Chapter 3: Project planning and scheduling

Concept of project planning and its importance

Project Planning Process
Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)
Project scheduling with bar chart, CPM and PERT
Project scheduling with limited resources (resource levelling and
smoothing)
Introduction to planning software `
 CHAPTER 3:
Planning and Scheduling
What is planning?
• Thinking ahead of an operation to be performed. Planning is a
function of deciding what has to be done, how, by whom, by when
and with what.
• Doing the job in the mind before it is done in the field.
Introduction to Project Planning
According to Stephen P. Robbins:
Planning is deciding in advance about what to do, how to
do, when to do and who is to do it etc. It provides the end
to be achieved.
According to Richard Steers:
Planning is the process by which managers define goals and take
necessary steps to ensure that these goals are achieved. Planning is
a mental exercise that requires imagination, foresight, and sound
judgment. It is thinking before doing, looking ahead, anticipating
future and deciding the course of action to be taken.
 Construction Project Planning

• Planning is the mental process

deciding about the future line of
actions.
• It sets a clear road map that should
be followed to reach a destination.
"If you fail to plan, you are bound to
fail”
Success in terms of Time, Quality and
Cost of project

06/19/2024 5
Reasons for planning?
• To eliminate or reduce uncertainty
• To improve efficiency of the operations
• To obtain better understanding of the objectives
• To provide basis for monitoring and controlling the work – to monitor performance in
terms of output, time and money
• To keep the plan under constant review and make action when necessary to correct the
situation

Planning is one of the major managerial functions and Project manager is responsible for
planning. Mangers who do not plan cannot control because they have no yardstick to
judge the progress. Hence, many managers do realize paramount importance of planning.
A written plan communicates the project strategy for achieving project objectives.
Objectives of planning:
• Analysis – how, in what order, with what resources, with appropriate
WBS
• Anticipation – foresee potential difficulties, anticipate risk and plan to
overcome them accordingly.
• Scheduling resources
• Coordination and control – provide basis for co-ordinating the work
among concerned; provide a basis for predicting and controlling time
and cost.
• Production of data - to provide a framework for decision making in
the event of change.
What to plan?

• Construction Planning mainly consists planning of 5Ms.

• Man – personnel
• Machine – equipment/tools
• Materials - construction materials
• Money- Finance
• Minutes - time
Information required for preparing a Plan

A complete understanding of project is a must for better planning.

• Resources – availability, organization and utilization of 4 Ms.
• Activities – the type of work and resources, the location and restraints.
• Logic – the interdependence and relationship
• Duration – the quantity, resources and output of resources
• External constraints – delivery dates, restriction on access to parts of the works
• Responsibilities
• Future problems – potential difficulties
• Project time scale
• Work method
• Costs and value
• Levels of detail
Working to the Plan – Plan the work and
work the plan

• Planning is not worth the paper on which it is written, if it is not

implemented and monitored. Planning only will not ensure that
projects are completed on time. Arrangements for working to the
plan are also important. This needs commitment and most
importantly periodical measurement of progress of forecasting how
long it will take to complete the remaining work. Comparing the
forecast with the previous plan allows the need for corrective action
to be taken.
Consequences of poor planning

