August 2016 – Construction and Schedule Management Services

Construction Scheduling. How do we, as Scheduling Consultants, help our clients succeed against the odds?”

There are times when the schedule update process shows the project has not made adequate progress to maintain the schedule as planned. It could happen…..

The problem starts when we work with our contractor client to correct the out-of-sequence relationships and make the necessary revisions to best model the team’s path going forward.

At some point, it becomes apparent that nothing we can do to the schedule, which doesn’t include adding cost/resources, is going to model a plan to complete on time. We typically look at resequencing work on the critical (longest) path, which may or may not include costs. We look at reducing durations to work on the critical (longest) path, which almost always includes costs. This is an iterative process as the critical (longest) path continually shifts as we change the various paths.

So, what happens we’re working with the contractor’s team to bring the project back on schedule? We strive to find the most cost-effective method of reducing the time required to complete the project, but there is soon going to be a point of diminishing returns for costs to “recover” the schedule.

What do you tell your client?

Does your client arbitrarily direct work to be scheduled concurrently or reduce durations greatly without input from the subcontractor?

Does your client look at past delays or change orders and consider re-visiting them to request additional time they did not pursue during the “honeymoon” phase?

I believe that we, as planning and scheduling professional consultants, should strive to keep the project on course and assist eh project team with providing a successful project.

The question is: As consultants, how do we accomplish this?

We must always maintain our integrity and be honest with our client.

What has your experience been?

Do you tell your client to “suck it up, we can’t afford to get back on schedule”?

Do you advise your client to convene a team meeting with the major subcontractors to see if they can assist with developing a recovery plan, at the least cost to the project? They are often well aware of the problem and have great ideas….

Do you suggest your client convene with the subcontractors and then meet with the owner to see if there is a way to provide what the owner absolutely needs to make the project successful for them and allow you to finish some of the work later than required?

Real scheduling is messy. But we all deal with issues all the time…..

There is power in building team consensus and almost every owner and contractor I have had the pleasure to work with have wanted a successful project and were willing to work with the entire project team to accomplish it.

I’d love to hear what you think!

Please visit https://conschmanservices.com to learn more about Construction and Schedule Management Services, LLC

Please visit my LinkedIn account to learn more about me.

Please visit my “The Blue Book” ProView.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. When the work continues and the schedule doesn’t… Or, “Which way did they go?”

person-question-300x300 There are times when the schedule update process gets side railed or thrown off course.

The problem comes when we don’t revise our baseline schedule and the work continues, at risk, with a disputed change order(s) and no approved revised baseline schedule to measure the pending change order against. How do we determine the change order impact? We know we need to use the most recent approved schedule. Is this the Project Baseline Schedule now? I’ve heard this argument many times.

Of course it is, it is the approved schedule at the time of the change order work insertion to create the fragnet to evaluate schedule impact. The approval of the “new” schedule which includes the changed work or delay deems it the “Revised” Baseline Schedule.

What happens to our schedule metrics and baseline cost or resource curve or projected budget cash flow? We have to revise those as well.

So, what happens when the work continues for a couple of reporting periods, the owner refuses to acknowledge change orders or delays and the schedule is reporting negative float / is behind schedule? The owner demands a recovery schedule, right? The contractor asserts they are delayed by the owner and need the change order finalized and added to the schedule to get back on schedule. Should the owner pay the contractor’s invoices when they’re behind schedule? Or hold retainage? Should the contractor stop work until the contract issue is settled? Or continue at risk creating the necessity of forensic claims analysis to resolve the unresolved change issues and delay conditions?

I believe that we, as planning and scheduling professional consultants, should strive to keep the project on course and ensure the entire project team understands the repercussions of not resolving the issues timely.

The question is: As consultants, how do we accomplish this?

We must always maintain our integrity and be honest with our client.

What has your experience been?

Have you kept updating the schedule, even while running deep into negative total float?

Do you advise your clients to force the settlement of overdue change orders?

Do you refer your client to a good Forensic Schedule Consultant you know?

Real scheduling is messy. But we all deal with issues all the time…..

I’d love to hear what you think!

Please visit https://conschmanservices.com to learn more about Construction and Schedule Management Services, LLC

Please visit my LinkedIn account to learn more about me.

Please visit my “The Blue Book” ProView.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. Which Baseline Schedule is the Project Baseline?

Ideas All projects run into change orders and delays. We also need to measure and track progress against the original plan. Baseline Schedules are necessary for this.

But, how do we manage baseline schedules?

There are those that believe we always measure against the original baseline. This would be fine if the project never incurred a change order that changed the scope, worked out of sequence for whatever reason or suffered a delay of some kind.

The ugly truth is that no project or schedule is immune to change. As a planning and scheduling professional consultant, we see the proof of this all the time.

What does this mean for the Project Baseline Schedule?

Part of what we do, as a planning and scheduling professional consultant, is to help the contractor develop the Project Ideas Baseline Schedule. We also update and maintain the schedule over the life of the project

Each time the schedule is updated and accepted for use as the schedule update for the period, the updated schedule essentially becomes the “new” baseline schedule. This update represents the plan to execute the remaining work on the project and as such is now the “new” plan or baseline.

Sure, we can always refer back to the original project baseline schedule, but to what end?

If a change order is added to the work which significantly changes the scheduled work or a delay is allowed, we need to “re-baseline” the schedule. The team reviews and agrees to the “new” or “revised” baseline and we keep the project moving.

Please visit https://conschmanservices.com to learn more about Construction and Schedule Management Services, LLC

Please visit my LinkedIn account to learn more about me.

Please visit my “The Blue Book” ProView.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP