Newsletter ·
07 Aug 2026 Planning Planet News
Dear Planning Planet Members,Welcome to the newsletter — shared across the largest community of project controllers on the planet. Our new, faster, more modern…
Dear Planning Planet Members,
Welcome to the newsletter — shared across the largest community of project controllers on the planet. Our new, faster, more modern web portal is taking shape, and that progress is thanks in no small part to all of you.
Your feedback, bug reports, and suggestions continue to help us refine and improve the platform every day.
If you’ve written anything related to project controls — an article, a reflection, a lesson learned, or even just the beginnings of an idea — we’d love to collaborate with you. Share it with us, and we’ll feature it in future posts.
It’s free, and it strengthens the collective knowledge of our global community.
What Makes a Defensible Delay Opinion?
What Makes a Defensible Delay Opinion?
A proper delay analysis is far more than counting days. It must show what truly drove completion, how criticality shifted, and how each event affected key milestones — all grounded in what happened on site. In Part 1 of this new series, Stephen outlines what counsel should expect from a delay expert on major disputes: clear causation, tested findings, and an analytical structure strong enough to withstand scrutiny.
Source: Stephen Warhoe, PhD, PE, CCP, CFCC FAACE Hon. Life
What can happen when 116 tasks form a network?
How Many Ways Can 116 Tasks Be Scheduled? More than you think — decillions, in fact.
When every task in a network can be done the cheapest way or the quickest way, the number of possible schedules explodes to 2¹¹⁶ combinations.
That’s 83,076,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ways your project could run… if you don’t plan properly.
The message is simple: Use CPM the way it was intended — explore your options, keep them open, and let the network show you the most economical path. Do that, and instead of drowning in decillions of choices, you end up with a clear, optimised schedule.
Source: Stephen Richards
Probabilistic Critical Path
Project management theory tells us that there is always a sequence of activities that ultimately determines the project duration. However, practice tells us something equally important: that sequence can’t be reliably predicted in advance.Experience clearly demonstrates that the probability of the project’s Resource Critical Path changing during the project lifecycle is almost certain. This is not necessarily a result of poor planning. It happens because the actual delivery sequence that drives the completion date depends on factors that can’t be fully known in advance: resource availability and calendars, supply volatility, productivity, materialised risks, and uncontrolled aleatory uncertainties.
Instead of focusing on identifying and managing one supposedly most important path, the delivery team should focus on a cluster of activities that are likely to drive the project completion date.
Such a cluster can be identified through Probabilistic Critical Path analysis. Read more...
Source: Alex Lyaschenko
Construction Claims & Risk Management (CCRM)
Prepublication Invitation
You're invited — before we publish.
For over twenty years, Construction Claims Advisor has served the construction industry as a paid, subscription-only publication.
Today, we're opening the door wider.
We're proud to announce the debut of Construction Claims & Risk Management (CCRM) — a new, free newsletter built on the same foundation of expertise that Construction Claims Advisor has provided since 2003. Published every two weeks, CCRM delivers practical, actionable insight to contractors, owners, attorneys, claims consultants, and project managers.
Topics we cover
• Construction claims — notice, documentation, and recovery strategies
• Contract administration and construction law developments
• Scheduling, delay analysis, and acceleration
• Risk management and dispute resolution
• AI in claims and risk management — applications and cautions
• Real-world case studies and lessons learned
Whether you're managing a claim, negotiating a contract, or protecting a project from risk, CCRM gives you the working knowledge to stay ahead.
The first issue publishes September 2026. Subscribe now — free — and be on the list from day one.
Construction Claims & Risk Management
From the team behind Construction Claims Advisor, since 2003
P.S. The debut issue drops September 2026. Sign up now so you don't miss it.
The Six-Pillar Playbook to Supercharge Your Project Controls Career
How to Turn Your Job into an Exciting, High-Impact, High-Profit Career in Project Controls
Book Description
Most project controls professionals get better at their job.
Very few turn it into career growth.
The professionals who advance—the ones who get trusted, referred, and selected—do something different:
They build systems.
They improve results.
They prove value.
This book shows you how.
The Six-Pillar Playbook
If you work in:
- Project controls
- Construction scheduling (CPM scheduling)
- Cost engineering
- Claims Avoidance/Forensic Analysis
This book gives you a practical system to move beyond execution and start driving outcomes.
You’ll learn how to:
- Improve construction schedules and identify real project drivers
- Strengthen cost engineering through better review and validation
- Apply project controls training in real situations
- Use mentoring to generate measurable results
- Prevent issues through construction claims avoidance
- Build a reputation that creates opportunity and drives career growth
The System Behind the Results
This is not theory.
It’s a repeatable approach:
Mentor → Build a Process → Improve Results → Capture Proof → Generate Opportunity
Run it once, you’ll see results.