• Wild enthusiasm
• Disillusionment
• Search for scapegoat
• Punishment of innocent
• Promotion of non-participants
• Chaos
 Steps to Create a Construction Project Plan:
Project Plan Step 1 – Defining the Scope (?) Defining the scope involves gaining agreement
on the metric that the sponsor (the boss, executive or customer) will use to measure the end
result of the project. Install 2MW of hydropower Plant/ Construction 5 story Building.
Project Plan Step 2 – Breaking Down the Scope into Major Deliverables: If Building
Construction is a Project Specific Deliverables are Buying of Land, Map approval from
Municipality, Contractor Selection, Construction etc are deliverables.
Project Plan Step 3 – Breaking Down the Major Deliverables: Eg. For Buying of Land –
advertisement, visit the seller, visit the Land, Negotiation, Check all the Documents, Transfer
the ownership etc…
Project Plan Step 4 – Estimating: Each of the tasks/Activities will have an estimate of the
amount of work and the duration. This is finalize the Budget and Schedule (Duration)
Project Plan Step 5 – Final Approval By the Sponsor: The last step in developing
the project plan is to secure the sponsor’s final approval on the project scope, major
deliverables, budget and the planned duration of the work. With that approval, the project plan
is finished and the project manager can begin work.
Work Breakdown Structure
What Is Work Breakdown Structure in Project Management?
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) in project management is a method for
completing a complex, multi-step project. It's a way to divide and conquer large
projects to get things done faster and more efficiently.
• The goal of a WBS is to make a large project more manageable. Breaking it down
into smaller chunks means work can be done simultaneously by different team
members, leading to better team productivity and easier project management.
• A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical
decomposition of the work to be executed by the project team to accomplish the
project objectives and create the required deliverables. A WBS is the cornerstone
of effective project planning, execution, controlling, monitoring, and reporting.
Use of WBS
• it facilitates the quick development of a schedule by allocating effort
estimates to specific sections of the WBS. it can be used to identify
potential scope risks if it has a branch that is not well defined. it
provides a visual of entire scope. it can be used to identify
communication points.
• Used for planning, monitoring, controlling
• Used for estimate and cash flow
• Calculation of recourses
• Etc.
Work breakdown structure
WBS
Factory construction project
• Survey
• Design
• Concept design
• Preliminary design
• Final design
• Architectural
• Design
• Drawings
• Plan
• Elevation
• Section
• details
• Prospective view
• model
• Structural
• Plumbing
• Electrical
• Foundation
• Fabrication
• Installation
• Handover
 How to Estimate time for Activity?
Suppose Activity is EW in Excavation – 20 m^3 from Drawing
Civil Engineering Norms ?

For 1 m^3 Hard Soil Excavation – approx. 0.8 man-days of labor

So, to excavate 20 m3 we need 20x0.8 man-days = 16 man days of labor

This means if we have 1 labour it takes 16 days or if we have 16 labours –

1day

If we have 4 labour = 4 day This is how we fix duration

Project Title: Construction of A Residential Building
From Site Clearance upto DPC – Damp Proof Course
Foundation work
1. Site Clearance
2. Layout
3. Excavation
4. Laying Foundation stone - silanyas
5. Soling (Brick)
6. PCC at the foundation of Column
7. Column Construction – Hatti paile and Column
8. Masonry work (Brick in Ktm, Stone in many other areas)
9. DPC – Tie Beam
10.Backfilling
Gantt chart/Bar chart
Introduction to Planning Tools
The oldest formal planning tool is the bar chart.
It is developed in 1917 by Henry L. Gantt, an
American mechanical engineer, hence also
called Gantt chart in his respect.
Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a
schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and
track specific tasks in a project.
A Gantt chart is constructed with a horizontal
axis representing the total time span of the
project, broken down into increments (for
example, days, weeks, or months) and a vertical
axis representing the tasks that make up the
project
Horizontal bars of varying lengths represent the sequences, timing, and time
span for each task/activities. Length of the Bar represents the time required to
complete the Activity. Total Project duration is also seen.

The bar spans may overlap, as, for example, you may conduct Research before
completion of Planning and similarly you may start Design before completion
of the Research.

