The vital key to perfect construction management is construction project scheduling. The scheduling sketches the estimation of tasks to get accomplished under a specific date for commencing the next step.
An efficient construction project scheduling ensures completion of each project phase in a precise manner and in a way that optimizes the chances and factors causing the delay. Normally, a project manager upholds the schedule, and a superintendent verifies if the remaining workers supervised by him show up to work under the allotted time.
In this fundamental cue related to construction project scheduling, you’ll get to know the following aspects:
- What exactly is construction project scheduling?
- Need for such schedules
- Importance of schedules on projects
- Correct usage
The essential concepts of the Critical Path Method (CPM), will be elaborated further in this article, along with construction project scheduling.
What Is Construction Project Scheduling?
When it’s about construction management, maintaining a construction project schedule is crucial for a successful project. A well-planned schedule can help in minimizing downtime factors. It also assures the completion of all phases of the project in a given time and budget.
A construction project schedule is a written description or graphically illustrated representation of the project planning. The project planning is the commencement of the project or its construction, and the written representation can be a written description. It could be a narrative. It could also be a bar graph schedule or a Critical Path Method scheduled demonstration.
A construction schedule is like a contract of the contractor. The contractor’s proposition is an overall estimation of the cost of the project. The schedule represents a conclusive amount of time expected to construct the whole project.
Who is a Construction Scheduler?
The person accountable for the development and updating along with remodeling the project schedule as and when required, is ‘the construction scheduler.’
There are typically two types of project schedulers:
- The button pusher: The button pusher is someone who receives all the information from one party. Then apply the collected information in scheduling software like Microsoft Project, as a Power Project or Primavera.
- The professional scheduler: The professional scheduler recognizes and comprehends the means and techniques of construction and the software’s abilities. Moreover, they also comprehend the best practices of the construction schedule. They also understand the ways to incorporate these procedures into the project schedule.
Manier times, people don’t appoint a professional construction scheduler. A professional scheduler efficiently pulls together the whole project with their knowledge. Even though appointing a project scheduler doesn’t ensure project success. However, a good professional scheduler can work alongside the project manager and the superintendent. The three collectively can ensure that the plan in the minds of the project manager and superintendent is accurate enough for the project schedule. And it would preserve the contractor’s stake.
Construction Scheduling Basics
In every construction case, a construction contract will expect the contractor to attain the completion of the project within a given duration. In every construction project, many laborious stints should attain completion before the end of the contract.
A comprehensive explanation and representation of the contractor’s plans to construct the project work scope are in the construction schedule. Three key factors namely represent the work scope:
- The schedule’s work activities
- How long they’re going to take
- Their sequence.
The crucial point to keep in mind about the construction project schedule is that it is the sole project management tool that can predict the completion of the project.
The schedule can predict the following:
- The plan
- Progression of the work to complete in a given time,
- Estimating the completion time of the project.
Need for Project Schedules
Over the past few years, construction holders have compelled their contractors to prepare construction project schedules. This trend came into fashion due to two elementary reasons:
- Firstly, complex the projects got tighter the budgets got. Construction holders require such schedules to assist the management of construction projects. The construction project management tool- a schedule that facilitates the project participants (that is, construction owner, the construction contractor, the engineer, and the architect) to understand the project’s complete plan. Helping all the participants to coordinate with each other.
- Another most prominent reason for this trend to come into action is litigation. Due to the delay of any construction project, either by any participants, the contractor will incur the extra money for the compensation of delayed days. Therefore, a method to measure the delay of the project should come into practice.
Other potential uses of the construction project schedule are:
- The construction schedule enables one to assign the proper responsibilities along with the due time of completion of that responsibility.
- It keeps track of the performance of each participant. An accurate schedule helps all the participants identify the key factors responsible for the project’s delay.
The very last thing you wish to try and do is ignore time-related problems all along with the project. And let the participants lose their will in the project. It ends with the submission of a lawsuit. As time matter wasn’t settled before the project inflation, it will end up in a lawsuit. The project finished late, and the participants are unable to identify the chief cause of the delay. This kind of disagreement always ends up in a bad lawsuit leading to the expenditure of unnecessary money due to small negligence in the beginning.
The only way to achieve success in an instruction project is by addressing the delay component on the spot to finish the project on time and in the budget.
