Construction Management

CE-C803

Module – III

Arpit S Vyas
(Asst. Professor)

Department of Civil Engineering

Thakur College of Engineering and Technology
 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Activity oriented networks
• Activities are treated as individual operation which
requires time to be carried out and which also requires
resources for its completion
• Events are milestones representing the beginning and
completion of a single or a group of activities
• Follows deterministic approach i.e.
• It is assumed that enough information is available regarding the
activity
• Only one time estimate is sufficient
• No uncertainties are taken into consideration

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Critical Path Method (CPM) –
• Event times
1. Earliest Event Time
2. Latest Event Time

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Event times
1. Earliest Event Time (Earliest Occurrence Time) (TE)
The earliest event time at which an event can occur.
It is the time by which all activities arriving to that event are
complete.

TE1 = TE(Prev.) + t(Prev.)

here, T = Event time and t = activity time

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Event times
2. Latest Event Time (Latest allowable Occurrence
Time) (TL1)
The latest time by which an event must occur to keep the
project on schedule. If scheduled time of completion TS is
given, then for the last activity TL = TS.
If Ts is not given it is assumed that TE=TL for the last
activity and further TL is calculated as following using
backward pass.
TL4 = TL5(next) - tD(next)
here, T = Event time and t = activity time

Arpit S. Vyas - TCET Mumbai 5

 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Critical Path Method (CPM) – Since these are
activity oriented networks determination of activity
times is necessary for analysis of the network.
1. Earliest Start Time
2. Earliest Finish Time
3. Latest Start Time
4. Latest Finish Time

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
1. Earliest Start Time (EST)
• It is the earliest time by which an activity can start
therefore is equal to earliest event time (TE ) of the tail
event of the activity.

2. Earliest Finish Time (EFT)

• It is the earliest time by which it can be completed. For an
early finish the activity should start at EST and take it’s
estimated duration “t” for completion
• EFT=EST+t or TE + t

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
3. Latest Start Time (LST)
• It is the latest time by which an activity can start without
delaying the completion of project.
• For this the activity should start by a time equal to LFT
minus activity duration “t”
• LST=LFT-t

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
4. Latest Finish Time (LFT)
• It is the latest time by which an activity can be completed
without delaying the project
• This will be therefore equal to the least allowable time for
the head event of the activity
• LFT= Latest event time of the Head event = TL

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Critical Path –
• It is a path in a network containing critical activities

• Critical activity –
• It is an activity which can not be delayed without delaying
the entire project

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Float –
• It represents scheduling flexibility available to complete
particular tasks.
• Activities with different early and late start times can be
scheduled to start anytime between EST and LST.
• Float can help in delaying an activity in such a way that the
total project is not delayed.
• Types of Float –
• Total float
• Free float
• Independent float
• Interfering float

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Total Float (FT) –
• It is the time span by which the starting or finishing of an
activity can be delayed without affecting the overall
completion time of the project
• Max available time for the activity TE = 2
• =TL(Head event) -TE(Tail event)
• Total float = Max available time – t (act. Duration)
TL = 8
• FT =( TL3 -TE2) – t
• FT = (TL3 - t ) - TE2
• Since TL3- t = LST and TE = EST
• FT = LST – EST similarly FT = LFT – EFT

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Free Float (FF) –
• It is the time span by which an activity can be delayed
without delaying any other succeeding activity.
• Free float is a portion of Total float.
• It is the difference between
• the EST of following activity and the EST of that activity.
• FF = EST(next) – EST(Self)

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Independent Float (FID) –
• It is the excess time available if the preceding activity ends
as late as possible and the succeeding activity starts as
early as possible
• Independent float is a portion of Free float.
• FID = TE-Head –TL-tail – t

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Interfering Float (FF) –
• It is the difference between the total float and free float
• FIT = FT – FF

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Criticality – The value of total float provides
information about criticality of the activity.
• Since Total float is the difference between the
maximum available time and activity duration, there
are three possibilities.
• Subcritical activity – The float is +ve the activity needs
normal attention and has some flexibility.
• Critical activity – The Float is ZERO, the activity needs
extra attention and has no freedom of action.
• Supercritical activity – The float is –ve. Such activities
require very special attention as they can impact the project
schedule.
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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Numerical – 2 – Determine Critical path, Project duration, and
all types of float for the data given below,
Activity Duration
1-2 8
1-3 10
1-4 5
2-7 6
3-4 3
4-5 7
4-7 0
5-6 4
5-7 3
5-8 6
6-8 5
7-8 5
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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Numerical – 3 – Using activities and durations listed in the table,
construct the network. Calculate the project duration and
prepare a table showing the total float and non-critical activities.
Sr. Activity Days
1 Order material for frame work 1
2 Await delivery of material 2
3 Setup tool to fabricate the frame 4
4 Fabricate the frame 3
5 Test the frame for strength 1
6 Obtain pre-cut cladding panel from store 10
7 Fix panel on the frame 2
8 Prepare final complete assembly 1

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 Construction Project Planning and Scheduling
• Numerical – 3 – Using activities and durations listed in the table,
construct the network. Calculate the project duration and
prepare a table showing the total float and non-critical activities.

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