As the project progresses, secondary bars, arrowheads, or darkened bars may

be added to indicate completed tasks, or the portions of tasks that have been
completed. A vertical line is used to represent the report date.
Steps in Preparing Bar Chart
The following are the important steps in developing a bar chart.
1. Identify different activities within the work: Prepare Work Breakdown
Structure i.e. breakdown the project into its various activities or jobs or
operations, each representing manageable units for planning and control.
2. Estimate time required to complete each activity: Based on resource
availability, historical data, experience and expert opinions, estimate the time
required to complete each activity.
3. Develop logical sequence between activities: Activities should be performed
or completed in a definite sequence. So, decide the sequence in which the
activities are to be performed.
4. Develop a bar chart. Represent the above information in the Bar chart,
indicating the relative positions of each activity.
The advantages of Bar chart are:
1. It is simple to understand: Even a person with little
education can understand the concept quite easily. This
may be the reason that bar chart is popular in every
sector.
2. It is easy to prepare, consume less resources and
economical. No sophisticated tools and Special
knowledge is not required to prepare the bar chart hence
it is easy and economical.
3. It can be used to show progress. Simple "fill in the bar"
method is used to show how much of the project was
complete. It can also be shown by the planned bar
alongside the progress bar like. Figure 2.2: Progress shown in bar chart
4. It can be used for resource planning such as manpower
planning, budgeting etc.
5. It gives clear pictorial model of the project.
Disadvantages /Limitation of Bar chart
The Bar chart suffers from some disadvantages which limits its usefulness:
1. There may be physical limit to the size of the bar chart, which may limit the size of the project that can be
planned with this technique or only major activities are shown. Hence, it is not useful for large and complex
projects.
2. There are some activities of a project which are taken up concurrently, while there are others which can be
taken up only after completion of some other activities. Similarly some activities can be started few days
after the other activity starts. The activities whose start and end depend on other activities are shown serially.
In a project, there may be large number of activities which can start with certain degree of concurrency. By
merely depicting them parallel, interrelationship between them cannot be clearly depicted.
3. Each activity receives equal importance due to the lack of special indication in the chart. Thus in bar chart,
long duration activity may appear most important ones, which may not be true. In building construction,
plastering work, may take long time but concreting may be completed in a single day and concreting is more
important activity.
4. It is difficult to show critical path, critical activities and floats available.
5. Data is hard to manipulate i.e. it cannot easily cope with frequent changes or updating. The bar chart is a
static representation of the planned activities and does not respond to the dynamic happening on the
construction site of the complex project.
A milestone chart is a tool used to Milestone Charts
visualize milestones, which are the
significant planned events that are When to use a milestone chart
scheduled to happen during a specific
Anytime your team collaborates on a
time in a project timeline. It highlights the
planned dates and the completion large project with multiple tasks and
of milestones. deadlines, you can use a milestone
chart.
A milestone chart is a visual
representation of important events, You may also find it useful to share
known as milestones, planned in a the milestone chart with your
project’s timeline. Milestone charts. It managers or customers to update
shows one milestone per vertical line, them on your progress and
with a description on the left-hand side of likelihood of meeting your overall
the milestone, and a horizontal timescale deadline.
for the whole project.
Examples of milestone chart

Gantt Chart with 4 Mile Stones

The linked bar chart shows the links A variation of the bar chart schedule is
between an activity and its preceding the linked bar chart. A linked bar
activities which have to be complete before chart uses arrow and lines to tie the
this activity can start. activities and subsequent items, specifying
the successors and predecessors of every
activity.
 Network Technique of Scheduling CPM and PERT
There are two popular network based scheduling techniques.
a) Critical Path Method – CPM developed in the year 1957 by Morgan R.
Walker of DU Pont and James E. Kelly of Remington Rand for preparing
shutdown schedule of a chemical plant.

b)Program Evaluation and Review Technique – PERT, developed by US

Navy in 1956-1958 for scheduling Polaris Missile Project.

Though the two methods are conceptually

similar [Apply Network Technique]
except for certain minor differences, they
were developed independently in USA.
For understanding as to how a network for a project is drawn, we should
get ourselves familiarized with the following terminologies.
1. Activity (Task): An activity is any identifiable job which requires time,
manpower, material, and other resources to complete. It means the
performance of the specific task of project. Arrow in a network diagram
represents activity. The following are the examples of activity for a building
construction project
Activity is shown by arrow pointing from i1 2j
a. Left to right b. right to left • Layout
c. Top to bottom and d. bottom to top • Excavation of foundation
• Construction of wall
Length of arrow is ….. To activity duration
b. Directly proportional • Concreting
c. Inversely proportional • Construction of roofing
d. Both a and b • Wiring and electrification
d. None
A project is a collection of various activities and those activities are
interrelated among themselves.
Concurrent (Parallel) Activities: Those activities which can be
performed simultaneously and independently to each other are
known as concurrent activities. In figure below activities A and B
are parallel.

Parallel activities are also called

a. Similar
b. Concurrent
c. Both
d. None
Serial Activities: Those activities which are to be performed one after the other, in
succession are known as serial activities. Serial activities cannot be performed
independently. In the figure below earthwork in excavation and construction of wall
are serial activities.
A - Earthwork in Excavation B - Construction of Wall
1 2 3
In the above figure, activity A i.e. Earthwork in excavation is preceding
activity (Predecessor) of activity B i.e. Construction of wall. Or, we can
say that Construction of wall (B) is succeeding activity (Successor) of
Earthwork in excavation (A). This means activity A must be completed to
start activity B.
For a given activity, the activity that occurs immediately before it is its
predecessor where as for a given activity, the activity that follows immediately
after it, is its successor.
An Activity which starts after completion of
an Activity is known as …..

a. Predecessor
b. Successor
c. Both
d. None
 Event (Node):
The beginning or end of the activity is known as event. It represents specific
point in time and does not consume time, manpower, material and other
resources.

