ENGR 301

Engineering Management
Principles and Economics
Lecture 3
Scheduling of Projects
updated by
Dr. M. Talla
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 1
 Learning Objectives
Learners will:
• understand what is a project schedule
• understand the role of schedules
• be introduced to the Critical Path Method

References
• Schexnayder and Mayo (2004) Construction Management Fundamentals,
McGraw-Hill Chapter 4.
• Halpin and Woodhead (1998) Construction Management, John Wiley and
Sons Inc. Chapter 6
• Mantel, Meredith, Shafer and Sutton (2005) Project Management in
Practice, Second Edition, John Wiley and Son Inc. Chapter 5

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 2

 What is a Project Schedule?

• A project schedule can be defined as the sum of all project

activities (in sequence), considering necessary dependencies
and interrelationships

• A project schedule is an orderly arrangement of activities

describing sequence and/or timing

• A schedule is a plan that indicates what needs to be done

(performance goals), which resources to use, and the
timeline to complete the project.
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 3
 Role of Schedules
Schedules have three roles:
1. Schedules aid in planning project implementation by
logically sequencing activities based on their time and
resource constraints.

2. Schedules are used to communicate aspects of project

execution progress

3. Schedules serve as the basis for controlling the

implementation of project activities.

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 4

 Choosing a Method of
Representing a Schedule
• There are several methods of representing a project
schedule.

• The choice of the method depends on the audience and

the information to be conveyed.

• Usually, the best method is the simplest method that

conveys the necessary information.

• Always keep in mind the level of detail required for the

purposes of planning and later control

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 5

 Categories of Schedules
Schedules can be categorized based on their
format of presentation as:
1. Pictorial charts (easy to understand / restricted in detail)

2. Gantt (bar) charts (easy to draw and understand / do not

show logic)

3. Linear schedules (work well for linear construction)

4. Network diagrams (represent logic / can be confusing if

complex)
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 6
 Determining Activity Durations

D – Activity duration

A – Units of work to be done

P – Productivity rate for a crew (unit of work / hour)
T – Number of crews to finish the activity
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 7
Determining Productivity Rate
• From historical data

• Factors affecting productivity rate

– Project conditions
– Learning curve
– Weather conditions

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 8

 Network Diagrams
• Network diagrams are usually of two types, PERT and CPM
• PERT is an acronym for Project Evaluation and Review
Technique
• CPM stands for Critical Path Method
• PERT usually uses probabilistic (uncertain) estimates of
activity durations
• CPM uses deterministic (certain) estimates of activity
durations
• In PERT, the project network is usually displayed by activities
being represented as arrows and events as nodes. This is
referred to as an activity-on-arrow (AOA) network

9
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 Network Diagrams

• In CPM the project network is displayed by activities being

represented as nodes and arrows are used to link the nodes
to show their relationships. This is referred to as activity-on-
node (AON) network.

• Of the two, the AOA is more difficult to draw

• In this course we will focus on CPM and will learn to develop

AON networks.

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 10

 Network Diagrams - CPM

5 12 ES EF

B
7
12 21
5 12 LS LF
0 5
D
A 9 21 25
5
5 8 12 21 F
0 5 4
C 8 13
3 21 25
E
9 12
5

16 21

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 11

 Drawing the Activity Logic Network

• Before the diagram can be developed, activity

relationships must be developed
• This is done by asking the following questions for
each activity on the activity list:
1. Can this activity start at the beginning of the project? (Start activities)
2. Which activities must be finished before this one begins?
(Precedence)
3. Which activities may either start or finish at the same time this one
does? (Concurrence)
4. Which activities cannot begin until this one is finished? (Succession)

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 12

 Drawing the Activity Network
• List all activities in a columnar format with a second
column to the right of the activities list titled ‘Preceded
Immediately By’ (PIB)
• It is a necessity for the CPM algorithm to work that a
network must have only one start activity and only one
finish activity
• In the case of a network with multiple activities that have
no predecessor, a ‘dummy’ start activity can be inserted at
the beginning of the network
• Likewise, a dummy ‘finish’ activity is placed at the end of a
network and all activities that have no successor activity
are tied to this final activity.
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 13
 Drawing the Activity Network
• A merge activity has more than one activity immediately
preceding it. M is a merge activity.

• Parallel activities can start or end at the same time; although

they don’t need to take place at the same time. J, K, and L
are parallel activities.

• A burst activity has more than one activity immediately

following it. X is a burst activity.

14
 Example
Sketch the AON network diagram for a small foundation
project comprising of the following activities:
A - Set out/lay out of foundation
B - Excavate to required depth
C - Place blinding concrete
D - Fabricate steel reinforcement
E - Place formwork
F - Place steel reinforcement
G - Pour concrete
H - Cure concrete
J - Strike formwork
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 15
 Example
Activity “PiB”
A - Set out/lay out of foundation -
B - Excavate to required depth A
C - Place blinding concrete B
D - Fabricate steel reinforcement -

E - Place formwork C
F - Place steel reinforcement D,E
G - Pour concrete F
H - Cure concrete G
J - Strike formwork H

•When we draw the network diagram it should flow from left to

right
•Line crossings should be minimized
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 16
 CPM Network Calculations
• After the logic network has been constructed the next step in
the CPM process is to calculate the earliest and latest times
at which the activities can occur without violating the network
logic or increasing the project’s overall duration.

• An activity’s Early Start Time and Early Finish Time are

determined by carrying out what is called a Forward Pass.

• An activity’s Late Finish Time and Late Start Time are

determined by carrying out what is called a Backward Pass.

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 17

 CPM Forward Pass
• The purpose of the forward pass is to determine the earliest
(soonest) possible start and finish time for each activity.
• Start time for a project can be any number or date, but unless
noted otherwise it is assumed to be zero. Always underline
this start time to indicate that it is assumed, not calculated.
• Early Finish Time of an activity is the sum of its Early Start
Time and its Duration:
EFn = ESn + Dn

• Early Start Time of an activity is the maximum, or latest, of

the Early Finish Times of all immediately preceding activities:
ESn = max (EFn-1)

18
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 CPM Forward Pass
When an activity has multiple inputs, its ES is the largest EF of its input activities.

7 10 33 38 38 42

C 3 I 5 K 4

0 3 3 7 25 33 42 46

A 3 B 4 H 8 M 4
17 25

E 8
33 38 38 40

7 17 J 5 L 2
D 10

Legend 17 21

F 4
ES EF

ACT Dur
LS LF
Note:
17 23

G 6 ESTH=MAX(EFTC,EFTE,EFTF,EFTG)=25
19
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 CPM Backward Pass
• The purpose of the backward pass is to determine the latest
possible finish and start time for each activity.
• The latest allowable finish time of the project can be any
number or date, but unless noted otherwise, is assumed to
be the Earliest Finish time computed from the forward pass
calculations. Always underline this assumed time.
• Late Start Time of an activity is its Late Finish Time minus its
Duration:
LSn = LFn - D

• Late Finish Time of an activity is the minimum, or earliest, of

the Late Start Times of all immediately succeeding activities:
LFn = min (LSn+1)

20
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 CPM Backward Pass
When an activity has multiple outputs, its LF is the smallest LS of its output activities.
7 10 33 38 38 42

C 3 I 5 K 4
22 25 33 38 38 42

0 3 3 7 25 33 42 46

A 3 B 4 H 8 M 4
0 3 3 7 25 33 42 46
17 25

E 8
33 38 38 40
17 25
7 17 J 5 L 2
D 10 35 40 40 42

7 17

Legend 17 21

F 4
ES EF 21 25

ACT Dur Note:

LS LF LFTH=MIN(LSTI,LSTJ)=33
17 23

G 6 LFTD=MIN(LSTE,LSTF ,LSTG)=17
19 25 LFTB=MIN(LSTC,LSTD)=7
21
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
Critical Path and Critical Activities
• The critical path is the longest time duration path through the
network and establishes the minimum overall project time duration.

• All activities that are on the critical path are critical activities.

• A critical activity can be determined from the logic diagram by

applying either of two rules:
– For critical activity, the early start and late start times are the
same.
– For critical activity, the early finish and late finish times are the
same.

22
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
Critical Path and Critical Activities
• If a critical activity is delayed by an amount of time it will delay the entire
project’s completion by the same amount of time.

• Critical activities are linked together forming a path from the start activity
to the finish activity called a critical path

• There can be more than one critical path through a network, and the
critical path may branch out or come back together at any point.

• All critical paths must be continuous, so if a critical path does not start at
the start node and end at the finish node, a logic mistake exists.

• Critical paths are usually highlighted on the logic network by bold lines,
double lines and color highlighted lines
23
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 Float / Slack Calculations
• Float or slack is the additional time available to complete an
activity beyond the activity’s work duration.
– “It is the time flexibility of activity performance that states the
maximum allowable for not delaying a following activity or the project”
(Shexnayder & Mayo, 2004)
• There are three types of float that can be calculated.
– Total Float (TF) : Total delay for an activity without affecting project
– Free Float (FF)
– Interfering Float (IF)

FF: If you delay activity n, the ES of the activity n+1 need not be delayed.
“n+1” is the subsequent minimum ES activity.

IF: If you delay activity n, the ES of the activity n+1 should be delayed.
“n+1” is the subsequent minimum ES activity.
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 24
TF, FF, and IF

Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng 25

 Total Float of an Activity
• The purpose of calculating Total Float of an activity is to
determine the amount of time that the activity can be
delayed without delaying the completion of overall project.
– When an activity has a total float of zero it means the activity is a
critical activity.
• Total Float is the difference between the early and late start
times or the difference between the early and late finish
times.
TFn = LSn – ESn
or
TFn = LFn – EFn

26
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 Free Float
• The purpose of calculating Free Float for an activity is to
determine the amount of time that an activity can be delayed
without delaying the start time of any of its succeeding
activities in the project.

• Free Float for the last activity is always zero.

• Free Float is obtained by subtracting the early finish time of

an activity from the minimum Early Start Time of succeeding
activities:
FFn = [min (ESn+1)] - EFn
Note: FF is concerned with EF of the activity.
27
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 Interfering Float
• Interfering Float of an activity is to determine the amount of
time that is available to delay an activity without delaying the
project’s estimated completion time but delaying an activity
into interfering float will delay the start of one or more
following non-critical activities.

• Interfering float is obtained by subtracting the smallest early

start time of succeeding activity (ies) from the Late Finish
Time of an activity:
IFn = LFn – [min (ESn+1)]

IFn = Total float – Free float

Note: IF is concerned with LF of the activity. 28
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
TF, FF, and IF

TFn = LFn – EFn

= LFn – [min (ESn+1)] + [min (ESn+1)] – EFn

= IFn + FFn

29
 Example: Total Float, Free Float,
Interfering Float
FF = min ES of next – EF. IF = LF – min ES of next

5 12 ES EF

B
7
12 21
5 12 LS LF
0 5
D
A 9 21 25
5
5 8 12 21 F
0 5 4
C 8 13
3 21 25
E
9 12
5
TF=8
TF=4
16 21 FF= 21-13=8
FF= 8-8=0
IF=21-21=0
IF=12-8=4
30
 Example: Total Float, Free Float,
Interfering Float
FF = min ES of next – EF. IF = LF – min ES of next

5 12 ES EF

B
7
12 21
5 12 LS LF
0 5
D
A 9 21 25
5
5 8 12 21 F
0 5 4
C 8 13
3 21 25
Start TF=4 E
FF= 8-8=0 9 12
5 TF=8
IF=12-8=4
FF= 21-13=8
16 21 IF=21-21=0
0 1
X TF=15
1 FF= 8-1=7 31
15 16 IF=16-8=8
 Critical Path
7 10 33 38 38 42

C 3 I 5 K 4
22 25 33 38 38 42

Slack=15 Slack=0 Slack=0

0 3 3 7 25 33 42 46

A 3 B 4 H 8 M 4
0 3 3 7 25 33 42 46
17 25
Slack=0 Slack=0 Slack=0 Slack=0
E 8
33 38 38 40
17 25
7 17 J 5 L 2
Slack=0
D 10 35 40 40 42

7 17
Slack=2 Slack=2
17 21
Slack=0
F 4
21 25

Slack=4
Note:
17 23
Total Slack = LSTi-ESTi and LFTi-EFTi
G 6
19 25

Slack=2 32
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng
 Assignment #2
• Construct a CPM network diagram from the precedence
relationships of activities given in Table 1 and identify the
critical path. Try to minimize line crossings and sketch the
network so that is flows from left to right.

TABLE 1
Activity A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
PIB ---- A B C D,G A F,J --- H I F,J H L K,M
Duration 5 6 3 4 5 8 3 3 2 7 2 7 4 3

33
Dr C.J. Willis, CAPM, P.Eng