CIV 4041

MODULE : PROJECT PLANNING (2022)

MARK MASSYN

ACTIVITY ON NODE LOGIC DIAGRAM

Gower Handbook of Project management

1
 ADVANTAGES OF USING CPA

§  Shows the interdependency between activities.

§  Identifies the critical activities on the project.
§  Determines the shortest time to completion.
§  Shows available float for non-critical activities.
§  Allows for the running of “what if” scenarios.

DEPENDENCIES (1)

§  The default relationship that is normally shown

on the precedence diagram is finish to start.
§  The following relationships can however also
be taken into account:
¤  Start to start
¤  Finish to finish
¤  Start to finish

2
 DEPENDENCIES (2)

Start to start

Foundation
Excavation

An example would be the excavation and placing

of concrete. You do not have to complete all the
excavations before casting the concrete. In this
instance the start to start lag could be e.g. 3 days
after you have started on the excavation you
would pour start pouring concrete.

DEPENDENCIES (3)

Finish to finish

Commissioning Commissioning
section 1 section 2

An example would be the commissioning of a

number of sections. The important issue is not when
the commissioning is started but when they are
completed and you would e.g. have these
happening 3 days after each other.

3
 DEPENDENCIES (4)

Start to finish

Install chillers Install pumps

An example would be when a specific time frame

has been determined for a set of activities like for
example the period a crane will be on site. That
implies that activity A will start when the crane
arrives but that activity B must be completed by
the time the crane leaves site.

CONSTRAINTS TO BE CONSIDERED

§  Start on time constraint.

§  Start no earlier than constraint.
§  Start no later than constraint.

§  Finish on constraint.
§  Finish no earlier than constraint.

§  Finish no later than constraint.

4
 TIME FRAMES

§  Early start – the earliest possible time an activity

can begin based on network logic.
§  Early finish – the earliest possible time an activity
can finish based on network logic.
§  Late start – the latest possible time an activity can
begin without delaying project completion.
§  Late finish – the latest possible time an activity can
finish without delaying project completion.

TERMONOLOGY

§  Critical path – is the longest path through the

network which determines the shortest time in
which the project can be completed.
§  Total float – is the amount of free time that is
allocated to a string of activities.
§  Free float – is the amount of time an activity can
use up without delaying the project.
§  Negative float - is the amount of time an activity
must be reduced to meet an imposed date.

5
DUMMY ACTIVITIES ON ACTIVITY ON NODE

A C

Start Finish

B D

PREPARE THE PROJECT PLAN

§  Determine appropriate planning system

§  Formulate the project scope statement
§  Establish the project phases
§  Develop the work breakdown structure
§  Identify the project activities

6
THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (3)

House

Design Procure Construct

THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (4)

Design

Architecture Civil Electrical

7
 PREPARE THE PROJECT TIME SCHEDULE
USING CPA

§  Identify the project activities.

§  Determine the activity duration and calculate the
resources required to complete the activities.
§  Determine the logic links, construct the logic
diagram and verify the logic diagram.
§  Determine and verify the project duration.
§  Construct a resource histogram and apply
resource scheduling.

IDENTIFY THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES

§  Project activities can be identified from the WBS or

from historical reports, experience or the people
who will be carrying out the activities.
§  The activities should be listed in an activity list and it
can also serve as the default list for future project.
§  The level of detail important at this stage. E.g.
making coffee can be broken down into four
smaller activities namely get ingredients, add to
cup, add water and stir.

8
 DETERMINE THE ACTIVITY DURATION

§  The activity duration is a prediction based on

current knowledge at the time the activity is
expected to take place under normal
circumstances.
§  The duration can be calculated based on known
industry specific production outputs. E.g. a
bricklayer can lay 800 bricks in one day. If we
know we that 80 000 bricks are in the project we
can determine that the project will take 100 days
to complete.