Event Event Event

• The circle at the beginning of the activity (event) is known as tail
event/burst event where as circle at the end of the activity (event) is known
as head event/merge event.
• Event is symbolically represented by numbers or alphabets written inside
the circle.
• In a network, some events work as head event for an activity and tail event
of another activity. Such events are known as Dual Role Event.(2) is Dual
Role in above figure.
Generally, the name of the activity (Or symbol of the activity is) is
indicated above the arrow while the duration of the activity is
indicated below the arrow.
Construction of Wall
Earthwork in Excavation
1 2 3

12 days
7 days

Event 1 is the tail event of Activity – Earthwork in excavation

Event 2 is the head event of activity – Earthwork in excavation as
well as tail event of activity – construction of wall. Hence event 2 is
dual role event.
Event 3 is the head event of activity – construction of wall
 1 2 3
1

Tail/ Burst event Head/ Merge event Dual Role event

 Dummy activity
A dummy activity is an imaginary (hypothetical) activity included in a network.
Since it is not a real activity, it does not consume time, manpower, material and
other resources. It is included in a network to maintain the relationship between
activities appropriately. It is represented by dotted arrow.
Dummy is …. A. Imaginary Activity b. Requires no reosurces c Requires No
time D. ALL
Uses of dummies: Dummies serve two purposes in a network:
a) Grammatical purpose and b) Logical purpose
1. Grammatical purpose: It is used to prevent two arrows having common beginning and end
nodes for two or more activities. For example, consider the arrows of activities A and B;
both starts from node 1 and end at node 2. Due to this an inconvenience results when the
network is used for computation, i.e., uniqueness in the identification is lost. This
inconvenience frequently leads to mistake.
1. Logical purpose: Dummies are also used to give logical clear representation
in a network having an activity common to two sets of operations running
parallel to each other.
A-5d
1 2

B- 3d

Logical Dummy
A. – Wait delivery of new machine
Grammatical Dummy B. – Install new machine
C. – Remove existing machine
D. – Dispose of existing machine
 A. – Wait delivery of new machine
B. – Install new machine
C. – Remove existing machine
D. – Dispose of existing machine

Logical Dummy

Set 1 activity A and B are to be performed serially while Set 2 activities

C and D are to be performed serially. Both the sets are performed
simultaneously. However, for practical considerations, we find that
activity D of set 2 cannot be performed unless activity A of set 1 is
completed. Hence a dummy is used joining node 5 and 7 indicating that
activity D cannot be started unless activity A is completed.
 2
C-1
4
TYPICAL CPM A-2
NETWORK 1 D-5 F-3
6 Activities A- F
5 events (1) to (5) B-4 3
5
E-6
Activity Duration Predecessor Successor Remarks
A 2 - C
B 4 - D, E
C 1 A F
D 5 B F
E 6 B -
F 3 C and D -
 2
C-1
4
CPM NETWORK A-2
analysis 1 D-5 F-3

B-4 3
5
E-6
There are three Paths from First Event 1 to Last Event 5
Path Description Duration Remarks
1 1-2-4-5 (A-C-F) 2+1+3 = 6
2 1-3-4-5 (B-D-F) 4+5+3 =12 Longest
3 1-3-5 (B-E) 4+6= 10
• Longest path in the network is called Critical Path – Path 2 (1-3-4-5 (B-D-F)
• Activities Lying on critical Path are Critical Activities B, D and F
• Time required to travel longest path is Project Duration - 12
FIND CRITICAL PATH, CRITICAL ACTIVITIES
AND PROJECT DURATION
There are three paths:
Paths DESCRIPTION DURATION REMARKS
1 10-30-40-50 3+1+3 = 7 mo Maximum
2 10-30-50 3+3 = 6 mo
3 10 -20-50 4+3 = 7 mo Maximum

