UNIT Construction Project Scheduling

Pretest: Answer all question clearly and legibly.

1. What does a node mean in an arrow diagram?

2. What does an arrow mean in an arrow diagram?

3. What does a node mean in a node diagram?
4. What does a line mean in a node diagram?
5. What are the main differences between bar charts and networks?
6. What are the differences between arrow and node networks?

Lesson 1:

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this lesson a learner should:
1. Calculate the project completion date
2. Predict and calculate the cash flow
3. Improve work efficiency:
4. Draw both the arrow network and the node network for the
project:
5. Apply the PERT/CPM

A schedule is necessary for government acquisition programs for

many reasons.
The program schedule provides not only a road map for systematic
project execution but also the means by which to gauge progress,
identify and resolve potential problems, and promote accountability at all
levels of the program.
 Project scheduling is the process of determining the sequential
order of the planned activities, assigning realistic durations to each
activity, and determining the start and finish dates for each activity.
WHY SCHEDULE PROJECTS?
I. Contractors need project scheduling to:
1. Calculate the project completion date: In most construction projects,
the general contractor (GC), including subcontractors and other team
members, is obligated to finish the project by a certain date that is
specified in the contract.
2. Calculate the start or end of a specific activity: Specific activities may
require special attention, such as ordering and delivering materials or
equipment.
3. Coordinate among trades and subcontractors, and expose and adjust
conflicts: In today’s construction, the GC’s role is mostly to coordinate
different subcontractors.
4. Predict and calculate the cash flow: The timing of an activity has an
impact on the cash flow, which may be an important factor for the
contractor (or the owner to consider.
5. Improve work efficiency: By properly distributing workers and
equipment and having efficient materials management the GC can save
time and money.
6. Serve as an effective project control tool: Project control must have a
solid and sound baseline with which current performance can be
compared.
7. Evaluate the effect of changes: Change orders (CO)3 are usually
inevitable, but well-planned projects may have few or minor ones.
8. Prove delay claims: Construction delay claims are common.
Contractors must be able to accurately prove their claims against owners
(or other parties) using project schedules.
II. Project owners and developers need project scheduling to:
1. Get an idea of a project’s expected finish date :
2. Ensure contractor’s proper planning for timely finish:
3. Predict and calculate the cash flow:
4. Serve as an effective project monitoring tool
5. Evaluate the effect of changes:
6. Verify delay claims:
TECHNIQUES FOR PLANNING AND SCHEDULING
Bar (Gantt) Charts
 A bar chart is a graphical representation of project activities that
are shown in time scaled bar lines.
The bar chart was originally developed by Henry L. Gantt, an
American mechanical engineer, in 1917 and is alternatively called a
Gantt chart.

Figure 4.0
Basic Networks
NETWORK ANALYSIS SYSTEMS
 A network is a logical and chronological, graphic representation of
the activities (and events) composing a project.
Two types of network diagrams

 Arrow networks were more popular in the 1960s and 1970s, and
 then precedence diagrams (an advanced form of node diagrams)
became the choice for network scheduling.
Network scheduling has revolutionized the management of construction
projects.
ARROW NETWORK
Arrow networks are also called the arrow diagramming method (ADM),
activity on arrow (AOA) network, or the I-J method (because activities are
defined by the from node, I, and the to node, J
Example 1 A

Draw the arrow network for the project given E

A
Activity (IPA) immediately preceding
Activity
A C -
B A
C A
D B
E C,D

Figure 4.1 B
D method because each
Notation: The arrow diagram is also called the I–J
activity is identified by the two nodes that define its start
and end. For example, activity A is also known as 10–20, B as 20–30, C as
20–40, and so on.
 Example 2: Draw the arrow network for the project given next.

Activity IPA
A -
B A
C A
D B
E B,C
F C
Solution:
The solution requires two dummy activities (or simply dummies) (Figure 4.2)

B D
30
A D1

10 20 D2 50 E 60

A C 40 F

Figure 4.2

Construction Scheduling PERT/CPM

The Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path
Method (CPM) were developed by management scientists to help
organizations with planning, scheduling and controlling of large

projects, such as building a new hospital or launching a new product.

