Dear Colleagues,

Since its inception in the mid-1980s, EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) has become the most common project delivery systems for industrial plant projects, with an estimated size of approximately 1.2 trillion USD in the global market. Professional management for EPC megaprojects needs some unique practices, as it is different from the ones for conventional infrastructure projects, which are, in most cases, delivered by DBB (Design–Bid–Build). The performance of EPC megaprojects is challenged by the complexity of the stakeholders’ interests and the liabilities involved, and, often, results in substantial schedule delays, cost overruns, and under-production performance in commissioning. EPC project management pursues various objectives and goals, such as lower costs, higher profits, better quality, and zero incidence during the execution of projects in the fields of oil and gas, petrochemical, refinery, rower-generation, energy transportation, steel plants, and more.

There are many stakeholders’ interfaces that play important roles in projects, such as government agencies, financial institutions, the construction industry, local authorities, and the community. To this end, project managers need to make the most appropriate decisions in order to meet the needs of each project internally, as well as those of stakeholders, in accordance with the prosperity of social sustainability principles. In particular, each factor has to incorporate sustainability principles at all stages of the EPC project life-cycle.

There are several classic methodologies and tools that can be used to build project management programs. Future artificial intelligence technologies will facilitate the evaluation process by improving classical project evaluation methods and supporting new technology-based development methods.

In this Special Issue, we will focus on new methodologies and techniques for EPC project management practices for the success of projects with a balance of cost, time, and quality and safety satisfaction. This Special Issue aims to provide a basis for modern theories and applications when evaluating various alternatives for EPC project development, entrepreneurship models, and investor decisions. We welcome the theorization and submission of applications from cross-disciplinary management applications of engineering, procurement, construction, and IT in many areas including but not limited to projects in the fields aforementioned. This issue will be a reference to how we could develop EPC project management for all parties engaged to a project to sustain their satisfaction from now to the future.

This Special Edition will be on “Project Management Practices for Sustainable EPC Projects” for oil and gas, petrochemical, refinery, power-generation, energy transportation, steel plants, etc. Some example topics include:

• Feasibility Studies and Engineering Economics
• Front End Loading/PDRI Applications
• Multi-disciplinary Engineering Interfaces
• Knowledge-based Design Practices
• FEED (Front-end-engineering-design) Verifications
• Procurement Management and Supply Chain-management
• Cost estimation and Cost Control (including EVM (earned value management))
• Schedule Analysis and Delay Forensic Studies
• Contract Management, Claims and Disputes Resolutions
• Quality Management Practices
• Project Organization and Communication Management: Stakeholders Coordination
• Interfaces Management with Subcontractors and Vendors
• Local Contents Requirements and Local Communities Interactions
• Project Financing and Bankability Issues
• 3D BIM (Building Information Model) and 4D and 5D Applications
• AWP (Advanced Work Package) Integration Applications
• Commissioning Optimization for MRO (Maintenance–Repair–Operations/Overhaul)
• Environmental Impacts Assessment
• HSSE (Health-safety-security-environment) and HAZOP and HAZID
• Lessons-learned Best Practices with Case Studies
• Project Management Digitalization

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Project Management
• EPC Projects
• Knowledge-based Design
• FEED
• Contract Management
• Schedule Analysis
• Cost Control
• Interfaces Coordination
• Procurement and Purchasing
• Quality Control
• Financing and Economics
• Digitalization
• BIM and AWP