You sign the main works contract, line up three specialist packages, and assume the PMO dashboard will flag when one contractor's delay cascades into another's commissioning window. It never does.
The failure sits in how interface registers get built. Most capital PMOs still treat them as static Excel lists updated monthly, not as dynamic dependencies that shift daily with site access, material sequencing and design clarifications.
Victorian rail and road programs keep hitting the same pattern: structural steel arrives late, the electrical package loses its planned tie-in slot, and the commissioning team discovers the mismatch only when the first systems test is already scheduled.
Your current tools compound the problem by measuring earned value inside each contract silo. Cross-contract slippage stays invisible until the programme contingency is already spent and the board is demanding recovery plans.
Fix the mechanism, not the reporting frequency. Force every interface milestone into the master schedule with named owners on both sides of the boundary and automatic alerts when either side moves their date by more than two working days.
Rebuild the PMO role around interface arbitration instead of status collation. The director who can force early resolution of a single disputed tie-in point saves more than any dashboard refresh ever will.
Stop accepting contractor claims that their portion is on track while refusing to disclose the upstream dependency they are waiting on. That single rule change surfaces the real programme risk before it becomes a variation.