General Steps

Step 1. Identify the activities

Step 2. Determine activity relationships (immediate predecessors of

each activity)

Step 3. Estimate activity completion times and costs

Step 4. Construct an activity network

Step 5. Execute a forward pass to determine earliest start and

earliest finish times for each activity, and project completion time

Step 6. Execute a backward pass to determine latest start and latest

finish times for each activity
Step 7. Identify activity slack (length of time an activity can be delayed
without delaying the project completion time)
Step 8. Find the activities with zero slack; these are critical
activities and make up at least one critical path

Step 9. Use information from Steps 5 - 8 to develop the activity schedule

for the project.

Step 10. Find project completion time variance and conduct probability
analysis, such as the probability of meeting a customer target
completion time, under the condition of uncertainty in activity times.

Step11. Consider time-cost tradeoffs

Step 12. Implement , monitor and control the project

A Network Analysis System (NAS)

 A network analysis system (NAS) provides a comprehensive

method for project planning, scheduling, and controlling
 Activity -The performance of a task required to complete the
project, such as, design of foundations, review of design,
procure steel contracts, or form concrete columns. An activity
requires time, cost, or both time and cost.
 Network -A diagram to represent the relationship of activities
to complete the project. The network may be drawn as either
an "arrow diagram" or a "precedence diagram."

Duration (D) -The estimated time required to perform an activity.

The time should include all resources that are assigned to the
activity

Early Start (ES) -The earliest time an activity can be started.

Early Finish (EF) -The earliest time an activity can be finished and
is equal to the early start plus the duration. EF= ES+D
Late Finish (LF) -The latest time an activity can be finished.
Late Start (LS) -The latest time an activity can be started without
delaying the completion date of the project.
LS=LF-D
Total Float (TF) -The amount of time an activity may be delayed
without delaying the completion date of the project. TF=LF-EF=
LS-ES

Free Float (FF) -The amount of time an activity may be delayed

without delaying the early start time of the immediately following
activity.
 Critical Path
A series of interconnected activities through
the network diagram, with each activity
having zero, free and total float time. The
critical path determines the minimum time to
complete the project.

Dummy Activity -An activity (represented by

a dotted line on the arrow network diagram)
that indicates that any activity following the
dummy cannot be started until the activity or
activities preceding the dummy are completed.
The dummy does not require any time.
Example 3 Draw
the arrow
network for the
project given next.
Activity IPA ACTIVITY IPA
A - H C,D
B A I D
C A J E,F,G
D A K F,G,H
E B L H,I
F B,C M K,L
G C
Solution

This example is more complicated than the previous ones, requiring eight
dummies, as shown in Figure 4.3. However, real projects with hundreds
or thousands of activities, are far more complicate.
Example: Finish-to-Start Activity Relationships

Calculate the start, finish, and float for each activity in the
following CPM precedence network diagram.
Activity C and E have an F-S relationship with a 5-day negative lag.
The 5-day negative lag is equivalent to a 5-day lead, which means the
finish of Activity C must occur no later than 5 days after the start of
Activity E, given by the relationship: EFc, ≤ ES, + 5.
The use of negative lags is not recommended because they lead to
much confusion with respect to the meaning of the relationship and the
schedule as discussed in the following paragraphs.
The following diagram and accompanying table show the early and
late start, early and late finish, and the total and free float for each
activity.

Solution:

For activity C the calculations for total float and free float are:

Activity Total Float C = LF-EF

25-20= 5
 Free Float C= ESE – EFC-
Lag
18-20-(-5) = 3 days

Activity Duration Early Early Late Late Total Free

start Finish Start Finish Float Float
A* 10 0 10 0 10 0 0
B 8 10 18 12 20 2 0
C 10 10 20 15 25 5 3
D* 15 10 25 10 25 0 0
E 5 18 23 20 25 2 2
F* 5 25 30 25 30 0 0
 Denotes critical activities

.
1. What does a node mean in an arrow diagram?

2. What does an arrow mean in an arrow diagram?

3. What does a node mean in a node diagram?
4. What does a line mean in a node diagram?
5. What are the main differences between bar charts and networks?
6. What are the differences between arrow and node networks?
7. Arrow networks have another name; what is it? What is the reason for
this name?
8. What are the main advantages of node networks over arrow networks?
9. What is the main advantage of arrow networks over node networks?
How was it overcome?
10. What are time-scaled logic diagrams? Discuss their practicality.
11. What are the main advantages of networks over bar charts? How did
bar charts manage to stay popular despite the advantages of networks?
12. Did logic networks and the critical path method replace bar charts as
a scheduling technique? Explain your answer.
13. Draw both the arrow network and the node network for the following
project: