Develop Preliminary Construction Schedule

Abstract

The chart or diagram developed as the Preliminary Construction Schedule enables the Construction Specialist to estimate the time needed for the construction activity and provides data to refine the Master Project Schedule. The best construction scheduling begins with a precedence sequencing model such as the Critical Path Method (CPM) which shows the logical sequence and duration of activities.

CPM and similar systems are complex scheduling models. Basically, they reduce a complex project into its component activities or events that need to be completed, then order them into a logical sequence, and finally assign a time duration to each activity. The sequence of critical activities, which must occur in a precise order, becomes the critical path. The sum of the time durations of these critical activities equals the estimated duration of the project. A full discussion of these techniques goes beyond the scope of this manual; however, several resources that would be helpful are: Means Scheduling Manual, by F. William Horsley (R.S. Means Co., Inc.) and Construction Scheduling Simplified, by Anthony L. Dannone and Andrew M. Civitello, Jr. (Prentice-Hall, Inc.).