There are any number of different ways a scheduler gathers progress status with which to update his CPM Construction schedule. The accuracy and dependability of the data set will determine the veracity of his critical path. Different updating practices are implemented for different reasons, each having varying degrees of efficacy that are well documented.

Crowd Sourcing

If the major trades have their own schedulers, they may want to provide their own progress updates, optimally in the same scheduling platform as the master schedule. Once progress is agreed, the master scheduler may then incorporate these (in P6) as reflection schedules, into his source schedule. My experience is that subcontractors tend not to generate and maintain their own schedules, the only good use of a reflection schedule that I can think of.

General Contractor

Update progress direct from the general contractor, and ratified by the construction manager is the most popular method chosen by contractors, as they maintain control over progress estimations. For the most part it is difficult for a scheduler to overstate progress, as it will be noticed – if not in the schedule, then certainly in the SOV.

SOV

Speaking of the schedule of values, Primavera 6 presents the particularly nagging, and persistent obstacle of creating a proper resource and cost loaded schedule. Anyone who has maintained a cost loaded schedule in P6 understands that a double-entry, or new column to reflect actual work in place must be created, if it is to be used as a basis for the payment app. The double-entry happens due to the way P6 calculates the value of completed work: physical, duration, or activity %.

Architect?

It’s not unheard of for an architect acting as the owner’s agent to state the progress completed. This is common when there is no construction manager. Naturally, the contractor will want to have his say, and a negotiation may take place.

While an architect may be a fair judge of progress, it is generally not his place to meddle in the scheduler’s affairs, as architects are not trained in the CPM method as part of their accreditation, or even continuing education. Some may seek out such training, if they wish to be a part of the discussion; however, it often happens that an architect will only muddle things, for lack of enlightenment.

10 Best CPM Schedule Update Practices

1. Never overstate progress, unless you are leveraging in the expectation of negotiation. Tell the contractor’s progress reporters not to do it either.
2. Avoid nominally starting an activity just to show that it started early, when you know it is going to be significantly delayed, unless you intend to represent a suspend/resume sequence (usually kept for claim-work). Otherwise, it will look silly in future updates that show no further progress.
3. Spend the time to get your contractor’s progress updaters up to speed on the criteria needed to service the project. If they aren’t trained schedulers, most will be eager to learn about scheduling. Most: but not all. CPM may seem inaccessible to people who don’t have the patience to learn the basics. Some will simply be uncooperative. These are the most difficult of clients.
4. Some contractors will prove to be difficult students, and may not even wish to learn. They will maintain poor update habits that affect their projects adversely, and frustrate your efforts. Keep these sorts on a short leash, and let them know they risk upcharges as a consequence of their inattentions and uncooperativeness. .
5. Try to develop standard xls. (Excel), or other matrix templates for your contractor to record progress. It beats ball-point pen scans.
6. Clean up past constraints, lag, and any other clutter, as they become expired. This bit of housekeeping will pay off in your forensic passes.
7. If you are asked to provide cost-loading using P6, make sure that you understand the limitations it brings, and explain to your client beforehand the double-entry process referred to above. If you are using scheduling programs with more sophisticated cost-loading macros, such as Spider, orCobra.
8. Maintain and assign baselines regularly. You can simply make several copies of your baseline, and assign one to each update. Without a baseline, you will have trouble if you should need to establish a disruption claim.
9. Avoid external links as they are only as recent as the data-date of the source schedule.
10. Don’t use Reflection schedules for your forward pass (see my recent post). Make a copy and use that, or not.