3/12/2023
Construction Planning &
scheduling
Developing a Network Model
Developing a Network Model
Network model development is the most important step in
using a network as a scheduling tool
An ill-prepared model serves no useful purpose and may
compromise construction progress
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Steps In Building a Network
Model
1. Define activities
2. Order activities
3. Establish activity relationships; draw a network diagram
4. Determine quantities; assign durations to activities
5. Assign resources and costs
6. Calculate early and late start/finish times
7. Compute float values and identify the critical path
8. Schedule activity start/finish times
Building a Network Model
Note that the previous 8 steps are always subject to
continuous revision and update during both the
planning phase and construction phase
During the planning phase: to ensure that we have the
best and most reliable plan to execute construction
operations
During construction: to ensure that the schedule closely
depicts the progress in the field (updated)
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Building a Network Model
However, it is usual in construction for unanticipated
incidents that are not modeled in the schedule to happen,
examples include:
Owner initiated changes
Labor shortages
Delays in material delivery
Performance problems with a subcontractor
Differing site conditions
1- Defining Activities
Types of Activities
Production/Construction
Procurement
Management
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Production/Construction
Physical installation of work
Consume resources: labor, material, time
Production activities usually include an action verb in
their description: excavate basement, pour concrete,
erect steel, paint wall, etc
Production activities are the heart of the construction
schedule
These activities usually consume the diverse set of
resources needed to construct the project
Procurement activities
Purchase and delivery of long -time items
Arranging for acquisition of materials, money,
equipment, manpower
Influence the timing of production activities
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Management activities
Preparing inspection reports, processing shop drawing
approvals, tracking submittal approvals, developing as-built
drawings, providing certifications on factory tests performed
So, examples include:
Approving shop drawings
Tracking submittals
Developing as-built drawings
Testing
Events
Activities consume time, and events simply occur at a point
in time.
The events have no duration and use no resources
The point in time at which an activity can start may be
considered an event.
The point in time or instant at which an activity is
completed can also be considered an event.
Sometimes, contracts require the contractor to meet certain
intermediate deadlines
These events are frequently known as milestones
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Events
Milestones can be:
Start milestone
End milestone
Start milestone
Marks the beginning of a specific set of activities
Such as: notice to proceed, give the contractor right of access to
the site
End milestone
Marks the end of a specific set of activities
Such as: contractor meet certain intermediate deadlines
Activity descriptions
Activity description for production activities should include
action-related verbs
Each activity should have a distinct description
Example: “Place concrete slab”
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Activity identification
In addition to descriptions, activities usually have
identifications (I.D.’s):
Numbers only (140)
Numbers and characters (CON140)
In large projects they use 1,2 alphanumeric numbers and
characters to make the identification more specific
2- Ordering Activities
Ordering Activities
For each identified activity, the following must be
determined:
Which activities must precede it?
Which activities must follow it?
Which activities can be concurrent with it?
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Constraints
In addition to the above 3 questions, several constraints
control the ordering of activities:
Constraints exist in the real world—and must be
considered in order for a network to be useful
– Environmental
– Physical Constraints
Constraints
– Resource Constraints
– Management Constraints
– Productivity Constraints
– Contractual Constraints
– Safety Constraints
– Productivity Constraints
– Financial Constraints
– Regulatory Constraints
Constraints
Physical constraints: Logical order of putting things on
place
Examples: forms, rebar, then pouring concrete
Resource constraints: Due to insufficient availability of
resources
Examples: 2 activities that need a crane can not be
scheduled at the same time
Safety constraints
Examples: drilling and blasting will postpone the
execution of adjacent activities
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Constraints
Financial constraints
Securing loans
Avoiding high cost activities during a certain stage in
construction (especially at the beginning of the project)
Environmental constraints
Not executing certain activities so that the nature at certain
seasons is not disturbed
Dust or noise control
Constraints
Management constraints: Any constraint imposed by
management
Examples: no work or shorten workdays during
Ramadan, etc.
Contractual constraints: Imposed by the owner
Completing certain part of the project before starting
with another part
Regulatory constraints
Imposed by government agencies, municipalities: issuing
permits
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Constraints impact
Introduction of excessive constraints in network logic can
have the following impacts on a project:
Reduce scheduling flexibility
Lengthen project duration
Generally increase project cost
Confuse basic scheduling logic
Including the constraints in the
schedule
How to include the constraints in the schedule?
At the early stages of schedule development, only
physical constraints should be included
Once the basic network is completed, the constraints
should be imposed one by one
Other constraints are incorporated in later stages
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3- Establish activity relationships
and draw a network diagram
Shows the
network and
relationships
between
activities
Simple Example of a Precedence
Diagram for Erecting a Concrete Wall
3- Establish activity relationships
and draw a network diagram
Example of a Precedence Diagram for Constructing a
Concrete Footing
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4. Assigning durations to
activities
The duration of an activity is the estimated time that will be
required to complete it
The usual unit of time: “days”
Other units are possible depending on the nature and length
of the project: hrs, wks, months, yrs, etc.
Productivity
Activity durations are calculated based on the resources used
and their productivity (crew size, equipment, etc.)
Productivity numbers are usually available per hour:
50 m3 /hr for an excavator
10 m2 /hr for a crew of painters (i.e., 1 skilled, 2 helpers)
20 Linear-meter /hr of pipes for a crew of plumbers (1
skilled, 1 helper)
etc.
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Duration
The duration of an activity is calculated as follows:
Duration (hours) = Quantity (m3)/ Productivity (m3 /hr)
= total_hrs
Duration (days) = total_ hrs / hours_worked_per_day
Productivity rates
US productivity numbers for construction :
Walker’s building estimator reference book
Richardson’s general construction estimating standards
R.S. Means cost data books
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Productivity rates
Firms depend on:
Historical data from previous projects
executed by the firm
Experience of firm’s personnel
5. Assigning resources and
costs
Each activity in the network model has to be assigned
resources and costs:
Labor hrs
Equipment hrs
Cost of labor, equipment, and material
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6. Calculating early and late
start/finish times
The early start time of an activity
Is the earliest time that an activity can start after the
completion of its predecessors
The late start time
Is the latest time an activity can be started without delaying
the project
The early finish time
Is the earliest time an activity can be finished if it is
started at its early start time and is completed using its
estimated duration
The late finish time
Is the latest time an activity can be finished without
delaying the completion of the project
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7- Identify the critical path
If the early and late start dates for an activity are the same
The activity has no flexibility or “float”
If the activity starts later than the assigned date or if the
activity takes longer to complete than the assigned duration,
the project completion date will be extended by the same
amount of time
Those activities have “No Float” and are called “Critical
Activities”
The chain of “Critical Activities” from the beginning to the
end of the project is called “Critical Path”
From this feature came the name: “Critical Path Method –
CPM”
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8. Schedule activity start/finish
times
The network and the generated information are now used to
best manage the execution of the project
Management decisions can now be made regarding using
the float available for some activities to schedule the
start/finish of these activities
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