Run it consistently, you build a career.
Who This Book Is For
- Project controls professionals
- Schedulers and planners (PSP, CPM)
- Cost engineers and analysts
- Construction and project management professionals
Especially those who want:
- Faster career growth in project controls
- More responsibility and visibility
- To move from “doing the work” → to “driving results”
The Rule
Take one person. Improve one process. Prove the result.
That creates focus.
That creates discipline.
That creates outcomes.
What Happens When You Apply This
You stop:
- Producing reports without impact
- Reacting to problems
- Waiting for opportunities
You start:
- Improving schedule and cost performance
- Building trust with project teams
- Getting recognized, recommended, and referred
Bottom Line
You don’t need more information.
You need a system that turns your work into results.
Use the Six-Pillar Playbook—and build your career with it.
Take a look...
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: MUSTANG TECHNOLOGIES - TOOLS BUILT FOR THE REAL-WORLD
Mustang Technologies has supported Primavera users since 2000, delivering practical tools that make schedules cleaner, reporting easier, and data more reliable.
- XENA — XER Scrubbing Tool Used globally to clean and prep P6/OPC data for accurate imports. www.xenautilities.com
- P6ETL® — BI Data Extraction Pull Primavera data from Oracle Cloud, Loadspring and more into Power BI, custom reports, or data warehouses. www.p6etl.com
- Auto Baselining for P6 Automatically maintain project baselines on a schedule — no manual effort. https://www.mustangtechnologies.com/p6etlautobl
- Oracle Analytics & Power BI Development Custom dashboards and reporting built for Primavera data.
- Custom Primavera Integrations Interfaces and automation to streamline processes and improve data connectivity.
For details or to connect with the team: sales@MustangTechnologies.com 888‑763‑8533 (USA & Canada)
We look forward to connecting with members of the Planning Planet community.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SHARE XER / MPP NO INSTALLATION, OR REGISTRATION – A SIMPLE LINK
XER Reader — Share Your Schedules Instantly
Share your project schedules in XER and MPP format with anyone — instantly. No installation. No login. No email registration. Just upload and share a simple link.
Why keep your schedule locked away?
You’ve updated your programme. You’ve moved the data date, applied actuals, adjusted milestones, updated progress, checked variances, and calculated earned value. You’ve done all the hard work.
Now make it easy for others to see it.
Share your schedule with: - Your project team, Steering groups, Suppliers, Sponsors, Delivery partners, Clients or Owners
One link. Zero friction. Full visibility.
Try it now — and get 50% off
Use the Planning Planet discount code: PP50
Take a look...
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: IAMTECH KNOWLEDGE: TWO PLANNERS. SAME JOB. TWO ESTIMATES
IAMTech Knowledge: Two planners. Same job. Two different estimates.
It happens on every shutdown planning team, in every industry. Not because planners don’t know their craft — but because every experienced planner carries their own norms, their own assumptions, their own bias.
AI doesn’t replace the planner’s judgement. It standardises the baseline.
When every work order is estimated against the same decades of industrial maintenance norms, the inconsistency disappears — and the schedule becomes something leadership can actually plan around READ MORE.
Wish your planning team all planned consistently? First look at iPlanSTO AI-Enhanced Planning: WATCH VIDEO — or VIEW BROCHURE. How would this transform planning in your world?
To arrange your demonstration, contact jonswift@iamtech.com.
See what moved, and where it is heading
SVA, the Schedule Variance Analyser in SMACT®, compares any set of schedule revisions and shows you exactly what changed. Then it trends the finish date across those revisions and projects where it lands, so your monthly report moves on from what slipped to what happens next.
SVA detects what changed between revisions, trends the finish, and projects where it lands from a performance factor you set.
- Spot every change. Filter a revision set down to what actually moved: float, duration, start and finish, status and logic, or show changes only.
- Trend the finish. SVA plots the finish date across every revision, so the direction of travel is impossible to miss.
- Forecast where it lands. Apply a performance factor you control and SVA projects a likely finish, ready to put in front of your client.
Stop reporting what slipped. Start showing where it lands.
Run the Schedule Variance Analyser free for 7 days. Drop in your revisions as XER, MPP or XML, no credit card, no commitment, cancel any time. Forecast your own schedule in SVA
SMACT® is a registered trademark of FSH Tech Solutions Pty Ltd, Perth, Western Australia. smact.com.au
VALUE-ADD and FREE WEBINARS
- 18-20 August - "When can my project realistically be delivered, considering existing resource limitations?” (Salute Enterprises) - This is one of the most important questions in project management, but also one of the most difficult to answer. Most popular scheduling systems can identify resource overloads and constraints, but they do not generate feasible delivery scenarios or show how the available resources should be allocated. Spider Project is different. For those interested in learning how to build a realistic project delivery model and apply advanced scheduling practices, there is now a unique opportunity to explore Spider Project’s capabilities at almost no cost. Register now...
- 14 Oct - EVA34 High Performance Resourcing, 34% Discount HPRESOURCE34, London (Steve Wake) - The theme is High Performance Resourcing. Forget AI for the minute or at least put it in the toolkit until you've decided what you want it to do for you. Now think about High Performance Resourcing. And the people doing the work. Where are they? How well are they doing? What can you do to help them? Do you know what they are working on. Do you know what they did today? How do connect the people not just on one project but all the people on all the projects. How's the whole organisation doing? How could AI help? Really help or just automate chaos? Is it about Controls or Skills? Or both? Register now...
Contact us to get your event here - PPAdmin@planningplanet.com
The ALICE Playbook: Accelerating AI Transformation in Project Planning and Delivery
Scaling AI from pilot projects to enterprise-wide impact is now one of the biggest challenges in capital project delivery. In this edition, ALICE Technologies breaks down a practical three‑phase roadmap — Crawl, Walk, Run — to help owners, GCs, and EPCs move beyond isolated experiments and unlock real ROI.
Learn how industry leaders are overcoming legacy CPM latency, building effective AI Centers of Excellence, and achieving measurable results — including $15M in cost savings and 27‑day schedule compressions on major global builds.
Blog No 15 - Project Control Standards
PROCEDURES No. 15 – Planning Standards
You’d think our industry would be overflowing with universal planning standards… but officially, there are none. (Though the recent release of BS202001 may finally change that — once we’ve had a chance to review it properly.)
That said, our profession hasn’t been operating in a vacuum. Over the years, a handful of organisations and publications have become the de‑facto foundations of how many of us plan, schedule, and control projects. They’re not “standards” in the formal sense, but they’ve shaped the way we work and continue to influence best practice across the globe.
Source: Peter Holroyd
Sunchana’s P6 Lancelot Meets OPC Star Wars
In this new blog, Sunchana explores one of the biggest questions in modern project controls: P6 or OPC? Using a brilliant “Lancelot vs. Star Wars” analogy, he breaks down how Primavera P6 excels as the disciplined, logic‑driven knight for complex project schedules, while Oracle Primavera Cloud acts as the collaborative, enterprise‑wide ecosystem built for portfolios, programmes, and connected delivery teams. It’s an insightful look at how both tools serve different missions — and why the industry should stop asking which is better, and start asking how they work together.
Source: Sunchana Johnston NED FAPM CHPP ERP Programs Master Planner
PCE MEET: WHERE PROJECT CONTROLS PROFESSIONALS LEARN, CONNECT & GROW
Project Controls Expo UK 2026 — The Home of Delivery Certainty, Predictability & Accountability
Project Controls Expo UK (PCE UK) is Europe's leading event dedicated to project controls, bringing together 2,000+ professionals from across infrastructure, construction, energy, transport, defence, government and major capital programmes.
The Expo connects industry leaders, practitioners, asset owners and decision-makers to exchange knowledge, showcase innovation and shape the future of project delivery.
The 15th edition takes place 2–4 November 2026 at the iconic Wembley Stadium, London, featuring expert-led conference sessions, an extensive Partner Showcase, networking opportunities and hands-on learning from some of the world's leading organisations, including AWE, the UK Ministry of Defence, EDF, PETRONAS, NISTA, and many more.
Early Bird Registration Ends 4 August
User’s WBS Summary Activities are not calculating remaining units and percent complete correctly.
For many planners, rolling up progress across a complex WBS can feel clunky — but the WBS Summary Activity type offers a clean, structured way to see dates, durations, and percent complete at a glance. Think of it as a hybrid: it behaves like a WBS node, but with the flexibility of a normal activity.
In this update, we break down how WBS summary activities work, how they calculate rollups, and how to set them up effectively. Whether you’re managing a small work package or a multi‑level WBS, this feature can help you create clearer progress views and more reliable schedule reporting.
Source: Bob Malin
CONSTRUCTION CPM CONFERENCE 2027
We’re finalizing plans to bring the Construction CPM Conference back in 2027 at the Hilton Palacio del Rio on San Antonio’s River Walk.
Mark your calendar for February 23–25 and get ready to register your team, as we continue building a conference for Constructors, by Constructors.
Our focus will be strengthening Planning to drive Performance—so every attendee leaves with practical takeaways they can use right away. We will be continuing the legacy that Fred has built since 2011.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: P6 CALCULATOR - BUILT FOR PLANNERS
When working in Primavera P6, databases are often used for years at a time, resulting in an ever-increasing amount of projects in those databases.
When you take codes and dictionaries into account on top of all of these projects, your database ends up handling a lot of data, which can slow performance and cause a lot of frustration. This is where archiving older projects can come in useful.