There are two longest Paths 10-30-40-50 and 10 -20-50

so two critical Paths
critical Activities are A, D, F , B and C So only E is non
cr
Project Duration are 7 months
Rules of Drawing Network diagram
The following network rules are noteworthy
1. All activities shall be represented by way of straight arrows
pointing towards the right. This means flow of network shall be
from the left to the right.
2. There must be only single initial node as well as ending node in a
network. Initial node has only outgoing arrow where as ending
node has incoming arrows.
3. An event cannot occur twice, i.e. there cannot be any network path
looping back to previously occurred event. No event depends, for
its occurrence upon the occurrence of a succeeding event. Thus
network shown in figure below is incorrect .
5.There shall not be any criss crossing of arrows??
6.There should be only one arrow for an activity, i.e.
number of arrows should be equal to number of
activities.
7.There shall not be unnecessary dummy activities in the
network. Dummy activity shall be introduced only when
it is absolutely necessary and without which the network
diagram cannot be completed.
1. In Bar chart Length of the Bar is 2. Which of the following chart
……… to activity duration shows the relationship between
Activities clearly
a. Directly proportional
b. Inversely proportional a. Gantt Chart
c. Both a and b b. Milestone Chart
d. None c. Linked Bar chart
d. All of the above

3. Bar chart is also know as 4. In Bar chart Activities are

a. Gantt Chart represented by
b. Milestone Chart a. Horizontal Bar
c. Linked Bar chart b. Vertical Bar
d. All of the above c. Both a and b
d. None of the above
Draw CPM Network. Find Critical Path, Critical Activities and Project Duration
Activity Duration Predecessor Successor Remarks

A 2 - C
B 4 - D, E
C 1 A F
D 5 B F
E 6 B -
F 3 C and D -

Solution

A- 2 c- 1
A- 2 c- 1

D- 4
B- 4 D- 4
B- 4
E- 6
E- 6
 A- 2 c- 1
A- 2 c- 1

D- 4
B- 4 D- 4
B- 4
E- 6
E- 6

WRONG RIGHT

c- 1 F- 3 F- 3
c- 2

D- 4 F- 3 D- 4
RIGHT
WRONG
E- 6 E- 6

F- 3 F- 3

WRONG RIGHT

Funkerson’s Rule of Numbering

Events
Path 1: 1-2-4-5 Ok (Increasing)
Path 2: 1-3-4-5 OK (Increasing)
E= 6 Path 3: 1-3-5 Ok (Increasing)
Objective Type Questions

1. Which of the Following is 2. Bar Chart is also known as

not Network Based technique
of scheduling a. Gantt chart
a. Bar chart b. Milestone chart
b. CPM c. Linked Barchart
c. PERT d. ALL
d. ALL
5. Which of the Following is 6. Activity Requires
Event ? a. Time
a. Earthwork in Excavation b.Resources
b.Plastering works c. Both a and b
c. Excavation Completed d. None
d.All
7. Event Requires
a. Time
b.Resources
c. Both a and b
d. None
8. An event which is head event of an Activity and Tail event of
another activity is known as..

A. double role event

b. dual role event
c. multiple role event
d. all

9. Event is a moment and it does not requires time and

resources
A. Time B. Resources C. Both A and B D. None

10. Which of the following is Event?

A. EW excavation Finished B. Excavation Started C. Both A
and B
D. None
Draw a network with the following details. Number the events using
Fulkerson’s rule Find critical path and Project Duration

SN Activity Duration Predecessor Successor

1 A 2 - B, C
2 B 3 A D
3 C 1 A E, F
4 D 5 B G
5 E 4 C G
6 F 6 C -
7 G 2 D, E -
 SN Activi Durati Predec Success
ty on essor or

1 A 2 - B, C
2 B 3 A D
3 C 1 A E, F
4 D 5 B G
5 E 4 C G
6 F 6 C -
7 G 2 D, E -
Path 1 is 1 – 2 – 3-5-6 =2+3+5+2= 12
Path 2 – 1-2-4-5-6 = 2+1+4+2 = 9
Path 3, 1-2-4-6 = 2+1+6 =9
Critical Path is 1 – 2 – 3- 5 – 6 longest with 12 duration
Critical Activities are A, B , D and G
Project Duration = 12
Draw CPM Network Find critical path Critical Activities and Project Duration