EXAMPLE OF AN ACTIVITY LIST

Code Activity Depend Duration Resources Remarks

A Wake up in the
morning

B Have a shower

C Make coffee

D Make breakfast

E Eat and drink

breakfast

F Get dressed

G Leave for
varsity

9
 CALCULATE THE RESOURCE REQUIRMENTS (1)

§  R e s o u rc e s re l a t e t o m a t e r i a l , m a n p o w e r,
equipment etc. and initially we need to assume
that we have unlimited resources available for the
project.
§  We do however need to find out what the resource
availability is to determine the realistic duration for
an activity e.g. if 5 bricklayers are available we
can reduce the duration from 100 days to 20 days.

CALCULATE THE RESOURCE REQUIRMENTS (2)

§  Normal resource production outputs need to be

considered initially as well as the capacity of
equipment to be used.
§  A n t i c i p a t e d a b s e n t e e i s m n e e d s t o b e
considered as well as all existing commitments
need to be taken into account.
§  Space limitations need to be considered –
diminishing returns

10
 EXAMPLE OF AN ACTIVITY LIST

Code Activity Depend Duration/ Resources Remarks

min
A Wake up in the 5 1
morning

B Have a shower 5 1

C Make coffee 3 1
D Make breakfast 2 1

E Eat and drink 10 1

breakfast

F Get dressed 6 1
G Leave for varsity 5 1

DETERMINE THE PROJECT LOGIC (1)

§  This step requires the application of strict logic as

all we are trying to determine is what is standing
in the way of the commencement of an activity.
§  It is therefore necessary to question standard
practices to deter mine whether new or
alternatives ways of carrying out the activity are
available.

11
 DETERMINE THE PROJECT LOGIC (2)

Code Activity Depend Duration Resources

A Get out of bed Start 5 minutes 1

B Have a shower A 5 minutes 1

C Make coffee A 3 minutes 1

D Make breakfast A 2 minutes 1

E Eat and drink C,D 10 minutes 1

breakfast

F Get dressed B 6 minutes 1

G Leave for varsity E,F 5 minutes 1

VERIFY THE LOGIC DIAGRAM

§  The logic diagram must be check to ensure the

logic built into it is correct.
§  It is possible that certain project constraints might
have been overlooked when focusing on specific
activities.
§  Once the verification process you can calculate
the project duration.
§  These steps are normally integrated when using a
PM planning package.

12
 CONSTRUCT THE LOGIC DIAGRAM (1)

We use the term forward pass to define the

process of calculating the early start and early
finish dates for all activities.
Early start + activity duration = early finish
We use the term backward pass to define the
process of calculating the late start and late finish
dates for all activities.
Late finish - activity duration = late start

ACTIVITY BLOCK

Late start Late finish

Description Float

Early start Duration Early finish

13
 CONSTRUCT THE LOGIC DIAGRAM (2)

B F

A G
C

D E

DETERMINE THE PROJECT DURATION - THE FORWARD

PASS CALCULATION (1)

B F
5 5 10 10 6 16

A G
C 18 5 23
0 5 5 5 3 8

D E
5 2 7 8 10 18

14
 DETERMINE THE PROJECT DURATION - THE
BACKWARD PASS (2)

7 12 12 18
B F
5 5 10 10 6 16
18 23
0 5 5 8 G
A C 18 5 23
0 5 5 5 3 8

6 8 8 18
D E
5 2 7 8 10 18

DETERMINE THE PROJECT DURATION - DETERMINE

THE CRITICAL PATH (3)

7 12 12 18
2 B 2 2 F 2
5 5 10 10 6 16
18 23
0 5 5 8 0 G 0
0 A 0 0 C 0 18 5 23
0 5 5 5 3 8

6 8 8 18
1 D 1 0 E 0
5 2 7 8 10 18

15
 DETERMINE THE PROJECT DURATION - THE
CRITICAL PATH (4)

§  Path A – C- E - G has no free time. This therefore

implies that this path has no float and is called the
critical path.
§  The critical path can and will change over the
duration of the project therefore it is important to
check the critical path after each update.
§  It is possible to have more that one critical path on
the project.

