The construction industry is thriving. According to professional researchers, by 2021, the industry forecast is to reach more than USD 1.4 trillion globally. These figures fuel further workforce growth by adding an average of 200,000 employees to the construction industry every year.

Being in a sector like this one, it’s no wonder that more and more people are learning how to become construction manager and the essential skills needed to perform their duties.

Building homes and urban structures is a highly structured endeavour, whether building a residence or a shopping mall. It is a highly complex system that involves precise coordination with several individuals.

Good construction project management is crucial to any project, from designing to planning and scheduling to the build itself. In addition to the somewhat complicated fact, each phase becomes exponentially more complex as phases come together within the entire project. That is why there is a need for construction project scheduling.

Now, if you are new to these kinds of terminologies, fret no because we will explain it to you one by one.

A construction project schedule is a written or graphic representation of how the project achieves completion. The manner in which a project schedule is presented depends on the project’s demand based on client requirements.

The construction project schedule serves as a timeline for all tasks and events in a construction project. It is a vital component of project planning since it also defines the resources needed and the teams responsible for each task in the construction process.

It is analogous to a contractor’s bid. Just as a contractor’s bid is an estimate of the cost it anticipates to incur to build the job, and a schedule represents an estimate of the time needed to accomplish that job.

Under construction management, the construction project schedule outlines each step that teams must accomplish by a specific date before the project leads can activate the next task.

A successful project plan ensures that all activity steps take up only the allotted time and finish efficiently to avoid delays. Generally, the project manager maintains the schedule, and the individual team lead checks that the subcontractors and all responsible parties report to work at the assigned time.

Construction schedules may take a lot of time, even with the use of scheduling tools like Primavera P6 or Microsoft Projects, but it is well worth it. Taking all the necessary steps, avoiding shortcuts, and striving for the most accurate schedule you can, will benefit you greatly.

The more attention allotted to the construction project plan from the start of the construction project, the fewer issues you’ll encounter when you execute the construction project, which is key to good project management.

Construction firms should complete a construction contract within a specified time as agreed upon in the contract signing stage. Each project requires the completion of all work activities before project completion, and final evaluations can occur.

Construction schedules provide detailed information about how the contractor plans to fulfil the project goals. Those goals, how long they’re going to take, and how they’re going to line up to make up the work scope must stick to a line of balance that maintains project quality throughout the project’s life cycle.

The only project management tool that can forecast when the project will finish is a construction project schedule. Basically, a construction schedule allows project management to predict all project estimates (i.e. allotted time, budget, and possible delays) while accounting for the limitations in time and budget.

In recent years, construction project clients require contractors to prepare schedules of the construction activities of the project team. There are two primary reasons for this trend, which has now become an industry norm.

First, as construction projects become more complex with stricter budgets, schedules are essential to help contractors manage them. The schedule is an efficient way of organising a construction project because it enables all project participants (not just the owner, the contractor, the engineer, or the architect) to understand the plan for completion. All elements of the work need coordination between the parties.

Litigation has also contributed to this trend to some extent. Time is gold, as they say. Every day that a construction project delays, the owner incurs additional costs to support that project, plus the contractor. The project should be measurable enough to determine the extent to which the delays will cause.

The schedule identifies what the workforce must accomplish and who is responsible for what and for whom. Contractors can track job site performance, resources, project tasks, and quality control with a detailed schedule. Project participants will also be able to identify and resolve project delays if they have a reasonably accurate schedule, be it a bar chart or a CPM schedule.

If time-related issues arise during the project, the last thing you want to do is ignore them and let the parties push the problem to the back-burner. Such situations often end in a claim declaration because planners didn’t resolve the issue immediately- usually resulting in unnecessary expenditures in litigation.

During the life cycle of a construction project, it is best to finish projects on time and under budget. One way to do that is to address delays during the project. Now that we’ve gone through the definition and basics of the construction project schedule, it is now time to lay down the tips for creating the perfect construction project schedule.

You might feel overwhelmed when putting together a construction schedule for your building project. However, it is possible to make the whole process more seamless if you follow the steps below.

The construction scheduling process requires the involvement of a lot of people. So, it is essential to gather inputs from each key participant in the project. The best way to do this is to conduct a meeting involving all the different participants. The meeting brings together contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, stakeholders and more if necessary. Meeting objectives include determining and documenting client requirements, priorities, and objectives.

As soon as you have the list, reach out and find out how long it’ll take them to procure materials. After you have that information, you can expect to ask how long the project’s component will take. To estimate time correctly, you need to have this information handy.