SN Act Dur Pred Suc

1 A 1 - C
2 B 2 - D,E,F
3 C 3 A G
4 D 4 B G
5 E 5 B - Critical Path
6 F 6 B H B, F and H
7 G 7 C,D -
8 H 8 F - Project
Duration =
2+6+8=16
 C-3
2 4
A -1

D-4 G-7
1
E-5
B-2 3 6

F-6 H-8
5

Paths Description Duration Remarks

1 1-2-4-6 1+3+7 =11
2 1-3-4-6 2+4+7 =13
3 1-3-5 2+5 =7
4 1-3-5-6 2+6+8 =16 Longest –
Critical Path

B,F and H are Critical Activities with 16 Project Duration

Finding Critical Path in Large network:
The method of finding out the number of paths available in a given network
connecting the initial and final events, finding the time duration of all the
available paths and identifying the critical paths is suitable for small
networks.
If the network is relatively larger in size, there will be larger number of
paths available connecting the initial and final events. In such cases, it
would be cumbersome to find out all the possible paths.
Hence in the case of large networks, a more systematic procedure is
followed to identify the critical path. The method uses two series of
computations viz., Forward pass computation and Backward pass
computation.
Forward pass computation: Backward pass computation:
• In the forward pass calculation, all • In the backward pass calculation, all
activities in the network are activities in the network are assumed
assumed to start as early as to start as late as possible.
possible.
• The calculation begins from the right
• The calculation begins from the
to the left side of the network.
left to the right side of the
network.
• When two or more activity merges at
• When two or more activities
a node, the smallest value is taken as
merge into an event, the largest
a latest occurrence time of that event.
value is taken as an earliest
occurrence time of that event.
• Backward pass calculation gives the
• Forward pass calculation gives
LST and LFT of each activity.
the EST and EFT of each activity.
 6 12 Forward Pass Calculation
15 19-
4=15 - Left to right addition
4 4 process – take maximum
value
0 0 Backward Pass Calculation
Right to left- deduction
19 19 Take minimum value
9 9

Critical Path is 1 - 2 – 4- 5-6; Cr activities are A, C, E, and G; Project Duration = 19

Event No. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Early 0 0+4 = 4 4+2 = 6 4+5= 6+3= 9 15 + 4=19
Event time 9 9+6=15 9+1 = 10

Late 4-4 =0 12-2=10 15- 3 =12 19-1=18 19- 4 =15 19

Event
Time 9-5=4 15-6=9
 A
E-i L-i i j E-j L-j

Tail Event Head Event

Where E-i is the Early Event Time of Tail Event – Also

Early Start Time [EST] of The Activity A [E-i]
L-i is the Late Event Time of Tail Event
E-j is the Early Event Time of Head Event and

L-j is the Late Event Time of Head Event – Also

Late Finish Time of the Activity A – L-j
 6 12
15 15
4 4
0 0

19 19
9 9

E-i L-i E-j L-j

6 12 15 15
A
D-3 j
3 5 i

Activity E-i (EST) L-i E-j L-j (LFT)

D 6 12 9 15
 6 12 E-i L-i E-j L-j
15 15
4 4 A
i j
0 0
4 4 6 12

9 9 19 19 2 B-2 3
Activity Dur E-i (EST) EFT = EST + D LST = LFT -D L-j (LFT) Total Float Remarks
A 4 0 4 0 4 0 Critical
B 2 4 6 10 12 12-6=6 Non-Cr
C 5 4 9 4 9 0 Critical
D 3 6 9 12 15 15-9=6 Non critical
E 6 9 15 9 15 0 Critical
F 1 9 10 18 19 19-10=9 Non critical
G 4 15 19 15 19 0 Critical
 A
E-i E-j i j L-i L-j

EST (Earliest Start Time): It is the earliest possible time an activity or operation can
be started. It is equal to earliest occurrence time of tail event of that activity. E-i

EFT (Earliest Finish Time): It is the earliest possible time for completion of an
activity or operation without delaying the project completion time. It can be computed
by adding by activity duration by EST. EFT = EST + duration

LFT (Latest Finish Time): It is the latest time the activity or operation must be
completed so that scheduled completion date of the work can be achieved. It is equal to
latest occurrence time of head event. = L-j