With P6-Calculator, archiving projects is easier than ever before with automatic migration of data between databases.
Take a look at this short video demonstrating how Emerald's P6-Calculator tool can be used to quickly and easily archive your Primavera P6 projects.
Read more...
For more information or to schedule a demo, please reach out to us at emerald@emerald-associates.com.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SWITCHING TO CLEOPATRA & P6: NAVIGATE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS!
Managing shutdowns and turnarounds with outdated or disconnected tools can lead to delays, budget overruns, and missed opportunities for improvement.
This webinar shows you how switching to the combination of Cleopatra and Primavera creates a fully integrated turnaround management solution—combining work package planning with Primavera’s powerful scheduling and resource planning to transform how you plan, execute, and deliver. You’ll gain valuable practical insights, proven workflows, and the lessons learned from end-to-end digital approach.
If you’re looking to modernize your processes, streamline collaboration, and achieve consistent turnaround success, this webinar will show you exactly how to make the transition.
In 50 minutes, you will learn:
- The current state of turnarounds and where the industry is heading
- How to plan work packages using Cleopatra
- Why having an integrated scheduling solution is a key success driver
- How Cleopatra works as an integrated solution with Primavera
- Lessons learned from a high complexity turnaround at a Cleopatra client’s facility
EVA34 HIGH PERFORMANCE RESOURCING
EVA34 High Performance Resourcing
Wednesday 14 October
Armourers Hall
34% discount
Its on Wednesday 14 October at the Armourers Hall as usual. ONE day and optional dinner. The programme is coming together rapidly. A few slots are available for Speakers Sponsors Supporters and Exhibitors.
My gift to you is a 34 % discount for 34 days until Monday 3 August which as everybody knows is National Clean Your Floors Day.
The theme is High Performance Resourcing. This is where the improvements in efficiency and benefits are. Huge and significant for Controls and PMO people.
Forget AI for the minute or at least put it in the toolkit until you've decided what you want it to do for you. Now think about High Performance Resourcing. And the people doing the work. Where are they? How well are they doing? What can you do to help them? Do you know what they are working on. Do you know what they did today? How do connect the people not just on one project but all the people on all the projects. How's the whole organisation doing? How could AI help? Really help or just automate chaos? Is it about Controls or Skills? Or both?
www.stevewake.com
34% Discount HPRESOURCE34
LET'S OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES TOGETHER
To support every practitioner, employer, consultant, and recruiter in our network, we’re opening up free job postings for everyone. Whether you’re:
- An employer with a vacancy
- A regular practitioner looking to strengthen your team
- A consultant searching for standout talent
- A recruiter with a role to fill
…you’re invited to share your opportunities with the entire Planning Planet community.
No charge. Simply contact PPAdmin@PlanningPlanet.com and we’ll help you get your role in front of thousands of committed project controls professionals.
Let’s make this a space where opportunities flow freely, careers grow, and our community continues to lift one another. View Jobs... Post Jobs...
- Project Controls Manager, Planner Contract or Permanent UK-South West (Region) Circa £70,000–£80,000 p/a or c.£600 - £700
- Project Cost / Risk Controllers and Managers Contract Employment UK-South West (Region) £450–£650/day
- Senior Project Controls Manager Permanent Employment UK-South West (Region) Up to circa £70,000 per annum
- Senior Planner Contract Employment Warwickshire (EU.UK.WAR) £690 per day
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT: SUPERIOR ALTERNATIVE TO "MOST POPULAR" SOFTWARE FOR US PLANNERS?
A superior alternative to the "most popular" software for us as planners?
Spider Project Team is a group of project management consulting and training companies. With headquarters in Moscow, Russia, we have branches, partners and representatives in other Russian cities, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Romania, USA. We develop professional PM software Spider Project that is the most powerful and functional tool for project, program, and portfolio management.
We develop advanced approaches and methods of project management that are widely used by our customers in 37 countries. We provide training on project management and Spider Project software for our customers around the world.
We manage projects for our customers and implement corporate project management systems in companies of different industries. We believe that good project management can improve our world and are happy to provide the best services and tools to our customers.
We are proud of our achievements. The current version is used in 37 countries. Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Spider Project offers numerous unique functional features and is the only PM software that optimizes resource, cost, and material constrained schedules and budgets for projects and portfolios.
Check it out here... Ask questions here...
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THANK YOU FOR READING OUR MESSAGES
If you’d like to lend a hand to the small but enthusiastic team behind this newsletter, feel free to reach out to us at ppadmin@planningplanet.com. We know there’s still a lot of work ahead to make this an informative and eagerly anticipated bi-weekly read, so get in touch and be part of the journey.
Regards...
The Planning Planet Team