P. Epperson – Page 7 – Construction and Schedule Management Services

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

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Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. How do we, as Schedule Consultants, Best Serve the Client?

schedule1 As I start working with new clients, I seek to understand how I can best help them?

What do they expect to gain from me? I know they want a project schedule developed and approved for use on the project. That’s only part of it…….

A large part of what we do, as a planning and scheduling professional consultant, is add to our clients’ knowledge base. We teach the importance of using schedule best practices, ways to better manage and use the schedule, and how to better understand what the schedule update is telling us.

I enjoy all of it.

I believe that we, as planning and scheduling professional consultants, should also improve the clients’ understanding of scheduling in general. We should improve the clients’ ability to deliver the project. We should help the client understand better how the project schedule integrates with their cost and resource management.

What has your experience been?

Do most of your clients already integrate their project schedules with their resource and cost control practice? Do they only need your expertise with the software and schedule techniques?

Or, do you sometimes find your efforts resisted due to your clients’ lack of schedule knowledge or project management maturity? If so, how? And how do you deal with that?

Do you often feel pressured to develop the schedule based completely on best case scenarios? If so, how do you deal with that?

What client management techniques have you developed to better manage and help your clients with their schedule development and management?

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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. Time Extensions and Delays. How do we best work through these with less mature Project Teams?

Delay outputs All projects run into change orders with time extensions and just plain old delay claims.

But, how do we manage these on smaller projects with teams that are not well versed in CPM schedule methodology and analysis?

Typically, these projects manage change order time extensions or delays by marking off days on a calendar or looking at daily reports for days worked and deciding that if the contractor worked, he must not have been delayed…..

Part of what we do, as a planning and scheduling professional consultant, is to help the contractor support their case for a time extension for additional work, if it drives the longest path. We also help the owner defend against frivolous time extension requests or delay claims.

If the change order or the delay impacted the longest path, we need to quantify the impact to the completion date. But, even if the impact does not push the completion date, there is still an impact to the sequencing of work, delivery of materials, efficiency of work resources, and the consuming of total float from the near critical paths.

I believe that we, as planning and scheduling professional consultants, should strive to improve the clients’ understanding of change order insertion into the schedule and the analysis of the impact. We should improve the clients’ ability substantiate their impact or defend against the unsubstantiated claims. Sometimes this means telling our clients that there is no impact to the longest path. Sometimes it means helping our clients model the disruption to their work or the increased cost of resequencing their work. Sometimes it means telling the owner that the contractor is entitled to the time extension request.

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

But sometimes, our clients demand we support their position, regardless of our analysis and advice against pursuing time for the change order or delay.

What has your experience been?

Do most of your clients understand how the inserted “fragnet” may or may not impact the completion date? Do they understand how the near critical paths can be impacted to become the longest path and even push the completion date?

Or, do you sometimes find your efforts resisted due to your clients’ lack of schedule knowledge or project management maturity? If so, how? And how do you deal with that?

Do you often feel pressured to support your client’s preconceived belief, rather than what the analysis shows? If so, how do you deal with that?

What client management techniques have you developed to better manage and help your clients with their schedule impacts and change order management?

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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. What is a Project Schedule Worth to You?

Question My early construction schedule experience was gained while working on the owner’s side of the project. The issues I was concerned with were simple. Is the contractor on schedule? Will the contractor finish by contract completion? Have I delayed the contractor, and if so by how much?

Pretty basic concerns.

As time went on, and I learned from my many mentors, I found that a project schedule is an indispensable tool for managing the project. What better way to manage resources, project cash flow, spot trends in schedule slippage, and manage change order delay claims.

I now know these three things.

Project planning and schedule development are critical to the usefulness of the project schedule for managing the work. Garbage in / garbage out.
Maintaining the schedule through accurate updates, revisions to reflect the plan going forward, and the timely inclusion of delays or change orders is essential.
There will always be those that resist the use of a CPM schedule and those that believe it is the only tool available.

Where do you fall?

Do you believe the schedule is a necessary tool for payment or to meet the contract requirements?

Do you believe the schedule helps with managing the work and projecting your plan going forward?

Do you believe that adherence to the baseline schedule is paramount and no revisions or deviations from this plan are acceptable?

What value do you place on the project schedule?

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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. Should Project Invoicing be based on the Project Schedule SOV?

Question Early in my career, I was taught the project schedule was to be cost loaded and used for invoicing, as well as tracking the project’s progress. (This is strictly concerned with the invoice between the GC and the owner. Not the contractor’s internal actual cost, earned value, and GC vs subcontract cost…)

Over the years, mentors have suggested costs for invoicing be added to the project baseline schedule and then exported to a separate spreadsheet for update invoicing purposes. (This would be accomplished by applying the update Physical % Complete to the baseline budget cost value…..) Simple construction scheduling and management.

I was taught to run the cost this period, previous total cost and actual total cost to-date from the schedule program. This is a commonly used and straightforward method of creating the “Application for Payment” or invoice for each update period. (In my perfect world, this update is updated progress only. No resequencing for OOS correction work or recovery of lost time has been completed. That is done next and is the basis for any EVM metrics we want to look at). I prefer a two-step update process for construction scheduling and update management.

As I understand it, the argument for disassociating cost from the schedule update is this.

It is tempting for the contractor to look at the cost this period and cost to-date and feel pressured to adjust the percent complete to line up with their actual costs, not the physical percent complete. Valid concern, we don’t want to invoice less than we are payout out for work. It is also tempting for the owner or owner’s rep to look at the remaining cost and feel pressured to adjust the percent complete to allow what they think the remaining cost to complete should be. Valid concern, we want enough cost remaining to finish the work.

