64 PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT AND CPM

Figure 4.12 Representation of buffer constraints on a linear planing chart

project. Unlike the CPM, however, the PERT uses as inputs a statistical distribution for the task durations
and the time outputs have statistical significance. PERT is not widely used in the construction industry.

4.6.2
Features
CPM is a simple scheduling algorithm that is based on a simple project model. For the CPM algorithm to be
applicable, a network diagram (the activity-on-node diagram) must be able to represent the project. This
condition defines the extent of the schedule model that CPM can handle. As such, CPM suffers from the
same shortcomings noted for the AON diagram in Section 4.5.3. The CPM scheduling model is briefly
outlined below.

The project is made up of non-repetitive tasks only. Each task is a single entity of work with no
subdivisions.
A task i is completely defined by its duration, Di, which is a pre-assigned fixed value.
All four logic constraints (FS, SS, SF, FF) can be specified between tasks in a project.
Location modeling of tasks, multiple crew strategies, buffer constraints, time variation with job
conditions, and cost of tasks are not handled explicitly.

Once the project schedule-model is developed the CPM algorithm can be used to calculate the task times
that satisfy the constraints. A CPM analysis produces the following outputs:

The early start (ESi), early finish (EFi), late start (LSi), and late finish (LFi) times for each task i.