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CLOUD-BASED CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE

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DO’s & DON’Tsin Construction Scheduling

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Behind every project

schedule there is the person,

or people, who created the

schedule, and that is the

place to start when exploring

best practices and pitfalls

that creep into project

schedules. That’s because it’s

usually human error, and the

thinking behind the

schedule that leads

to problems.

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CHIEF AMONG THOSE THOUGHT PATTERNS IS POOR LOGICLogic problems in scheduling can

arise in many places in today’s

complex construction projects.

Assuming that most project planners

and schedulers are well trained

and experienced, they will carefully

construct a project that is both logical

in organization and in timing.

But even then, humans make mistakes

and sometimes overlook things, so it’s

usually the case that logic errors will

creep into the process of planning a

complex project schedule.

For example, it would be illogical to schedule a bath fixture to be

installed before the rough-in, but, it happens, and is an example of a

logic error arising simply from inattention to detail.

While poor logic can be difficult to prevent, there are some steps you

can take to correct the thinking behind it. Some examples include

creating template schedules that can be modified for projects,

implementing a peer review processes, and reviewing historical statistics

of schedule durations per square foot per dollar for the particular type

of work.

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DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

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THE PRACTICE OF QUESTIONINGOther types of errors can be buried more deeply in the fabric of the

project schedule, such as when a decision is made based upon incorrect

assumptions during estimating, or very early in the project planning

stages.

That’s why adopting and nurturing a questioning approach to

scheduling is often more productive then just assuming everything

that’s been done before is accurate.

The superintendent on the project should

either create the schedule, or be deeply

involved in the creation of it, since he/

she will be doing the building and

closely considers how it will be

accomplished.

There’s a balance that has

to be struck because

schedulers shouldn’t be

going back and redoing

estimating’s work, or

project management’s

work, but they should

be inquisitive enough to

follow their hunches and

investigate when things

don’t seem quite right.

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FOR EXAMPLE, permissions and permits are notorious for falling through

the cracks, especially when a builder is working in

unfamiliar territory.

This could happen if time in a schedule was not allocated

for in-wall or overhead inspections.

An error like this would cost the job multiple days, as

work could not progress until those inspections have been

realized, scheduled, and completed.

EXPERIENCED SCHEDULERS WILL HAVE A LIST

of things they automatically check at the beginning of

every scheduling job just to be sure there weren’t obvious

errors that occurred before them.

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DESCRIPTIONS MATTER Another type of error is one of not being appropriately descriptive when

describing activities.

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DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

BuT mOsT impOrTaNTly, all tasks or activities have to

be described in language that is

easily understood by installers and

everyone else, and should

be referenced to other

associated tasks.

FirsT OF all,

you’ll need to create a

very detailed schedule,

sometimes even including

items as specific as

deliveries of material.

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The type of fixture should be named and any critical aspects of its

installation should be explained in the lines. For example, it could be

something like:

DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

“Rough-in plumbing in bathroom 15a”

This description, while on separate lines,

tells the full story of what needs to

be completed.

and then a line that follows with:

“Install fixtures in bathroom 15a”

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RELATIONSHIPS MATTERWhen it comes to predecessors and successors, every task except

for the very first and very last must include them. Predecessors and

successors serve as the beginnings and ends to each task, and when

missing one or both, and activity becomes an orphan. The project itself

has a beginning and end, and so too must all the activities or tasks. Be

sure to link your predecessors and successors properly, or your critical

path won’t calculate correctly.

DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

If you resource load

your schedule, it

can be tempting

to ignore assigning

resources to

individual tasks

within a group.In some cases, assigning

resources to the group is fine,

but to do so without careful

scrutiny is dangerous.

Consider a concrete operation that requires the pouring of a slab. While

fewer resources are required initially to form the slab, you will need

numerous finishers scheduled on pour day that won’t be required on any

other day. Accounting for this in scheduling will prevent delays caused

by a manpower shortage.

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PITFALLS OF NOT ESTIMATINGPerhaps one of the biggest errors that occurs in project scheduling is

not basing estimating on a schedule. A schedule is usually needed to

estimate general conditions, which specifically relates to how long your

team will be on site.

Occasionally, a schedule needs to be based on an estimate to ensure

that the amount of time assumed in an estimage matches the schedule.

However, if the estimate was wrong, the job still needs to be built

correctly, and the schedule will overrule the estimate.

DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

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Any builder who’s done more than one project knows they are all

differrent.

DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

and to approach the scheduling process without an estimate is the

act of simply creating “USELESS ARTS AND CRAFTS,” according

to J.F. McCarthy in “Choosing Project Success: A Guide for Building

Professionals.”

Each one has its own

circumstances

its own

unique soil characteristics

its

individual locale

and its

own history

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Consider a job site that is an existing multifamily renovation project where the buildings will be renovated in phases - one or two buildings at a time. The job site is going to have severe limitations on how labor, materials and equipment move about, because there will always be adult residents, children, the elderly, the disabled, and their movements to consider. A logistics plan should be created and approved by all parties prior to finalizing the schedule.

Suppose a job requires a concrete slab that will eventually be the ground floor of a building. Time will be required for the slab to cure before building on it. Likewise, using epoxy to set rebar into a block wall will require a curing time that has to be factored into the schedule. Work should be planned and phased to account for dyeing and curing time of various material.

EXAMPLE 1

EXAMPLE 2

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EVERY PROJECT HAS LIMITING FACTORSForgetting to consider the constraints and logistics of the project site,

and the constraints of specific scopes within the project, are two more

prevalent pitfalls in construction project planning.

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TRACKING RESULTS

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DOs & DON’Ts IN CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULING

Using tracking, you need to know what’s working and what isn’t, and

you need to know where there are too many resources assigned, where

there aren’t enough, along with answers to a hundred questions.

Use the reporting functions of your PM or

scheduling software to do the analysis.

Finally, don’t overlook the important management function of

controlling. A schedule comes to life once it is implemented, and that

means that things are going to begin changing.

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