Construction Project Scheduling Training Course

Participants can translate construction scope into measurable and schedulable work packages.

• Drawing registers and specifications used to define planning scope
• Decompose deliverables into work packages with clear completion criteria
• Location breakdown structures for buildings, corridors, zones and elevations
• Construction work packages separated by discipline, trade and workfront
• Control accounts connecting schedule packages with cost management structures
• Scope assumptions registers recording exclusions, interfaces and unresolved information

Participants can create activities and estimate achievable durations using production evidence.

• Activity definitions written with measurable starts, finishes and ownership
• Quantity take-offs converted into production-based activity duration estimates
• Crew productivity rates adjusted for access, learning and congestion
• Calendars reflecting shifts, working hours, holidays and weather allowances
• Discrete activities, level-of-effort activities and milestone events distinguished clearly
• Duration assumptions documented for later review during schedule updates

Participants can create logic networks that represent the intended construction sequence.

• Finish-to-start relationships applied to conventional construction work sequences
• Start-to-start and finish-to-finish relationships used with justified lags
• Predecessor and successor logic tested at trade and workfront interfaces
• Lead and lag restrictions assessed against contractual scheduling requirements
• Network diagrams expose missing logic, open ends and circular relationships
• Physical constraints separated from planning preferences and imposed dates

Participants can interpret critical path calculations and explain schedule-driving activities.

• Forward pass calculations establish early dates through the network
• Backward pass calculations identify late dates and total float
• Critical Path Method identifies activities controlling the forecast completion date
• Near-critical paths reviewed using low-float thresholds and sensitivity testing
• Free float distinguished from total float for interface management
• Multiple critical paths assessed where parallel completion conditions exist

Participants can prepare a credible baseline programme for approval and future control.

• Baseline scope checked against contract documents and tender commitments
• Design release dates integrated with procurement and construction sequencing
• Long-lead equipment schedules linked to fabrication, delivery and installation
• Subcontractor programmes incorporated without losing principal contractor control
• Approval workflows establish baseline ownership, revision status and issue dates
• Basis-of-schedule narratives record methods, assumptions, calendars and constraints

Participants can resource-load activities and identify workforce demand conflicts.

• Labour crews assigned using production rates and planned work quantities
• Plant resources matched to activity needs, availability and operating constraints
• Resource histograms reveal peaks, gaps and unsustainable labour demand
• Resource levelling compares delayed activities against contractual completion obligations
• Trade stacking risks identified through location-based resource demand reviews
• Manpower curves prepared for mobilisation, peak production and demobilisation

Participants can connect schedule dates with planned cost and payment forecasts.

• Cost accounts mapped to schedule activities and work package budgets
• Planned value curves generated from time-phased cost-loaded activities
• Cash flow forecasts reflect payment terms, retention and procurement deposits
• Cost loading distinguishes direct costs, preliminaries and owner-supplied equipment
• Monthly valuation dates aligned with measurable schedule progress rules
• Forecast expenditure tested against funding limits and approved budgets

Participants can schedule non-construction dependencies that govern site production.

• Procurement schedules trace requisition, approval, manufacture, inspection and delivery
• Design deliverable schedules identify information required before field release
• Interface registers connect civil, structural, mechanical and electrical dependencies
• Vendor data dates incorporated into fabrication and installation logic
• Temporary works sequenced with permanent works and access requirements
• Commissioning prerequisites linked to installation, testing and energisation activities

Participants can convert master schedule requirements into actionable field plans.

• Six-week look-ahead schedules extracted from approved baseline programme logic
• Last Planner System commitments connect weekly work plans with constraints
• Constraint logs track drawings, materials, access, permits and predecessor work
• Make-ready planning removes blockers before crews reach planned workfronts
• Percent plan complete measures weekly commitment reliability and learning
• Daily coordination boards align trade activities, areas and safety controls

Participants can establish progress rules and collect update data suitable for forecasting.

• Progress measurement rules define objective credit for completed work
• Physical percent complete calculated from quantities, installed units and milestones
• Actual start and finish dates captured from verified field records
• Remaining duration forecasts tested against current productivity and constraints
• Site diaries, photographs and inspection records support update evidence
• Data dates set clear boundaries between actual performance and forecast work

Participants can update schedules and communicate reliable completion forecasts.

• Status updates apply actual dates, progress quantities and remaining durations
• Out-of-sequence progress assessed using retained logic and progress override
• Data-date discipline prevents future work from appearing as completed performance
• Schedule recalculation identifies changed critical paths and completion forecasts
• Update narratives explain variance causes, corrective actions and decision needs
• Forecast milestones compared with baseline dates and contractual obligations

Participants can assess schedule integrity and correct common programme defects.

• DCMA 14-Point Schedule Assessment tests logic, leads, lags and float
• Missing predecessors and successors identified through open-end schedule checks
• Excessive constraints examined for concealed logic and artificial critical paths
• Long-duration activities reviewed against reporting and control requirements
• Negative float investigated through imposed dates, logic and calendar conflicts
• Schedule health reports prioritise corrections before baseline approval or update

Participants can produce schedule reports matched to management and site decisions.

• Bar charts tailored for executives, package managers and field supervisors
• Milestone reports highlight decisions, approvals and emerging completion risks
• Critical path narratives explain causes rather than merely listing activities
• Two-week plans communicate workable tasks to trade and subcontractor teams
• S-curves compare planned, actual and forecast progress against baselines
• Reporting calendars align update cycles with governance and payment milestones

Participants can assess schedule uncertainty and plan practical time-risk responses.

• Risk registers connect uncertain events with affected schedule activities
• Three-point duration estimates establish optimistic, likely and pessimistic ranges
• Monte Carlo simulation interprets confidence levels for completion milestones
• Schedule contingency distinguished from hidden float and unallocated management reserve
• Weather risk allowances based on historical workability and exposed activities
• Risk response actions assigned with triggers, owners and review dates

Participants can evaluate delay events using schedule records and defensible analysis principles.

• Delay event records preserve notices, instructions, photographs and contemporaneous updates
• Excusable, compensable and concurrent delay concepts distinguished contractually
• Time impact analysis inserts prospective events into approved schedule logic
• Windows analysis reviews critical path movement during defined update periods
• As-planned versus as-built analysis identifies broad sequence and duration variance
• Concurrency assessment examines overlapping critical delays and party responsibility

Participants can prepare recovery options that address identified completion delay.

• Recovery schedules target critical and near-critical activities causing forecast delay
• Crashing options evaluate added crews, shifts, plant and supervision costs
• Fast tracking assesses resequencing opportunities and increased coordination risks
• Productivity improvement actions test workfront release, logistics and prefabrication
• Acceleration plans quantify time savings, costs, risks and required approvals
• Recovery dashboards track planned gains against achieved completion improvements

Participants can organise schedule data and apply core functions in planning software.

• Primavera P6 activity codes, calendars and layouts support controlled schedule development
• Microsoft Project views expose logic, critical tasks and resource allocations
• Schedule templates standardise coding, calendars, relationships and report formats
• Baseline copies preserved with controlled revisions and documented authorisation
• Import and export checks protect dates, codes and relationship integrity
• Version registers identify issued programmes, update dates and approval status

Participants can conduct a structured review of a contractor or subcontractor programme.

• Review checklists test scope coverage, logic, durations and contractual milestones
• Constructability reviews challenge access, sequencing and trade-interface assumptions
• Resource feasibility checks compare planned crews with available workforce capacity
• Procurement reviews test long-lead dates against installation and commissioning needs
• Baseline review comments distinguish mandatory corrections from planning recommendations
• Acceptance criteria document required evidence before programme approval

Participants can build, review and present a complete baseline construction schedule and control plan for a realistic project.

• Project scope converted into coded work breakdown and activity register
• Logic-linked baseline schedule developed with calendars, milestones and critical path
• Resources and costs loaded to produce workforce and cash flow forecasts
• Procurement, design, testing and commissioning interfaces incorporated into programme logic
• DCMA quality findings resolved through documented schedule corrections and assumptions
• Progress update, recovery response and management report presented for review