The general idea is that by keeping the costs separate from the activity percent complete update, we would get a more accurate progress to date. Since we know that best practice is to adjust the remaining duration based on the plan to complete the remaining work, we will be over or under our planned production rate. (EVM enters here, but that’s another story.) Taking the more accurate percent complete and applying it to the budgeted cost from the baseline schedule on the separate spreadsheet sheet would provide the values we need for the invoice.

Simple construction scheduling and update management.

This is based on the people doing the actual update of progress not having access to the budgeted cost or any other cost information. They only look at physical percent complete and planned remaining duration.

I find this idea interesting and I’m curious what other contractors and schedulers are doing and think of this concept. It’s not new, but I have not seen much discussion about 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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. Impacts of Unrecognized Owner Delays!

Delay outputs As construction scheduling professionals, we’ve all worked on projects which have been impacted by an owner delay which was not recognized as valid by the owner.

This happens. We have to deal with it. Some general examples that come to mind are:

Unrecognized change in the owner’s program resulting in a change to the contract scope of work and design.
Unrecognized unforeseen condition which changed the geotechnical design or suspended the project until remediation work could be completed.
Unrecognized specification or drawing ambiguity or omission resulting in additional or changed work.
Unrecognized delays for owner operations not included in the bid docs.

What types of schedule delay events have you seen? How did you, as a construction scheduling professional manage them? How did the project team manage them?

I’m interested in hearing your stories!

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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Construction Scheduling. How do we Incorporate the Subcontractor’s Schedule in our Baseline Schedule Development Process?

Road sign As construction scheduling professionals, we’ve all developed project baseline schedules. We’ve also worked with our subcontractors to get their input for the schedule, often with less than stellar results…..

This seems to a common problem. Continue reading “Construction Scheduling. How do we Incorporate the Subcontractor’s Schedule in our Baseline Schedule Development Process?”

Construction Scheduling. Why do some Construction Projects seem to fall Behind Schedule Immediately after NTP?

stop-go-signs-wrong-colors As construction scheduling professionals, we’ve all worked on smaller construction projects which have fallen behind schedule almost immediately after NTP.

This seems to be a common problem for smaller construction projects.

It seems that owners are expecting contract durations based on best case production scenarios. Who can blame them? They know that similar projects have been completed within these durations.

If this is so, why do many contractors fall behind schedule almost immediately after NTP? Continue reading “Construction Scheduling. Why do some Construction Projects seem to fall Behind Schedule Immediately after NTP?”

Construction Scheduling. Schedule Delays!

Expect-Delays-sign(1) We’ve all worked on projects where a major event has occurred and the project team had to scramble to manage the crisis.

This happens. As construction scheduling professionals, we have to deal with it. Some general examples that come to mind are:

Very extreme weather events such as hurricanes & floods. We plan for “normal” weather and manage weather impacts in excess of the anticipated “normal”. But an extreme weather event requires the immediate involvement of the entire project team.
Drastic change in the owner’s program resulting in a gross change to the contract scope of work. This could be a facility design changing from a male facility to a female facility, at 70% construction complete. There would be a lot of rework and resequencing of work required. It happens……
A serious unforeseen condition which changes the geotechnical design or suspends the project until remediation work can be completed. This is not all that unusual and is typically mitigated. But, it is still a major disruption to the start of the project.

What types of schedule delay events have you seen? How did you, as a construction scheduling professional manage them? How did the project team manage them?

I’m interested in hearing your stories!

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.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP

Schedule Management. How should a Non-Schedule Savvy PM or Superintendent Develop and Manage a “Recovery Schedule”?

You have a baseline schedule, with a few periodic updates completed, and now you need to make a revision to the schedule to dramatically re-sequence work, add/delete work to/from the project, or provide a required “Recovery Schedule”. What do you do?

This is one of the more difficult schedule management tasks. In some ways, it is almost more difficult than creating the baseline schedule.

Depending on the amount of time you need to “recover”, you will need to find the root causation for the schedule slippage and get that under control. This could mean anything from having the party responsible for the slippage work additional hours to maintain the daily scheduled productivity, adding resources to increase the daily scheduled productivity, or resequencing of work to mitigate the lack of daily scheduled productivity or model concurrent work.

Next you will need to develop the most cost-effective means of accelerating work on the current longest path. This is tricky. Your schedule may have a near critical path which is very close to the scheduled longest path. As you shave days off the longest path, it will shift to the near critical path making that path the longest path. You will need to keep working at accelerating activities on the longest path, as it shifts until you reach the point of “recovery”.

That’s the easy part.

Now you have to obtain support for this plan from the project team. Subcontractors have to agree to provide what is needed to achieve this revised plan. Deliveries must be verified. Resource availability must be verified. There is probably additional cost involved. This must be managed a well.

In summary, any “recovery plan” will most likely involve concurrent work and/or acceleration of work. In any case, submitting a “recovery schedule” without the support of the project team for execution of the revised plan is a disservice to the owner, the project team and the project. You must be able to gain the commitment of the project team.

Schedule management includes many tasks and processes. Developing the “recovery schedule” is one of the more difficult tasks. The Project Manager should always be intimately involved with the planning of the revised work plan and “buy-in” from the project team is necessary for the successful execution of the “recovery plan”.

You may be able to manage the development of the recovery schedule without any problems.

However, when in doubt, seek out the advice of a professional planner and scheduler.

Please visit https://conschmanservices.com to learn more about basic schedule concepts.

Please visit my LinkedIn account to learn more about me.

Paul Epperson CCM, PMP, PSP, PMI-SP