Question

Talking with a scheduler, review construction schedule and answer the following questions:

1. How log did it take to complete the schedule?
2. When in the design/build process was the schedule prepared?
3. How is the schedule organized?
4. How is the schedule coed? By subcontract? By responsibility?
5. What activities fall on the critical path?
6. How often is the schedule updated?
7. Is the schedule being used for any advanced project management activities such as resource leveling, cash flow projections, and so on?

Answer 1

Construction schedules help identify and manage the activities necessary to complete each task as well as the order in which each task must be completed.

1) The duration of completing a schedule depends upon many factors like resources availability, weather /climate, clearance approval and government regulations, planning monitoring and control system, safety, price escalation and profitability etc.

2) Before starting a construction project, proper planning and scheduling are needed to bring out the construction activities in a sequential manner.

3) There are several streams of information that need to organize the schedule.

Records Management: Record management controls the distribution, storage, and retrieval of project records, both hard copies and electronic, in a safe, secure manner.

Contract Management: It is important to clearly define the roles and responsibilities for the project team members who are managing the project and the project staff responsible for managing contracts and documents.

Contract Procurement Planning: Project managers also have to ensure that procurement activities fit with the project plan.

Commissioning Plan and List: The commissioning plan is designed to provide direction for the commissioning process during construction; to resolve issues related to scheduling, roles, and responsibilities; and to aid in the reporting, approvals, and coordination. It is a systematic process to ensure that buildings perform according to the design and to the owner’s operational requirements.

Project Control Process: The project control process tracks and manages the scope, cost, and schedule of a construction project.

Project Requirement Definition: in the project requirement definition (PRD), the project manager explains the scope of work and what the project will accomplish.

As-Built Drawings: As-built drawings provide a quick visual into the existing design and capture deviations from the original documents.

Daily Documentation: Keeping diaries, logs, and daily reports of project activities acts as a reference guide after the work is completed and can mitigate any damages.

4) Scheduling for a Subcontractor has all of the standard scheduling requirements and many new issues not ordinarily dealt with by Project Owners and General Contractors. Profit margins depend upon good schedule planning. Execution requires daily Scheduler involvement. In addition, the Subcontractor must be prepared to present an accurate and technically acceptable delay analysis every bit as rigorous as the General Contractor’s if they wish to recover delay damages.

5) Critical path activities are the project tasks that must start and finish on time to ensure that the project ends on schedule. A delay in any critical path activity will delay completion of the project, unless the project plan can be adjusted so that successor tasks finish more quickly than planned.

6) Project schedules need to be living documents, updated regularly. It isn’t enough to create one at the start of a project and hope that it stays accurate as you move forward.

Schedule updating involves Updating the project management software with actual work completed, Recording new estimates in the software, Updating the state of play with resources, Entering other data into the project management software that enables the project manager to track progress and monitor the work.

7) Yes. Uses of advanced scheduling techniques are used for resource leveling, cash flow projections and so on. A well-defined schedule provides a structured approach to planning, identifies problems before they arise, forecasts cash flows, and assesses resource requirements. The fundamental and advanced scheduling techniques include Gantt Charts, Critical Path Scheduling, Line of Balance and Q Scheduling.