DETERMINE THE PROJECT DURATION - THE

EARLY START BARCHART (5)

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

16
 VERIFY THE PROJECT DURATION

§  At this stage you can verify whether the project

time objective will be achieved.
§  You can also verify whether all of the milestone
dates will be achieved.
§  All other key operations need to be verified at this
stage to ensure that the times calculated nee the
project objectives.
§  As you can see it is much easier to verify the
project duration using a barchart.

CONSTRUCT THE RESOURCE HISTOGRAM (1)

A 1 1 1 1 1
B 1 1 1 1 1

C 1 1 1

D 1 1

E 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

F 1 1 1 1 1 1
G 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

17
 CONSTRUCT THE RESOURCE HISTOGRAM (2)

1 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

CONSTRUCT THE RESOURCE HISTOGRAM (3)

A 1 1 1 1 1
B 1 1 1 1 1

C 1 1 1

D 1 1

E 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

F 1 1 1 1 1 1
G 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

18
 CONSTRUCT THE RESOURCE HISTOGRAM (4)

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1

CONSTRUCT THE RESOURCE HISTOGRAM (5)

¨  The amount of free float available needs to be

considered.
¨  Complexity of tasks need to be considered as
you do not want to delay an activity and then
find it running late.
¨  The number of resources available need to be
considered.
¨  The impact of the change on other activities.

19
 ALLOCATING THE CALENDER (1)

•  Once the project duration has been calculated it

needs to be superimposed on the project calendar.
•  The calendar can be a 5, 6 or even 7 day working
week.
•  When allocating the calendar holidays and other
non working days need to be taken into account.
•  Certain PM packages allow for the use of multi-
calendars on a project.

DEFAULT CALENDER FIVE DAY AND EIGHT HOUR

WORKING WEEK

20
DEFAULT CALENDER FIVE DAY AND EIGHT HOUR
WORKING WEEK

ALNERNATIVE CALENDER SIX DAY AND NINE

HOUR WORKING WEEK

21
 REDUCE THE PROJECT DURATION (1)

•  Work overtime and move to a 6 day calender

•  Increase working hours per day.

•  Change the method of production for example

change from in-situ to prefabrication.

•  Allocate more resources to the activity.

REDUCE THE PROJECT DURATION (2)

Client asks the contractor what it will cost to reduce

the project duration by one day.

22
 REDUCE THE PROJECT DURATION (3)

ACTIVITY 1 : CONSTRUCT A LOGIC NETWORK

Activity Duration Dependency

A 2 Start
B 1 Start
C 4 A
D 3 B
E 2 C, D
F 1 E

23
 SOLUTION EXAMPLE 1

0 2 2 6
A C 0
0 2 2 2 4 6

0 6 8 8 9
START E 0 F
0 6 2 8 8 1 9

2 3 3 6
B 2 D 2
0 1 1 1 3 4

CONSTRUCT A LOGIC NETWORK (2)

Activity Duration Dependency

A 2 Start
B 3 A
C 4 A
D 6 B
E 4 B
F 2 D, E

24
 SOLUTION EXAMPLE 2

7 11
E 0 13
0 5 4 9
F
0 2 2 5 11 13 I
S A 0 B 0 F N
T 0 2 2 2 3 5 5 11 11 2 13 I
A S
D 0
R H
T
5 6 11

0 9 13 13
C 7
2 4 6

READINGS IN LIBRARY

Burke, (Rory), Project management planning and control techniques,

Promatec International, 2007.
Cooke, (Brian), Construction planning, programming and control /
1998 Lockyer.
Nicholas, J. M. and Steyn H. Project Management for Engineering,
Business and Technology (2012).
Scheduling systems with focus on practical concerns in repetitive
projects, I-Tung Yang and P.G. Ioannou, Construction Managemenent
and Economics, July 2004.
Cost and time control on construction projects: inhibiting factors and
mitigating measures in practice, Y. A. Olawale and Ming Sun,
Construction Managemenent and Economics, May 2010.

25