Construction project owners are demanding faster construction, cutting the typical project duration dramatically. This schedule compression has made scheduling today of crucial importance. General contractors with the ability to meet and deliver projects quickly have a major competitive advantage. The goal of scheduling is to create a tool that can be used to drive the project and build credibility with all the participants, particularly the owner. Quality, safety, communication, planning, coordination, and resource utilization are all enhanced through the scheduling process, which includes updates to it and integration of input from all project participants. Scheduling and its value in communication to owners sets expectations, seeking owner satisfaction with the project’s execution.
Project schedules represent a detailed plan of individual activities, sequencing, duration, and interdependence. Many project schedules are prepared simply at the inception of the project. Though most owners require submission of these schedules as part of the contract, not all general contractors leverage the full advantage of schedules by using them continuously to drive projects to successful completion. The integration of subcontractors into project schedules is critical to effective scheduling.
Schedules that are loaded with costs, resources, and labor hours help identify cash flow and overall resource requirements. These schedules are invaluable in developing an aggressive schedule of values that are then submitted to owners for payments on progress billings.
Effective scheduling techniques include the integration of subcontractor schedules into a master schedule from which project execution is driven. This process establishes and communicates critical milestones, critical paths, and delivery dates.
Most change orders have schedule implications. Change orders can be directed by owners, generated from changes in the field, or necessitated by environmental changes in the construction process. General contractors who correctly maintain an updated schedule that reflects changing conditions increase their ability to manage the construction process and scheduled completion dates. Using the schedule to proactively manage change orders increases the general contractor’s ability to identify and communicate favorable and unfavorable performance variances to all project parties. Schedules also document completion dates, which helps minimize the impact of damages.
Schedule performance can be evaluated by simply looking at the variance in terms of days. The variance is calculated by taking the original planned completion duration minus the current forecasted completion duration. The difference is the number of days the schedule is ahead or behind. But that provides only a partial perspective.
Contractors should also evaluate what the variance means as a function of the remaining duration on the project. Taking the schedule variance in days and dividing it by the total remaining duration in days shows the variance as a percentage of remaining duration. This information enables the contractor to evaluate the significance of the schedule variance. A negative variance of five percent of the total remaining duration is clearly easier to make up than a 35 percent variance. A well-built schedule saves time and money for all the parties when used to develop a fully integrated, collaborative solution.
Another way of saying all this is: if you stay on top of the schedule regularly, not just in your head, but on paper, you’ll save money on the project.
If you would like help in using Master Builder’s scheduling module, please let me know. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about instituting a comprehensive training process. Thank you.