LST (Latest Start Time): It is the latest possible time; an activity can be started
without delaying the project. LST = LFT-Duration
 The free time available for the activity is called ‘Float’ or ‘Slack’. An activity has
four types of floats.
1. Total Float 2. Free Float and 3. Independent Float 4.
1.Interfering Float
Total Float (TF): Late Start Time – Early Start Time or = Late Finish Time –
Early Finish Time
Total Float represents the maximum time by which the completion of the activity can
be delayed without affecting the project completion time. If an activity is delayed by
a time equal to its total float, that activity and all other subsequent activities in that
path become critical.
2. Free Float (FF): It is the delay that can be permitted in an activity so that
succeeding activities in the path are not affected. If the succeeding activities are to
remain un-affected by the delay in a particular activity the earliest start Time of
the head event of that activity shall not be exceeded.
3. Independent Float (IF): It is the spare time available for the activity, if preceding
activity is started as late as possible and succeeding activities are finished as early
as possible.
 4 5 6 12
E-i L-i A E-j L-j
B-2
2 3 Predecessor
i j
Successor

Activity TF= (L-j)-(E-i) – D FF = (E-j) – (E-i) -D Int F = TF-FF IndF- (E-j) - (L-i) – D Remark
s
B =12-4-2=6 =6-4-2=0 =6-0=6
Total Float (TF) = [ (L-j) – (E-i) – D ] or LFT – EFT or LST – EST
Free Float (FF) = (Ej) – (Ei) – D < TF = EST of Succ – EST of Act – Dur
FF = EST of Successor – EFT of the Activity (EFT = EST + dur)
Independent Float (IF) = (Ej) – (Li) – D = EST of Suc – LFT of Act – dur = < FF or FF –
tail event slack
Interfering float = TF – FF = (Lj- Ei –d)- (Ej-Ei-d) =(Lj) - (Ej) = LFT of Act – EST of
Suucessor
 6 12 E-i L-i E-j L-j
15 15
4 4 A
i j
0 0
4 4 6 12

9 9 19 19 2 B-2 3
Activity TF =(L-j) –(E-i) -d FF = (E-j) –(E-i) -d intF = TF-FF IndF =(E-j) –(L-i) - d Remarks
A 4-0-4 = 0 4-0-4=0 0-0=0 4-0-4=0 Critical
B 12-4-2=6 6-4-2=0 6-0=6 6-4-2=0
C 9-4-5 =0 9-4-5=0 0-0=0 9-4-9=0 Critical
D 15-6-3 =6 15-6-3=6 6-6=0 15-12-3=0
E 15-9-6=0 15-9-6=0 0-0=0 15-9-6=0 Critical
F 19-9-1=9 19-9-1=9 9-9=0 19-9-1=9
G 19-15-4 19-15-4=0 0-0=0 19-15-4=0 Critical
 E-i L-i E-j L-j
A-3 E-i = 4 A
1 2
L-i = 5 i j
E-i=4 L-i=5 E-j= 8 L-j= 12 8 12
4 5
E-j = 8
L-j = 12 3
2 B-2
Activity TF =(L-j) –(E-i) -d FF = (E-j) –(E-i) -d intF = TF-FF IndF =(E-j) –(L-i) - d Remarks
A 12-4-3 =5 8-4-3 =1 5-1=4 8-5-3=0
B 12-4-2=6 8-4-2=2 6-2=4 8-5-2=1

TF= L-j - E-i – d = LST – EST or LFT - EFT

FF= E-j - E-i -d
Inter Float = TF – FF = L-j - E-j
Ind Float = E-j - L-i - D
 6 12 E-i E-j L-i L-j
15 15
4 4 A
i j
0 0
4 4 6 12

9 9 19 19 2 B-2 3
Activity Dur EST EFT LST LFT TF FF IntF IndF Remarks
A 4
B 2
C 5
D 3
E 6
F 1
G 4
 6 12
15 15

0 0
4 4

19 19
9 9

EFT= LST=
Activity EST+D LFT-D
SN Duration EST LFT TF FF IndF IntF Remarks
1 A 4 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 Critical
2 B 2 4 6 10 12 6 0 0 6
3 C 5 4 9 4 9 0 0 0 0 Critical
4 D 3 6 9 12 15 15- 6 0 0
6-
3=6
5 E 6 9 15 9 15 0 0 0 0 Critical
Draw a network with the following details. Number the events using
Fulkerson’s rule. (DUMMY …)

