Construction Project Scheduling – Page 3 – Construction and Schedule Management Services

Construction Scheduling. Problems Modifying header and footer variables in Primavera P6 version 15.2?

CPM Consultant Professional Project Management — Project Management

It seems that there is an issue with Primavera P6 version 15.2 that makes it “impossible” to modify the variables for the header and footer sections.

This had me stumped too. But I found a work- around.

You can still add the variables by selecting modify and typing in the variable you want. Such as [cd] for current date or [filter_list] for the filters used or [project_name] for the project name…. There are commands for most all of the variables. I don’t have a complete list, but the common variables I use for most layouts is listed below.

Data Date: [data_date]

Project ID: [project_id]

Project Name: [project_name]

Layout Name: [layout_name]

Filter List: [filter_list]

Current Date: [cd]

Page: [page_number]

Pages: [total_pages]

What other methods have you found to work around this issue?

Does anyone have the full list of commands?

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. Are you Including the Complete Project Scope in the Schedule?

person-question-300x300 When you begin the planning for your project schedule, are you defining the project scope and breaking it down into work packages? Do you ever discover that work may have been missed if you had not completed this exercise?

You are not alone.

It’s just so easy to take off and start building the activities to build the project. It’s already in our head and all we need to do is get that plan on paper. Right?

I’ve found that even for a simple project, it makes the schedule development much more effective if the project team goes through the process of breaking the project down into the basic work packages and cross checking with the bid documents. This is often when we discover some piece of the scope is not included in any bid package. It happens….

This is why planning is a very important part of the schedule development. During the planning process, the work packages are developed, the sequencing of the work package delivery is worked out, the coordination of the work package execution is worked out… The list goes on…

I like to work through the planning process and then develop the WBS for the project schedule. This helps me determine how to develop the activities that create the deliverable work package and also helps with the preferential logic to coordinate work packages and resource usage.

The planning process is also a good place to develop the project calendars, activity coding, and resources. I like having these in place before I start developing the activities. It makes it easier to make the assignments as I go and keep the momentum of developing the work flow going. Having to stop and create a calendar or activity code breaks my flow. I also hate going back and trying to make calendar or code assignments after all the activities are developed. Some activity coding is simple to assign, but activity coding for responsibility, area, level, or CSI is more difficult to go back and add. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The process of sequencing the activities and assigning the durations is easier for me then too. I can compare similar work through the use of activity coding. I can also use the resources I assigned early to make cost loading easier.

What other methods have you found to plan and develop your project schedules?

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. Are you using Calendars Appropriately in Your Project Schedules?

excalmation-mark Do you understand the need to develop specific activity, resource and project calendars? So you put the effort into this process? Do you understand how calendars can help you?

Many, many smaller projects have project schedules with calendars that are set to whatever the default calendar setting is. Typically, this is a 5 day work week calendar with 8 hour work days.

You may ask, what is wrong with this?

Well, the short answer is, you are not allowing your schedule program to effectively schedule the work for you. You should really have a calendar for each different work week, such as a 4-10 hour day calendar, (if you have a resource working this shift). A 7 day work week calendar with no holidays is very helpful for project milestones because the total float is in calendar days. A typical work week calendar with defined holidays and anticipated weather related non-work days is a great way to ensure weather sensitive activities have anticipated “weather days” assigned.

For this post, I will only talk about activity calendars. Resource calendars can add complexity, and must be addressed, but not in this post…

For activity development, I prefer to keep things simple. I use the appropriate calendar, based on the planned work week for the work tasks. This includes holidays and any other don-work days identified in the contract. I develop a weather day calendar, based on the appropriate normal work week calendar to assign to my weather sensitive activities. I use a 7 work day week calendar, with no holidays or any other non-work days for my contract milestones and as the default for the project. This allows the team to see calendar day total float values.

Of course, the use of multiple calendars creates a little confusion when reviewing the schedule. The total float values for a string of activities will be different based on the calendars assigned. The actual start date to finish date durations will not match the “work day” duration assigned. These types of issues confuse many people. But once you use the calendars appropriately, you are letting the schedule better model your plan for the work.

Isn’t this what the schedule is supposed to be used for at its’ most basic level?

What other methods have you found to model and manage work with calendars?

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. 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

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. 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