Day two of a crusher shutdown. The scope was frozen six weeks ago at 140 jobs. The planner is now looking at 171, and three of the new ones were added at the gate because “she's down anyway.” The liner kit for job 164 isn't on site, the crane booked for job 150 is now needed for 168, and nobody can say which jobs actually protect the restart date. That is what a lack of shutdown scope control looks like in a mine: not bad planners, but a scope that kept leaking after everyone thought it was sealed. This guide covers how to freeze scope, triage late requests and run readiness reviews, and how HVI keeps inspections, work orders and parts in one register so the list you freeze is the list you can defend.
The Closer to Day Zero, the Less Scope Should Move
Pick a point on the countdown and see how open your scope should still be. The timeline is illustrative for a major shutdown; smaller stops compress it.
The pattern behind those numbers is simple: a late job doesn't just add hours, it forces replanning, a new safety briefing and a fight over cranes, crews and parts that were already allocated. Good shutdown scope control isn't about saying no. It's about making every “yes” visible, justified and costed. See how that looks in a demo of one work order register for planned and late jobs.
Shutdown scope control starts with a freeze date nobody can negotiate
A freeze only works if the list you freeze is credible. Most scope fights happen because the register was built from memory and loud opinions. Build it from three sources instead, so every job traces back to evidence.
Inspection findings
Pre-shutdown walk-arounds flag Repair or Replace items with photos and voice notes. In HVI inspections each flagged item becomes a work order in one click.
Component hours and wear
Final drives, liners and mantles are scoped when their hours say so, not when they fail. See component life planning.
Backlog and PM due
Open defects and upcoming services ride into the window. Meter-based PM schedules show what falls due anyway.
Rank what you collect by consequence, and an asset criticality ranking tells you which jobs are non-negotiable if the window shrinks. For a project-style example, read how crews plan a mill reline against a fixed downtime window. One caveat: HVI isn't a critical-path scheduler. Keep your project plan in the tool your planners already use; HVI holds the inspections, work orders and parts behind it.
Shutdown work scope definition: how to triage late requests
Late requests will come, usually from someone with good intentions and a reason. Don't argue each one from scratch. Run every request through the same four questions, in order, and record the answer against the work order.
- ADD
Is it a safety hazard or a regulatory defect?
If yes, it enters through change control with a named approver, same day. Nobody restarts with a known hazard open.
- ADD
Will the machine fail before the next window?
If inspection evidence, hours or trend data say yes, and the parts and crew exist, it goes in.
- ASK
Can it be done without touching the critical path?
If it needs a crane or crew already committed, the planner quotes the delay in hours and the manager decides.
- DEFER
Everything else
Log it on the backlog with a reason and a target window. “While we're in there” is not a reason.
The point isn't speed; it's an audit trail. When the post-shutdown review asks why scope grew, you can show each addition, its approver and its impact. Strong mining planners and schedulers work this way, and a short walkthrough of HVI work order tracking shows how each decision stays attached to the job it changed.
Shutdown readiness review: five gates before the Go/No-Go
A readiness review shouldn't be a meeting where people say “nearly.” Treat it as five gates, each with evidence you can open on a screen. Any red gate is a No-Go until closed or consciously accepted by someone with the authority to accept it.
| Gate | Evidence to show | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope | Register locked; every job has a work order, owner and estimate | Jobs on a whiteboard but not in the system |
| 2. Parts and tooling | Items on site and matched to work orders; long-lead kits confirmed | “Arriving Tuesday” with no tracking |
| 3. People and permits | Crews rostered, competencies checked, isolations and permits drafted | Permits written on day one of the window |
| 4. Safety and risk | Task risk assessments done; lifting and access plans signed | Generic risk assessment copied from last year |
| 5. Acceptance | Test steps and sign-off roles stated before work begins | “We'll know it's right when it runs” |
HVI's audit checklist manager suits this kind of gate-by-gate review, and parts and inventory shows what's on hand and what's consumed against each order. For the permit side, see mining permit to work systems. If you want to trial the checklists on your next stop, you can start free and set up a readiness review checklist.
From a shutdown planner at a processing plant
Our freeze used to be a date on a slide. By the readiness meeting we'd have fifteen or twenty extra jobs, none of them costed, and the parts person finding out on the Monday. People weren't being difficult; they just didn't see the cost of one more job.
Now every addition is a work order with a name and a reason on it. The review is a short screen-share: scope, parts, permits. If it's red, it's red, and I'm not the one arguing about it.
Mining shutdown planning checklist
Use this at the freeze and again at the readiness review. If you can't tick six of eight, the schedule is relying on luck. Here's a live demo of the HVI inspection and work order flow if you'd like to see each item on screen.
Freeze date set and published
Every requestor knows the date and the change-control route afterwards.Pre-shutdown inspections completed
Defects captured with photos and linked to work orders.Every job has a work order
Owner, estimate, parts list and a reason it's in scope.Long-lead parts confirmed
Ordered early, tracked, and matched to the job they serve.Late additions logged and approved
Each with a named approver and its schedule impact.Due PM folded into the window
Services that fall due soon are packaged, not repeated next month.Permits and risk assessments ready
Prepared before day one, not written at the isolation point.Go/No-Go signed off
Gate evidence reviewed, and any accepted risk has a name beside it.Shutdown scope control is won weeks before the first isolation
The shutdowns that finish on time aren't the ones with the biggest crews. They freeze early, build scope from evidence, triage late requests with the same four questions every time, and treat the readiness review as a gate rather than a ceremony. Do that, and day two stops being a scramble to re-sequence cranes and crews.
If you'd like inspections, work orders and parts tracked in one place before your next stop, try HVI free on a single plant area or a few machines. For related reading, see how teams run a major component change-out strategy and keep crusher liner wear tracked so liner jobs arrive in scope on time.
Shutdown scope control: your questions answered
What is shutdown scope control?
It's the discipline of defining the work for a planned shutdown, freezing it at a set date, and approving later additions only through a documented review. It keeps duration, cost and resources predictable.
When should shutdown scope be frozen?
Major shutdowns commonly freeze 8 to 12 weeks out, and smaller stops 3 to 6 weeks out. The right date is the one that leaves time to order long-lead parts and finish work packs.
What should a shutdown readiness review check?
Five things: locked scope, parts and tooling on site, people and permits, safety and risk assessments, and acceptance criteria. Each needs evidence, and any red gate is a No-Go.
How do you handle work requested after the scope freeze?
Run it through change control. Safety hazards and likely failures can enter with a named approver and costed impact; everything else is deferred to the backlog with a reason and target window.
How does HVI support shutdown planning?
HVI turns pre-shutdown inspection findings into work orders, assigns mechanics, consumes parts from inventory and logs cost and progress. It complements, rather than replaces, your project scheduler.
Walk into your next shutdown with a scope that holds
Capture defects in the inspection, convert them to work orders in one click, auto-schedule PM by meter reading and track every job with timestamped notes. One platform for haul trucks, excavators, loaders, drills and support equipment, so late changes show up before they cost you a shift.
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