COURSE TITLE:

PGD-CM01: CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND
IMPLEMENTATION
COURSE INSTRUCTOR:
ASMA SALMAN
HANDOUT#11
TIME MANAGEMENT (SCHEDULING)
• WHAT is the time limit for the project?
• WHAT products have long delivery and turnaround times?
• WHAT are the critical tasks to get the project finished on time?
• HOW can it be ensured that work is progressing in such a way that the project will
finish on time?
• HOW can planned activities (and which ones) be adjusted to meet the agreed date
of completion?
• HOW can the uncertainties in time estimates be addressed?
• WHEN are decisions needed, request documents sent out, and work or products
ordered?
• WHEN must certain activities be finished in order to coordinate with other project
interests and interfaces?
• WHEN must production or installation not take place due to bad weather
conditions?

GENERAL
The schedule is an important part of planning and involves most of the knowledge
areas. The time schedule is one of the main instruments to control a project. The
schedule is an activity plan that shows when to start doing a task, the task’s duration,
and when the activity must be completed. The purpose of time management is to:
• Ensure that the client gets what is agreed to on time
• Select methods of production within the planned production times
• Know when products with different delivery times must be ordered so that they will
be delivered in time
• Through resource management, less and over time, reduce the cost of temporary
peak loads
• Know if and how to plan activities (on the critical path) if the schedule is not
followed or know how much time activity outside the critical path can be allowed
to slip without changing the day of completion.
• Know when to send documents to authorities, boards, clients, etc., to obtain
approvals and decisions in time so as not to cause a delay of completion.
Today, work is primarily controlled with four different schedule types:
• The milestone plan shows the big picture and critical dates (milestones) that must
be met—for example, approved construction documents, start of excavation, water-
tight building, final inspection, start of moving in.
• The Gantt chart graphically shows the period within which an activity will be done.
This chart is an excellent tool for reconciliations and information.
• The network diagram shows the structure/flow chart for the project. Activities are
shown as blocks and the logical links and restrictions as arrows. The network diagram
is the PM’s tool for scheduling optimization, resource allocation, replanning, etc. It
provides answers to whether an activity delay will result in the delay of the date of
completion or not.
• The flow-line diagram for site work shows the periods when many activities are
going on in the same areas. The diagram helps to avoid “work jams” in the same
workspace.
In the market there is much project planning software, such as MS Project and
Primavera. A person is not a planner if he or she can cope with these programs, even
if the good-looking plans may induce someone to believe that he or she has project
control. It is necessary to know and understand how the programs are working—not
to sub optimize. When this is understood, the programs are excellent tools.

DEFINING ACTIVITIES
Based on the project charter, contract, project plan, and previous experience jointly
developed (e.g., through brainstorming), the various activities needed to identify
milestones are defined. This can also be done structurally by developing WBS, what,
when, and how. Work packages and planning packages are created. If one has
worked with WBS, what needs to be finished before a task is started has also been
identified. One or more relations or restrictions have been identified. Often, there are
templates that support the task decomposition. Just remember that every project is
unique and a template or a checklist is only an aid. It does not contain all activities.
Determine the activity sequence and present it in a precedence network diagram.
There are basically four alternative task sequences (see Figure 6.12):
• Finish-to-start. A task must be completed before the next can start.
• Finish-to-finish. One activity must be finished before another can be finished.
• Start-to-start. One activity must start before another can start.
• Start-to-finish. One activity must start before another can finish