of the project critical path, or minimize their duration if they are critical path
activities.
High risk project work elements are to be executed as early as possible in the project schedule such
that their negative outcomes can be mitigated by triggered mitigation and not by the application of
project contingency.
OP 40 Risk Assessment and Mitigation Review
Revision 0, June 2008
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