Table of Contents
Construction Schedule:
Construction Schedule is the process of listing construction activities, tasks, milestones with a start and finish date. Construction scheduling plays a vital role in the success of the project it is one of the important parts of the construction process and its importance in big projects cannot be neglected. To complete the project on time and within budget, a proper construction schedule is a must. It does not only outline the pace of work and also how the tasks are executed. It also defines the method and sequence in which materials are delivered. Lastly, it also permits adjustments to assist changes and unexpected events and activities.
As you all know construction projects are difficult and are known for encountering delays. Projects involve a lot of teams, equipment, and materials, moving objects. The department of construction project management can make a well-thought-out and perfect schedule. In construction project management software there are several tools like Gantt chart and resource management plays a key feature to control many phases of construction product.
Yes, it is a time-consuming process, a scheduler or a project planner should avoid shortcuts, take all steps, and work toward creating the most accurate project. To execute the project plan with fewer issues you have to give more time to build a project schedule.
Steps To Make Construction Schedule:
The following are the steps you should have in your mind before making a construction schedule.
1. Gather information and different tools
There are many subcontractors involved in the construction project. you have to list them and reach out to them and ask how much time it will take in the procurement of material. Once you get that information, then ask how much estimated time it will take to complete their part of the project. This is one of the keys to perfect time estimation on your part.
Then after that, you have to talk with the local code office and gather information and a list of requirements and what inspections will be needed throughout the build. Code restriction varies depending on the type of construction and material that will be used, so for a compliant project, you have to do a lot of research.
For budgeting the project, you must go through the process with your account office to determine when they’ll release funds. You will need good cash flow to keep the project moving forward. Talking to the bank or with the accounting office before scheduling gives you a big-picture view of the project and helps in how to perfectly schedule. And also figure out project management tools that suit your needs like MSP (Microsoft Project), primavera P6, etc.
2. Gather and Figure out Tasks:
Now you have tools and context, but now you need to set up the project and break it down into steps that will lead it from plan to completion. These steps are called tasks in a project. To have a perfect schedule you have to make a thorough listing of every task that must take place from start to end with the successful construction.
To get a handle on the scope and size of the project you can use a work breakdown structure (WBS). This tool is a way to see your deliverables by starting with whatever you want to construct and breaking it down level by level until you are gone to the most basics parts. Just remember the more thorough your task lists, the more accurate your schedule becomes. Some tasks are dependent on others, to will link those.
Once you have your tasks list complete as possible, then put these tasks in order. Work breakdown structure can help with this, you can use Gantt chart software to layout these tasks over a project timeline. It is very good that tasks are small, you can easily break down larger jobs into small peace which is manageable this also helps to break the whole project into big phases or you can say milestones. Milestone is a point in the project which represents the end of some big phases. For example, MEP works or Cementing the foundation.
3. Duration:
After figuring out tools and everything now takes each task and gives them start and finish date, from this a bar chart is created on the Gantt that will represent the duration of the task. Climate and weather forecasts impact the construction, therefore you should have to look at historical data about the weather to get the estimation of the work that can be impacted by the climate. Depending upon the duration of the project, you will have to calculate your schedule holidays and consider sick and vacation days for employees.
The schedule should be made realistic. You might want to do it on a certain date but to achieve the goal you have to cut corners and sacrifice quality which is not possible in construction so be honest with yourself and give everything enough time to every task in your schedule to completely correct the project.
Non-task-related scheduling such as procurement, delivery, and other sources cannot be neglected which are crucial to the project. You need to have a clear picture of what to order and reorder supplies. When scheduling you should keep in mind the financial portion of the project. You should track when the money is required from the bank.
4. Allocation of Task and Execution:
Tasks won’t get done automatically, you should have to allocate that work to the teams that can get confusing in your schedule when there are several contractors to keep track of. You can easily distinguish different teams and works by color-coding tasks so once the execution phase of the project begins you can easily pinpoint who is working on what.
You should have already made estimations on the length of the work from teams and have a detailed profile of their experience and skills to assign them appropriately. After the resources are allocated, the project management tool like Primavera or Microsoft project can send alerts when deadlines are due and new tasks are assigned. Once the people are assigned to the work, now into the new world the schedule is ready to venture. You have to make sure that your resources are balanced.
5. Just Review:
The process of the project is uncertain and the repetition is intentional, no schedule is fixed and at least none will succeed. Things during a process, so if you are not monitoring and reviewing throughout the project you can go off-track or worse.
Therefore, you’ll need to look over the schedule at all phases of the project to make sure that your process is going parallel with your plan. You should have to look at your schedule daily and depending on time update it frequently.
This matter is called time management. If you find that a daily update is taking you away from the responsibilities and other project issues, then maybe you need to set aside each week to respond to changes you’ve noted daily and you should apply them to the schedule. it’s all up to you, but monitoring and adjusting your schedule as on and off-site issues arise is perhaps the most important thing to keep your project on schedule.