For Immediate Release
Contact: Wayne McKinney
wayne.mckinney@ettp.doe.gov
(865) 576-6284
Oak Ridge, Tenn., July 18, 2012 – URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) has achieved U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) certification for its Earned Value Management System (EVMS), a
set of tools, systems, and processes for managing projects.
DOE requires EVMS be used on all of its projects that involve capital assets, which are land,
structures, equipment, and intellectual property used by the federal government, as well as the
environmental remediation of land to make it useful.
After a new contractor takes over a project, the process to achieve certification begins, which
usually takes about a year. The system is a cornerstone to monitoring and steering project
performance to achieve the DOE and UCOR commitments and objectives for the ETTP cleanup
effort.
“UCOR is very proud of achieving this certification within nine months of project start up,
especially when you consider the challenges involved in changing the culture and the way of
doing business,” said Ken Rueter, Manager, UCOR Project, Construction, and Contract
Management. “Reaching this milestone so quickly in a multi-billion dollar project is a first in our
industry.”
To implement the system and prepare for the certification, UCOR utilized the URS “Execution
with Certainty” process and methods in developing the UCOR EVMS procedures and processes.
UCOR also brought in several URS and CH2M Hill corporate experts to assist with independent
reviews and conducted training for control account managers and for the general employee
population to ensure that all EVMS principles are applied when performing work.
DOE’s Office of Acquisitions and Project Management conducted UCOR’s certification review.
A 13-person review team visited the site the week of March 26 to review schedules, reporting,
processes, and data flow to determine that the correct measures are in place to meet the
certification criteria. The team’s visit included interviews with various control account managers
and senior management officials.
Since 2004, DOE has certified 24 contractors, according to Anita Hirschy, UCOR’s EVMS
Manager. Most certification reviews result in multiple corrective actions that must be resolved
before certification is granted. UCOR only had one corrective action, which has been resolved
with the certification review team.
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“We were told by the team members that this was the best certification review they have
conducted and that having only one corrective action is very rare,” Hirschy said. “Our team is
very disciplined and organized, and I’m pleased that we managed to achieve our certification
with so few complications in such a short period of time.”
Annual surveillance activities will be conducted in conjunction with the DOE Oak Ridge Office
to ensure that UCOR continues to effectively implement EVMS. Every two years, the Office of
Acquisitions and Project Management will conduct a more thorough surveillance to check for
compliance.
“Receiving certification means that the federal government has confidence that UCOR has
accurate and efficient processes and systems in place to manage our project effectively,” Hirschy
said. “We take that trust very seriously and will continue to ensure that we perform to the highest
standards and in compliance with EVMS principles.”
UCOR is DOE’s Environmental Management contractor at the Oak Ridge Reservation. The
URS-led team is responsible for deactivation and demolition of the K-25 facility at ETTP, as
well as other specific scopes of work at ETTP, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory.
