Project Construction Schedule Review

Project Construction Schedule Review October 14, 2020

Project Construction Schedule ReviewBuilding the Texas Transportation System

October 14, 2020


Why do we even need a schedule?

▪ It causes more effort to be expended on planning the execution of the project

▪ It allows the project status to be known from project start to end

▪ It leads to better outcomes

▪ How do we get the best possible schedule?

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TxDOT Requirements for Schedules

▪ Defined in 2014 Standard Specs in Item 8

– Defaults to a barchart schedule

– CPM if shown on plans (usually under Item 8 in the General Notes)

– Best Practice require compatibility with Primavera P6 in the General Notes

▪ Required Submittals

– Baselines

– Monthly Updates

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Baselines

▪ Submittal timeline

– Preliminary Schedule required 7 calendar days before the Precon

– Detailed Baseline submitted within the first 45 calendar days

– Acceptable Baseline before the 90th calendar day

▪ How to meet these deadlines

– Make it clear from the beginning quality and timely schedule submittals are important

– Encourage Contractor to get started, identify scheduler

– Make schedule a line item on partnering meeting agendas

– Send formal correspondence on non-conformance

– Partner with the Contractor, focus on important issues

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Baselines - Barcharts

▪ Reviewing Barchart Baseline Schedules

– Meets contract time

– All work is included

– Conforms to the Traffic Control Plan

– Traffic shifts are clearly identified

▪ Common Issues

– Exceed contract time

– Lack of detail

– Traffic shifts not clear

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Baselines - CPM

▪ For CPM projects we always use a checklist

– Meets contract time

– Conforms to the Traffic Control Plan

– Traffic shifts are clearly identified

– Concise activity descriptions

– Correct calendars

– “Level of Effort” activities for overall contract time and milestones

– Uses “hard” logic

– Provides quantities and production rates

• Best Practice provide in “User Defined Fields”

– Clearly defined critical path

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Baselines - CPM

▪ Common Issues

– Concise activity descriptions

– Correct calendars

– “Level of Effort” activities for overall contract time and milestones

– Relies on “hard” logic not “soft” logic

– Provides quantities and production rates

– Contrived critical path

– Verify post-letting ROW and utility clear dates in PS&E are accounted for

▪ Review Techniques

– Add a “user defined field” and use it to filter and display particulars

– For very large projects, after getting familiar with the overall project take a deep dive into a particular construction sequence

– Perform a “backward pass” review

– Partner with the Contractor’s scheduler

– If there are major issues, identify and return as quickly as possible

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Updates

▪ Update reviews for Barchart Schedules

– Look for added activities

– Compare Finish Date

– Compare traffic shift dates

– Compare critical path and access critical path progress

▪ Review workflow

– Populate Project Schedule Summary Report (PSSR)

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Updates

▪ PSSR

– One line for each

schedule submittal

– How we are doing

versus the contract

– What happened and

why

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Updates

▪ Populate PSSR from CPM schedules

–

– Contract time calendar must be updated each period to reflect actual days

charged

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Updates

▪ For CPM – Key Items

– Monthly submittal no later than the 20th calendar day of the following month

• Best Practice is to reduce to 10th calendar day in general notes

– PDF’s of critical path and of all activities

– Not a revision or a time impact analysis

▪ Review workflow

– Upload Schedule and recalculate

– Review the schedule log

– Populate PSSR

– Run schedule comparison program like Claim Digger

• Another option is Change Inspector which compares XER files

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Updates

▪ Schedule Comparison to previous period

▪ Most important changes to review

– Added/Deleted Activities

– Added/Deleted Relationships

– Duration/Description Changes

– Actual Date Change

– Progress Change

▪ Did changes affect critical path?

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Updates

▪ Evaluate critical path

– Graphically analyze any change from pervious period’s critical path

– Flag previous critical path in “user defined field”

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Updates

▪ Common Issues

– Contract time calendar has been updated for

correct days charged

– Progress is accurate

– Original Duration changes

– The update is actually a revision or impacted

schedule

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Updates

▪ Note explaining gain or loss of time

– Use previous update as baseline

– Show previous month graphically for comparison

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Updates

▪ Retain prior critical path graphics in checklist reports.

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Updates

▪ Controversy…

– Schedule Revisions

• Based on most recent update, Not last update submitted

• Must have unrevised update with the same data date to make proper

comparison

– Impacted update schedules

– Failure to make corrections

– Out-sequence-progress

– Recovery Schedules

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Updates

▪ Report will provide:

– Summary in transmittal email with recommended action

– Draft letter

– Checklist with notes

– Barchart of critical path

– Barchart of all activities

– Barchart showing progress in period

– Earned Value progress curve

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Updates

▪ Earned Value progress curve

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TIA’s

▪ Time Impact Analyses (TIA)

– Identify issue and responsibility

– Create documents and correspondence for future use

– Determine when impact began (Step 1)

– Determine when impact ended (Step 4)

– Don’t rely on a predicted impact (Step 2)

– Pictures are very helpful, if we think something might become an issue, take

pictures and save them where they can be found

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P6 Setup

▪ Stand alone versus Server Setup

– Stand alone preferred for schedule reviews

– Portable databases

– Ability to create separate databases for each project

– Avoid contamination of Global codes and calendars

▪ Other options

– Use third party programs that create barcharts from XER files directly

▪ XER file issues

– POBS now remedied

– Risktype – Go into XER and delete that section

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In Conclusion

▪ Project Scheduling is valuable tool because it benefits:

– Contractor – better planning, likely to increase profit

– TxDOT – more information, less likely to pay for unwarranted claims

– Traveling Public – reduced construction cost and construction time

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Documents

Project Construction Schedule Review