Owners constantly request and require the successful contractor to prepare comprehensive Critical Path Method (CPM) schedules for their projects. However, a lot of owners do not know what they are really asking for and looking to receive.
A good CPM network diagram will have activities connected by predecessors and successors. The activities will contain a duration that is between 3 and 30 days in length. The activity will have labor, material, equipment and/or subcontractor costs associated with it. It will have responsibilities assigned for the performance of the work.
There will be activities for mobilization, submittals, approvals and delivery of materials. The delivery will be tied into an installation activity. The installation activities will eventually lead to the project completion. Project completion may or may not be preceded by startup or commissioning activities.
A CPM network can also be integrated with the progress payment request and payment process. Each of the activities can readily accommodate estimated quantities and installed-this-period quantities. These will lead to installed-to-date and remaining-to-be-installed.
A good schedule can incorporate change orders to the work. This would add, delete or change activities. A good schedule can have milestones such as weather, phases or other significant events. A good CPM schedule will have few constraints on the activities.
Sadly, aside from agencies such as the Corps of Engineers and the Veterans Administration, darn few owners know what to request and to look for in a good CPM schedule. The preponderance of owners seems to rely upon the glossy printed charts and graphs to “see” the progress on their projects, not the scheduling data itself.
Even sadder, many contractors apparently lack the skills and knowledge to prepare good CPM network diagrams. The contractors appear to be content to use the sophisticated scheduling software capabilities to generate bar charts that are visually pleasing to the eye. They use constraints, not logic, to “force” the completion date.
With the powerful capabilities in the commercial scheduling software market, at a nominal cost, we have a situation where the people have the tools but not the knowledge to use the tools. It looks like the construction community, owners and contractors alike, is regressing, not advancing. Didn’t the Business Roundtable point out problems like this many years ago? Didn’t they advance some solutions? Why are we still faced with a problem like this? Oh, I know… it costs too much.
One Comment
Don …does it really Cost too much!
I do believe it does cost too much for some organizations to be successful; but as an optimist, I could not be inspired in my work, unless I worked with my project team to develop successful project plans.
Do you have to identify every dime to save a dollar? You know a critical path analysis provides an early start and late finish work plans, the difference in those two work plans to the project team are the opportunities to reduce and avoid costs. How much can a good project team PM, PE, Scheduler and Craft superintendents save? Maybe, enough to be competitive and save the Company.
Well, every one knows that the actual task dates over-ride the plan; and unrealistic plans do not identify savings. So the task of project owner’s and contractors is to utilize the schedule for coordination of efforts, management of scope of work, prioritize tasks and establish production. Also, all organizations run on cash flow, so keep the plan a realistic forecast.
There are always going to be winners and losers, successful project teams have those skill sets to develop and communicate work plans so the project team can overcome obstacles and capitalize on opportunities. I agree, documenting a project failure is expensive paperwork, for most of the poor performing teams to have to endure. I recommend for the others (winning team performers) to be happy in the purpose of their work and get –r-done. There are more, bigger and complex project works yet to do.
Les.Black Oak Ridge, TN