Construction Planning and Scheduling Using Primavera P6 Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Planning Engineers, Project Engineers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CM-133

Before you join: Participants should have experience reading construction drawings, scopes of work, bills of quantities or site programmes.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Construction programmes fail when scope, sequencing, production rates, resources, procurement dates and contractual milestones are not translated into a controlled schedule. Project teams may hold a Primavera P6 file, yet still lack reliable logic, realistic durations, defensible updates or clear reports for clients and site managers. The result is late warning of delay, poorly coordinated work fronts, disputed progress and weak evidence when time claims arise.

This course develops the practical planning and scheduling skills required to build, maintain and communicate construction programmes in Primavera P6 Professional. Participants structure projects using work breakdown structures, activity codes, calendars and coding dictionaries; develop critical path method schedules; calculate durations from quantities and production rates; assign labour, plant, materials and costs; and establish approved baselines. They also learn to update progress, assess critical and near-critical paths, evaluate float, produce look-ahead plans, carry out schedule quality checks and prepare reports for management, clients and subcontractors.

Teaching combines short technical briefings with instructor demonstration, construction cases, guided software work, schedule reviews and group planning decisions. Cases reflect building, civil engineering, infrastructure and industrial-project conditions, including procurement constraints, design release dates, access restrictions, resource clashes and late progress reporting. Participants work with Primavera P6 from the first week and progressively build a detailed construction schedule rather than treating the software as a data-entry tool. They leave with a completed P6 programme, baseline and update pack, reporting templates, schedule review checklists and a repeatable method for controlling project time.

The course is suited to planners, engineers, project controls staff and project managers who already work with construction information and need to produce or review credible project schedules.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a logic-linked Primavera P6 construction programme from a work breakdown structure
  • Develop activity durations using quantities, production rates, constraints and construction methods
  • Apply critical path method calculations to identify controlling and near-critical work
  • Assign labour, plant, material and cost resources to test schedule feasibility
  • Create approved baselines and compare updates using variance and earned value measures
  • Update a construction schedule with progress data, remaining durations and revised forecasts
  • Assess schedule quality using DCMA 14-point checks and critical-path diagnostics
  • Present a complete construction planning and scheduling pack for project review

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce Primavera P6 schedules that reflect actual construction methods and work sequencing
  • Explain critical-path movement and float changes confidently during programme reviews
  • Create resource-loaded look-ahead plans for site coordination meetings
  • Review contractor programmes using objective schedule-quality tests
  • Build evidence for extension-of-time discussions through disciplined updates and baselines

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of logic gaps, procurement risks and critical work-front constraints
  • More consistent programme standards across projects, planners and subcontractors
  • Clearer weekly and monthly schedule reporting for clients and senior management
  • Better coordination of labour, plant and material requirements against planned work
  • Stronger contemporaneous records for change control and delay-related correspondence

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can relate construction planning controls to the Primavera P6 project data structure.

  • Planning deliverables from tender programme through as-built completion records
  • Project controls cycle linking scope, time, cost, risk and change
  • Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Structure and organisational responsibility hierarchy
  • Project, portfolio and programme distinctions within Primavera P6 databases
  • Data date purpose in forecasting completed and remaining project work
  • Schedule specifications, employer requirements and contractual programme obligations

Participants can configure a Primavera P6 workspace for controlled schedule development.

  • P6 Professional interface, layouts, tables, bars and activity details
  • Creating projects with start dates, responsible managers and default settings
  • User preferences affecting dates, units, durations and calculation displays
  • Calendars, codes and dictionaries established before activity entry begins
  • Activity table filters, grouping, sorting and saved layout management
  • Project notebook fields used for assumptions, approvals and planning notes

Participants can translate scope information into a structured planning basis.

  • Work breakdown structure developed from contract scope and deliverable packages
  • Control accounts aligned with disciplines, areas, contractors and reporting needs
  • Planning assumptions register covering access, productivity, design and procurement
  • Construction work packages defined at measurable field execution level
  • Milestone register distinguishing contractual, interface and internal target dates
  • Responsibility assignment matrix connecting work packages to accountable parties

Participants can define measurable activities that represent workable construction operations.

  • Activities sized for control, progress measurement and accountable ownership
  • Physical construction sequence from enabling works through commissioning handover
  • Design, procurement and construction interfaces represented as schedule activities
  • Work-front release logic for access, permits, inspections and predecessor completion
  • Activity codes distinguishing location, discipline, contractor and work type
  • Coding dictionaries maintained to support consistent portfolio reporting

Participants can calculate activity durations from quantities, productivity and working time.

  • Quantity take-offs converted into crew outputs and planned activity durations
  • Production rates adjusted for learning curves, congestion and weather allowances
  • Crew composition matched to trade skills, supervision and equipment capacity
  • Calendars reflecting shifts, weekends, holidays and restricted working periods
  • Discrete activities separated from level-of-effort and hammock activities
  • Duration assumptions documented with source data and estimator ownership

Participants can create logic relationships that model construction sequence and dependencies.