In addition to the people directly involved in construction, you will need to consult the local code office for a list of requirements and what inspections you need to do throughout the build. It is crucial to do the proper research on code requirements for the type of construction and materials to be used, so you can make sure your project complies with best practices.

Budgeting your project will require you to talk to the project’s financial leads and advisors and map out when they’ll release funds for your project. Keeping the project moving forward will require a steady infusion of cash, so before you begin, it’s essential to understand the process in which financial manager disburse project funds. When you talk with the advisor before scheduling, you give them a big-picture view of the project and gain valuable insight into scheduling.

Having context and tools is one thing, but you must break down the project into specific steps to get from the construction plan to the completed project. It is essential to list every task required to end up with a successful construction to have an accurate construction schedule.

You can make this task easier by using tools like Primavera or Microsoft Project. Such tools allow the project planners to visualise your deliverables by starting with whatever you’re going to build, then breaking it down level by level until you’re at the essential components.

Gathering the team and subcontractors needed and consulting with them doesn’t hurt at this point. Next, you must create a detailed task list for your construction project to determine your construction schedule accurately. Tasks are what can derail a project, so pay attention to scope. It’s also important to remember that some tasks depend on others, so you’ll need to link them together.

After gathering as many tasks as possible, you need to arrange them in order according to priority. You can achieve this using a project management tool since it takes a complex project and distils it down to the essential parts, so you know when to work on them. Primavera and Microsoft Project are some of the tools you can use to spread these tasks over a project timeline.

To manage large projects, you should break them down into manageable pieces. You can divide an entire project into phases or milestones, but it helps to break it into smaller parts. Milestones would mean a particular point in the project that would mark an end of some significant phase like adding electrical or cementing the foundation of some sort. Assessing the milestones and the different tasks in the project with accuracy is vital for the construction scheduling to be effective.

After identifying the tasks and the people to do the tasks, it is crucial to have an accountability agreement among all the parties to ensure that someone will be accountable for whatever happens within the project. Establishing an accountability agreement is essential in any project to ensure that the project will push through no matter what.

List all the tasks required for the project and assign each one a start and finish date. You should make realistic assumptions when making these determinations. For example, weather forecasts are not always accurate, and construction schedules are dependent on the climate, especially in the long run. Thus, you should look at historical weather data to determine how the climate might affect the work.

After identifying the things indicated in tips one, two and three, the next step to make is to identify the risks and constraints that may arise in the whole project. For example, there may be constraints that prevent the fulfilment of every requirement. Budget, area, local construction codes, etc., are examples of constraints. And you must have a contingency plan for these.

On the other hand, risks negatively affect a project’s goals, schedule, and budget. Several risks include material availability, labour, funding, and the weather. Therefore, you need to identify constraints and risks early in the project to make sure you can schedule around them.

It takes constant monitoring to ensure construction schedules are accurate. There is no set construction schedule, at least none that has a good chance of succeeding. As things change, if you do not monitor and review the project, these changes can throw you off course or worse.

As such, make sure the construction schedule remains in line with the plan throughout all phases of the project. Check your schedule daily, and depending on your schedule, update it frequently. Using a tracking tool again will help you to keep track of the progress of your building project.

Ideally, you should schedule a weekly time to respond to daily updates to incorporate them into the schedule. However, due to time constraints, you might need to adjust the schedule weekly. Monitoring and adjusting your construction schedule as on-site and off-site issues arise perhaps the most critical part of keeping your project on schedule.

With all the things you need monitoring daily or weekly, making use of proper scheduling tools can expedite and further organise the process. Project management software allows for a simplified manner of activity tracking during the duration of the project. With a scheduling tool, you can plan, organise and manage everyone’s work from beginning to end. Moreover, it allows you to see data more efficiently with the help of graphs, bar charts and the likes.

Most project management tools also serve as collaboration tools. Meaning, project planners can coordinate the tasks that different people need to do. So you can quickly know what each team is doing for a particular period.

There are many providers in the market today; find out a project management tool that will suit your needs. In addition, different types of templates can surely help you with your construction schedule.

The construction industry is a fast-paced and ever-changing environment. It can be hard to stay on top of all the changes that are happening, but with the right project management software and experts by your side, you will have an easier time creating a perfect construction schedule.

Construction planning when working with clients becomes more than just organising a team to conduct specific tasks at particular times. It also becomes a way to allocate, monitor, and analyse the project to ensure it follows best practices. The construction industry would find itself in disarray, seeing frequent cost overruns and inefficiencies without proper construction project planning. With that, it is always best to understand the importance of schedules in addressing any project complexity.