Scheduling

Construction scheduling has come a long way in the last 25 years. Unfortunately, despite the widespread use of computerized scheduling on construction projects today, there still exists a large disparity in the level of understanding of those involved in construction in the proper use of this powerful tool.  Aspire has the expertise to properly build, manage, monitor, and if necessary, recover a project schedule.

CPM Methodology: We use the Critical Path Method (CPM) of scheduling.  In its simplest form, this methodology involves three steps: identify activities; assign durations to activities; and link activities together in a logical fashion.   While CPM is the industry accepted technique and many software packages perform the CPM calculations, we know how to avoid the common pitfalls, and make the schedule work for our projects.

Pre-Construction: Often times the pre-construction schedule is not comprehensive and participants do not clearly understand the “path” to allow construction to commence.  The pre-construction phase of the project sets the plate for the construction phase.   We focus on the pre-construction phase to keep the overall project delivery date on track and prevent escalation costs due to delays in pre-construction.  The pre-construction phase of our schedules is comprehensive and considers design phases, reviews and sign-offs, budgeting, permitting, bidding, contract award, entitlement, financing approvals and other key steps that may apply to a particular project.

Collaboration and Commitment: Many in the industry complain that people don’t follow a project schedule.   We agree, and have identified strategies to combat this.  Very early in the schedule creation phase, we seek the input of everyone involved in the schedule.   We have found this has four critical benefits: project team members buy into the schedule because they had a say in it; harnesses the collective knowledge and expertise of the group; builds a sense of team; and helps everyone understand how their place in the schedule affects others.

Schedule Monitoring: Aspire provides schedule monitoring and analysis of other firm’s schedules.   Our evaluation includes the critical ingredients of a schedule – material availability, manpower and equipment resources, activity logic, activity durations, treatment of adverse weather, cure times, site logistics, etc.   We compare planned versus actual schedules to help identify schedule fade, forecast unanticipated crew stacking, and identify any problematic trends.  We also offer recommendations and solutions to get a schedule back on track.