  • Finish-to-start relationships used for conventional trade and procurement sequencing
  • Start-to-start and finish-to-finish links applied where genuinely justified
  • Lead and lag treatment avoiding hidden logic and uncontrolled negative lags
  • Open ends identified and resolved through clear project start and finish logic
  • Logic ties tested against access, inspections, design release and commissioning
  • Relationship descriptions recorded for high-risk interfaces and handovers

Participants can interpret schedule calculations, float values and driving paths.

  • Forward and backward pass calculations producing early and late dates
  • Total float, free float and negative float interpreted correctly
  • Longest path analysis compared with total-float criticality settings
  • Driving relationships traced through controlling work packages and milestones
  • Near-critical activities identified using practical float thresholds and trend reports
  • Constraints evaluated for their effect on calculated completion dates

Participants can control constraints and milestones without concealing schedule risk.

  • Mandatory constraints reserved for contractual dates and genuine physical restrictions
  • Start-on and finish-on constraints tested against logic-driven forecasts
  • Milestones structured for design approval, procurement, completion and handover
  • Constraint logs recording rationale, owner, expiry date and approval status
  • Hard constraints replaced with logical relationships wherever practicable
  • Schedule integrity reviewed after each constraint or milestone change

Participants can assign resource requirements and identify capacity pressure in P6.

  • Labour, plant, material and non-labour resources configured in P6
  • Resource calendars matched to shifts, availability and operating restrictions
  • Role assignments used before named resources are commercially confirmed
  • Resource units calculated from crew composition, production rates and durations
  • Resource histograms exposing peaks, shortages and idle capacity periods
  • Assignment units adjusted without disconnecting quantities from production assumptions

Participants can produce time-phased cost forecasts from resource-loaded programme data.

  • Cost accounts linked to work breakdown structure and control accounts
  • Resource rates applied to labour, plant, material and subcontract activities
  • Expense assignments captured for mobilisation, testing, permits and equipment
  • Planned value curves generated from budgeted cost of work scheduled
  • Cash-flow forecasts reconciled with payment terms, retention and procurement commitments
  • Cost loading checks distinguish schedule-control values from accounting records

Participants can create and administer an approved schedule baseline for performance control.

  • Baseline schedule reviewed for logic, durations, resources and contractual milestones
  • Target programme compared against calculated forecast before approval submission
  • Primary, secondary and tertiary baselines configured for controlled comparison
  • Baseline approval records capturing revision, date, authority and planning assumptions
  • Change-control procedure distinguishes authorised changes from forecast movement
  • Baseline copies protected before updates, recovery planning or claim analysis

Participants can update Primavera P6 schedules using disciplined field progress data.

  • Data-date discipline separates actual performance from future forecast work
  • Physical percent complete applied to measurable construction work packages
  • Remaining durations reassessed using current productivity and access conditions
  • Actual starts, finishes and quantities validated against field reporting evidence
  • Out-of-sequence progress managed through retained logic or progress override
  • Update narratives explain critical changes, delayed activities and recovery actions

Participants can assess delay exposure and develop credible schedule recovery options.

  • Forecast completion compared with contractual milestones and approved baseline dates
  • Delay drivers isolated through critical-path movement and variance analysis
  • Recovery options tested using resequencing, additional crews and changed calendars
  • Acceleration impacts assessed for productivity, access, safety and cost
  • Mitigation actions assigned owners, deadlines and measurable programme effects
  • Recovery schedules retain transparent logic and documented planning assumptions

Participants can evaluate programme credibility using recognised schedule-quality diagnostics.

  • DCMA 14-point assessment applied to logic, lags, constraints and float
  • AACE International RP 29R-03 schedule-quality concepts applied to construction programmes
  • High-duration activities examined for missing detail and weak control points
  • Negative float, excessive leads and open ends flagged for corrective action
  • Critical-path continuity tested from current data date through project completion
  • Quality-review findings prioritised by forecast impact and corrective ownership

Participants can convert master programme data into practical short-term work plans.

  • Three-week and six-week look-ahead plans extracted from current schedule forecasts
  • Constraint analysis identifies drawings, materials, permits, access and labour prerequisites
  • Weekly work plans aligned with measurable commitments and field accountability
  • Planned-percent-complete trends compared with actual production and missed commitments
  • Subcontractor interface meetings focused on handovers, work fronts and resource clashes
  • Look-ahead actions fed back into P6 activity status and remaining durations

Participants can produce audience-specific P6 reports that support timely decisions.

