Bar-Charts

A project is broken into smaller, usually

manageable parts, each of which is called
an activity, or a task.

No absolutely correct or incorrect way to

break down a project exists. An activity,
or a task, may be as large as construction
of superstructure of a building, as small as
curing of concrete, or anywhere in
between.
The duration of each activity must be
estimated. Bars are then drawn to show, for
each activity, the duration and the starting
and ending points.

The beginning and end of each bar represent

the time of start and time of finish of that
activity and the length of bar represents
duration for the completion of the activity.
Example

Activities involved:

A project having 10 activities (P, Q, R, S, T, U, V,

W, X, and Y). Ten activities are to be completed
for the completion of the project. The time duration
for the completion of these activities are 3, 2, 4,
2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 3, and 4.
 A project having 10 activities (P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, and
Y). Ten activities are to be completed for the completion of the
project. The time duration for the completion of these
activities are 3, 2, 4, 2, 3, 4, 2, 1, 3, and 4.

U
Activities
T

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Time (Days)
 Activities Duration Start Finish
P 3 0 3
Q 2 3 5
R 4 5 9
S 2 9 11
T 3 11 14
U 4 14 18
V 2 18 20
W 1 20 21
X 3 21 24
Y 4 24 28

U
Activities
T

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Time (Days)
A project having 10 activities are related as below:

• P and Q start simultaneously at the starting of

the project. It is further assumed that P and Q
are independent of each other,
• R starts only if Q is complete, the starting of R
does not depend upon the end of P.
• S starts only if both P and Q are complete.
• T and U start simultaneously but when S is
finished.
• V starts when both T and U are finished.
• W and X start concurrently when V ends.
• Y is the last activity of the project that starts
only after the completion of W.
 • P and Q start simultaneously at the starting of the project. It is further assumed
that P and Q are independent of each other,
• R starts only if Q is complete, the starting of R does not depend upon the end of P.
• S starts only if both P and Q are complete.
• T and U start simultaneously but when S is finished.
• V starts when both T and U are finished.
• W and X start concurrently when V ends.
• Y is the last activity of the project that starts only after the completion of W.

U
Activities
T

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (Days)
 Activities Duration Start Finish
P 3 0 3
Q 2 0 2
R 4 2 6
S 2 3 5
T 3 5 8
U 4 5 9
V 2 9 11
W 1 11 12
X 3 11 14
Y 4 12 16

U
Activities
T

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (Days)
A project having 7 activities are related as below:

• B and C are done simultaneously but both must be

after A,
• B must precede D,
• E begins when A, B and C are complete
• F starts after D and E are complete, and
• G is last activity that start only after the
completion of E
• B and C are done simultaneously but both must Activities Duration
be after A, A  2 

• B must precede D, B  3 

• E begins when A, B and C are complete C  2 

F starts after D and E are complete, and

D  4 
• E  5 
• G is last activity that start only after the F  3 
completion of E G  4 

Activities D

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Time in Days
 Activities Duration Start Finish
A  2  0 2 
B  3  2  4 
C  2  2  5 
D  4  5  9 
E  5  5  10 
F  3  10  13 
G  4  10  14 

Activities D

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Time in Days
 Activities Duration Dates 
A  2  07-Sep
B  3  09-Sep
C  2  09-Sep
D  4  12-Sep
E  5  12-Sep
F  3  17-Sep
G  4  17-Sep

Activities D

06-Sep 07-Sep 08-Sep 09-Sep 10-Sep 11-Sep 12-Sep 13-Sep 14-Sep 15-Sep 16-Sep 17-Sep 18-Sep 19-Sep 20-Sep 21-Sep
Calendar dates
 White washing

Sanitary fitting

Electrical fitting

Superstructure

Foundation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 Activities Duration Dates 
A  2  07-Sep
B  3  09-Sep
C  2  09-Sep
D  4  12-Sep
E  5  12-Sep
F  3  17-Sep
G  4  17-Sep

Activities D

06-Sep 07-Sep 08-Sep 09-Sep 10-Sep 11-Sep 12-Sep 13-Sep 14-Sep 15-Sep 16-Sep 17-Sep 18-Sep 19-Sep 20-Sep 21-Sep
Calendar dates
SHORTCOMINGS OF BAR CHARTS
AND REMEDIAL MEASURES
Lack of Degree of Details

In the bar charts, activities are made large in

size. If activities are made small in size, it
becomes difficult to represent and understand.
Due to this, bar charts are not very suitable for
projects which involve large amount of work. In
general, an activity, whether big or small, is shown
by a single bar, without any details of how much
work is involved in it. Due to this, effective
control over the activities is not achieved.
 White washing

Sanitary fitting

Activities Electrical fitting

Superstructure

Foundation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (weeks)
For example, consider the construction of a two
room house, the activities involved are shown in
the bar-chart in figure 1. The activity
Superstructure is shown by the single bar.
However, activity has the following sub parts for
its completion:

• Making of doors and windows frames,

• Construction of walls,
• Roofing, and
• Flooring.
.
 White washing

Sanitary fitting

Activities Electrical fitting

Superstructure

Foundation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (weeks)
2. Review of Project Progress

A bar chart does not show the progress of work

and hence it cannot be used as a controlling device
device. For proper control of the project,
information of the progress made at a particular
instant of time must be available. Controlling is the
main function of construction management.
Controlling is always necessary for updating the
remaining work or activities. However, a bar chart
must be modified to depict the progress made by
hatching the bar corresponding to the activity to
show work finished.
 White washing

Sanitary fitting

Activities Electrical fitting

Superstructure

Foundation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (weeks)
Sometimes, different colours are filled in the bars
to show various 'control informations', as indicated
below:

Anticipated progress black

Actual progress green
Progress behind schedule red
3. Activity Inter-relationships

As indicated earlier, there are some activities of a

project which are taken up concurrently, while
there are others which can be taken up only after
the completion of some other activity. The
concurrent activities are represented by bars
which run parallel to each other, or which overlap.
The activities whose start and end depend on other
activities are shown serially. In a project, there
may be large number of activities which can start
with a certain degree of concurrency. By merely
depicting them by parallel lines, the inter-
relationships between them cannot be clearly
depicted.
 white washing

Electrical fitting

Flooring

Plasterig

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
4. Time Uncertainties

Bar charts are not at all useful in those projects

where there are uncertainties in determination or
estimation of time required for the completion of
various activities. Such uncertainties are always
there in all research and development projects and
for space vehicle launch projects. Because of
uncertainties in time determinations in these
projects, some of the activities may require
rescheduling. .
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