Benefits
There are many benefits to a well-planned construction schedule:
- Regulation of materials, labor, and equipment.
- Accommodation of required materials for unexpected events.
- Helps in identifying and managing activities necessary for the completion of each task. Along with the order of completion of each task.
- Allowing projects to complete on-time and in-budget.
What Is Critical Path Method Scheduling (CPM)?
One of the commonly used construction project scheduling techniques is the Critical Path Method Scheduling or the CPM approach. In this method, the construction plan is often gets portrayed as a network. This network contains the activities and logic relationships that might specify the all-around construction sequence.
In a CPM approach, “activities” often represent the entities of work used in the project. These entities can represent the preparation, submissions, or the review of submittals, of the construction. The CPM approach resembles these entities of activities with logic relationships. For example, the schedule portrays in a manner that one activity cannot start only before the commencement of others. Combining all these entities, along with the mathematical formula, predicts the completion of the project.
The best feature regarding the Critical Path Method schedule allows the model to schedule its physical and contractual limitations in a project. An excellent example of the critical path method usage is for more complex and bigger construction projects. It easily gets developed using a critical path method schedule. This method helps to incorporate the contractual constraints on work during a distinct duration, like the environmental constraints or constrictions caused during the winter weather.
The critical method path schedule likewise facilitates the team to prioritize the uncompleted work. This prioritization of the uncompleted work takes place based on
- The total value of the activity
- Assignment of the work on the availability of resources
It also helps in the following aspect:
- Assign duty, expenses, and resources for each activity of the project.
- Prediction of the expenditure on the activity based on earned value.
- Predicting the expense of hours, explicit labor hours during the whole course of the project.
- Helping in keeping track of the achievement of scheduled rates of output or earning of the agreed amount.
Compared to a bar graph representation, a critical path method schedule is an extensively more detailed tool. This tool is often used by various project teams to put in good use to plan and manage projects. The critical path method schedules can prepare activities ranging from 300 to 30,000. The planning of the activities in the critical path method schedule depends on the user. It always narrows down to the level of detail you select to represent or the size of the project or its complexity.
What is Project Construction scheduling software?
The project construction scheduling software helps in planning and managing the construction project schedule. This software provides tools that help to optimize the time consumption of individuals. These tools give the analyzed reports of the flaws existing in the systems. Few examples of software are:
1. PlanStreet:
- PlanStreet is among the best of the project construction scheduling software.
- PlanStreet helps construction company by
- Assisting in the optimization of resource allocation
- Gives cost-effective methods for business
- Assures the company’s performance and profitability.
- The project managers have access to real-time entry status.
- They can view the latest problems, risks, and updates within the projects.
- Allows managers to amend resource allocation
- Has the ability to prioritize significant projects.
- Ensures financial management
- Keeps track of all the factors responsible for wastage of money
- It supervises the budget simultaneously and delivers projects on time.
2. Smartsheet
- Smartsheet is a work performance platform.
- Smarsheet gives a variety of tools for a variety of functions.
Some features of these tools are
- Document Management
- Resource Management
- Project Reporting
- Task Management
- File Sharing
- Timeline Tracking
3. Oracle Primavera Software
- Oracle Primavera Software is a development of Oracle Construction and Engineering.
- It uses a cloud-based deployment model.
- The software tools provide a solution to give an integrated approach towards the
- Project
- Portfolio Planning
- Delivery Teams for
- Planning
- Resourcing
- Risk Mitigation
- Scheduling
- Program Management
- This software is one of the best software available for project construction scheduling management.
- Some of the key features of this software are:
- It minimizes resource allocation.
- It tracks project growth.
- Monitors and visualizes the project performance in comparison to the plan.
- Select and prioritize projects in line with an efficient technique.
4. Buildtrend
Buildtrend is specifically designed for
- Home Builders
- Remodelers
- Specialty Contractors
- General Contractors.
- It has a cloud-based deployment model.
- Buildtrend provides each business coroner with an individual manager to supervise and look after all the plans.
5. Pro core
- Pro core software helps you manage several projects, finance, and assured you on-time delivery.
- The primary feature of the software is to enable its users to communicate across the teams.
- This feature helps in easy connection and efficient work results.