  • Executive dashboards present milestones, critical risks, trends and recovery actions
  • Bar-chart layouts tailored for client, site, subcontractor and management audiences
  • Milestone reports distinguish achieved dates, forecast dates and baseline commitments
  • Narrative reports explain progress, critical-path change and upcoming decision points
  • Activity codes and filters create discipline-specific and area-specific reporting views
  • PDF, Excel and XER exports controlled through revision and distribution records

Participants can integrate non-construction dependencies into a coordinated project programme.

  • Procurement schedules model enquiry, award, manufacture, delivery and inspection stages
  • Long-lead equipment linked to foundations, installation, testing and commissioning
  • Design deliverables connected to procurement release and construction work packages
  • Interface milestones coordinated between civil, structural, MEP and specialist contractors
  • Client decisions modelled as activities with accountable owners and required dates
  • Schedule risks recorded where external approvals control construction commencement

Participants can prepare schedule evidence for evaluating the time effects of change.

  • Contemporaneous updates preserved before analysing delay events or instructed changes
  • Time-impact analysis inserts prospective fragnet logic into approved update schedules
  • Delay events linked to affected activities, records, notices and contractual milestones
  • Concurrency assessed through separate critical-path effects and calendar overlap
  • Extension-of-time submissions supported by narrative, programme extracts and assumptions
  • Schedule records retained with audit trails for dispute avoidance and review

Participants can organise consistent planning data across multiple construction projects.

  • Enterprise calendars standardised while retaining project-specific working restrictions
  • Activity codes governed for portfolio reporting without losing project detail
  • Shared resource pools identify cross-project labour and plant demand conflicts
  • Project templates accelerate repeatable programme setup for similar construction packages
  • Portfolio milestone reports consolidate forecast completion and critical exposure
  • Data governance assigns responsibility for codes, calendars, baselines and access

Participants can build, review and present a complete Primavera P6 construction planning and scheduling pack.

  • Scope, milestones and planning assumptions converted into a coded work breakdown structure
  • Logic-linked activities developed with durations, calendars, resources and cost assignments
  • Baseline programme checked using DCMA diagnostics and critical-path review methods
  • Progress update applied using field quantities, actual dates and remaining durations
  • Recovery options assessed against milestone forecasts, resources and work-front constraints
  • Management report presented with look-ahead plan, risks and recommended actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Primavera P6 construction programme template
  2. Work breakdown structure and coding dictionary
  3. Baseline approval and change-control checklist
  4. Schedule update narrative template
  5. DCMA 14-point schedule review checklist
  6. Construction look-ahead planning pack

Who should attend

  • Planning Engineers — need to build and maintain logic-driven construction programmes
  • Project Engineers — need reliable schedules for coordinating design, procurement and site work
  • Project Managers — need to review programme risk, float and forecast completion
  • Project Controls Engineers — need consistent baselines, updates and performance reporting
  • Quantity Surveyors — need schedule data to support valuation, change and time claims
  • Site Managers — need workable look-ahead plans for labour, plant and work fronts

Skills and tools covered

Primavera P6 schedulingCritical path analysisResource loadingBaseline controlProgress updatingSchedule quality assurance

Tools and standards

Primavera P6 Professional, Critical Path Method, DCMA 14-Point Assessment, AACE International RP 29R-03

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by Primavera P6 demonstrations, construction planning cases, guided system work, group schedule reviews and decision-based simulations. Participants build programme components from quantities, drawings, milestones and procurement information, then test logic, resources and progress data. Facilitated reviews compare alternative sequencing choices and reporting formats. Individual application planning helps participants transfer the course methods to current projects, programme reviews or upcoming tenders.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience reading construction drawings, scopes of work, bills of quantities or site programmes. Familiarity with typical construction sequences, subcontract packages and project milestones is assumed. Participants should also be comfortable using Windows applications, spreadsheets and file folders. Prior Primavera P6 use is helpful but not required; the course starts with project setup and core navigation before moving to intermediate planning and control methods. Advanced programming knowledge, cost engineering certification, formal project-management credentials and prior delay-analysis experience are not required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

No previous Primavera P6 experience is required, although experience with construction programmes is expected. The course begins with project setup, layouts, calendars and activity entry before moving into resource loading, baselines and updates.

Bring a laptop if attending in person, preferably with Primavera P6 Professional available where your employer permits installation. Useful reference material includes a current programme, scope of work, bill of quantities or project planning specification, although course cases are provided.

It is designed for planning engineers, project engineers, project controls staff, project managers, quantity surveyors and site managers working on construction projects. Participants benefit most when they need to build, update, review or challenge a project programme.

This course concentrates on construction planning logic and Primavera P6 application rather than broad project-management theory. It addresses quantities, production rates, work fronts, subcontract interfaces, resource loading, schedule quality and baseline control.

Participants can use the templates and methods for tender schedules, baseline submissions, monthly updates, look-ahead planning and programme reviews. The capstone structure can also be adapted to an active project after the course.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week establishes planning logic and builds a P6 programme; the second week focuses on resources, baselines, updates, reporting, delay analysis and the capstone review.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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