SN Activity Predecessor Successor

1 A - B, C
2 B A D
3 C A E, F
4 D B F
5 E C -
6 F C, D -
SN Activity Predecessor Successor
1 A - B, C
2 B C D ONE ACTIVITY ONE ARROW?
3 C A E, F
4 D B F What to DO?
5 E C -
6 F C, D -

D
5
3 F
B

A dummy
1 2
6
E
C 4
SN Activity Predecessor Successor

1 A - B, C
2 B A D
3 C A E, F
4 D B F
5 E C -
6 F C, D -
SN Activity Predecessor Successor
1 A - B, C
2 B A D
3 C A E, F
4 D B F
5 E C -
6 F C, D -
 Draw a CPM network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show
critical path also.

Activity A B C D E F G H

Predecessor - - A B B C,D E E, F

Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5
 b. Define Total Float , Free Float and Independent flaot. Draw a CPM
network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show critical path
also.
Activity A B C D E F G H
Predecessor - - A B B C,D E E, F
Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5

11 12
2 9 13 13 Forward Pass Calculation
0 0 C-3 F-1
A-2 2 4 H-5
6
18 18
1 D-5
dummy
B-6 7
3 5
E-7 G-4
6 6 13 13

Backward Pass Calculation

 Activity A B C D E F G H

Predecessor - - A B B C,D E E, F

Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5

EST (Ei) 0 0 2 6 6 11 13 13
EFT = EST + dur 2 6 5 11 13 12 17 18

LST = LFT - dur 7 0 9 7 6 12 14 13

LFT = L-j 9 6 12 12 13 13 18 18
2 9
11 12 13 13
0 0 C-3 F-1
A-2 2 4 H-5
6
18 18
1 D-5
dummy
B-6 7
3 5
E-7 G-4
6 6 13 13 Backward Pass Calculation
Forward Pass Calculation
 Activity A B C D E F G H

TF 9-0-2=7 6-0-6=0 12-2-3=7 12-6-5=1 13-6-7=0 13-11-1=1 18-13-4=1 18-13-5=0

Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5

F = (E-j) – (E-i) – du 2-0-2=0 0 11-2-3=6 11-6-5=0 0 13-11-1=1 18-13-4=1 0

nter Float TF - FF 7-0=7 0 7-6=1 1-0=1 0 1-1=0 1-1=0 0

nd F = Ej –Li - dur 0 0 11-9-3= -1 0 0 13-12-1=0 18-13-4=1 0

2 9
11 12 13 13
0 0 C-3 F-1
A-2 2 4 H-5
6
18 18
1 D-5
dummy
B-6 7
3 5
E-7 G-4
6 6 13 13 Backward Pass Calculation
Forward Pass Calculation
Draw a CPM network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show
critical path also.

Activity A B C D E F G H
Predecessor - - A A B B C, D E D, E, F
Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5

c G

d
H
E

F
 b. Define Total Float , Free Float and Independent flaot. Draw a CPM
network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show critical path
also.
Activity A B C D E F G H
Predecessor - - A A B B C, D E D, E, F
Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5

C-3
A-2
2 5 G-4
D-5
Dummy Dummy -1 from 4 to 5
1
4 7 Dummy 2, 4 to 6
E-7 Dummy
B-6
3 6 H-5
F-1
Activity A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Predecessor - - A A,B B C D D E D,F H,I H,I G,
J, K
Duration 2 6 3 5 7 1 4 5 6 2 3 4 1

C
A
Dummy
D

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

F-1
C-3 4 8
2 J-2
A-2 Dum-3
dum1 D-5
1 G-4
5 7 10 M-1
B-6 dum2 K-3
H-5 11
3
E-7 6 9 L-4
I-6
 b. Define Total Float , Free Float and Independent flaot. Draw a CPM
network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show critical path
also.

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

B
D F
 . Draw a CPM network and Find EST, EFT, LST, LFT, TF, FF, IntF and IndF. Show critical
path also.

Activity A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Successor D E,G,H,I,J F G,H L,M I,J K L,M L,M M - - -
Duration– 6 3 4 2 3 1 5 2 4 3 2 1 5
Days