Critical path

By the end of this section, the learner should be able to take a credible current schedule and use it to forecast likely future outcomes, explain what is driving those outcomes, test alternative scenarios, assess the effect of uncertainty and management interventions.

1. Practical outcomeBy the end of this section, the learner should be able to take an approved schedule and turn it into a trustworthy current control model at each reporting cycle. They should be able to establish a clear data date, collect and validate actual progress, record actual starts and acomplishments.

By the end of this section, the learner should be able to test whether a logically valid schedule is actually deliverable with the people, skills, equipment, facilities and other constrained resources available to the project. They should be able to distinguish resource demand from capacity.

The learner should be able to construct and analyse a logically linked schedule, choose relationships, recognise missing or inappropriate logic, distinguish logic from constraints, identify critical and near-critical paths, understand total and free float, recognise negative or unusually high float.

Module 2 establishes the essential practices for developing, managing and controlling credible project schedules. It explains how to translate project scope into a structured schedule, establish logical relationships, identify critical and near-critical paths, and understand float and milestone dependencies. It also covers how to assess resource availability, productivity and delivery constraints, optimise schedules, and maintain accurate progress updates using objective evidence. Finally, it explains how to analyse schedule performance, forecast likely completion dates, identify emerging risks and evaluate recovery options. Together, these practices provide a reliable foundation for understanding project timelines, monitoring delivery performance, anticipating delays and supporting informed decisions to keep projects on track.

1. Practical outcomeThe learner should be able to take identified risks and assess them systematically so that management attention focuses on what matters. They should be able to assess probability and impact, apply a scoring framework, use a matrix appropriately, consider other relevant factors,…

关键路径是决定项目最小可能持续时间的活动顺序。当在[[网络图]中查看时），关键路径是到项目结束的最长路径。如果网络图仅包含完成至启动关系，则关键路径上任何活动的延迟都会延迟[[完成日期]]。如果它包含其他类型的关系（SS，FF，SF），这可能并不总是反映在项目管理软件中。

Critical path DRAG (Devaux’s Removed Activity Gauge) is a new scheduling metric in critical path analysis [[critical-path-method]]. It is the amount of time that an activity on the critical path [[critical-path]] (i.e., the longest path through the project) is adding to the project’s duration or, al

The term Critical Path Method (CPM) refers to a specific technique of schedule Network Analysis that is used to determine the amount of flexibility that exists in regards to the scheduling of a particular and specific logical network path with the network of the project schedule. The amount of flexi

Ten ways to keep your client happy, protect your construction programme and build stronger working relationships.Every construction planner knows that keeping the client happy matters. But what…

Sunchana Johnston

Several months ago, I was engaged as the planning lead with one of the most significant infrastructure organisations.My assignments appeared straightforward: to provide independent planning expertise and advise senior stakeholders on the most appropriate software solution to support the extensive…

Sunchana Johnston

Programme Planning Standards: The Rules of the GameStudies consistently show that organisations with mature project management practices achieve better delivery outcomes than those with ad hoc approaches. Yet one of the simplest disciplines is often overlooked—agreeing a common Programme Planning…

Sunchana Johnston

Many organizations struggle with project portfolio management (PPM). On the face of it, portfolio management should be easy. We want to align our fi\unding decisions to the organization’s strategic objectives. Since budgets are limited, this becomes a constrained optimization problem, which most…

Alan Zucker

Changes to the Baseline must be accommodated so that the baseline accurately represents the current plan.

Rafael Davila

We have all been told that time equals money. Even, time is money. But what does any of that truly mean? Time and money separately are highly debatable subjects. The combination of the two can certainly be a conundrum. However, it is this author’s belief that in construction, this may as well be a l

Michael Bensussen