General contractors, subcontractors and construction managers
For Developers, Owners & Public Entities
A baseline may be one source for assessing planned work and later events. The submission and review history, updates, actual performance and contract-administration record can inform its relevance to a particular question.
Review looks at whether activity detail, logic, constraints, calendars, resource assumptions and float treatment represent the proposed work. A discrepancy can come from modeling choices, incomplete information or error.
An analysis tests the schedule against the contract's requirements and against itself: whether the sequence is buildable, whether the critical path is credible, whether the durations reconcile with the proposed manpower, and what material assumptions or departures need clarification before acceptance.
Analyzing a baseline is not proofreading it. The submission will calculate, print and look orderly; the question is whether it describes the job the contract actually bought. That is answered by interrogating the things a tidy printout conceals, constraints, calendars, float and the logic underneath the bars.
Constraints can affect calculated dates, float and critical-path results. Analysts may consider their purpose, placement and effects in relation to the project, contract and selected analytical approach.
Working calendars, seasonal conditions, weather assumptions and exposed work may affect planned durations and the meaning of a schedule forecast. Their significance depends on the project facts, records and administration of schedule submissions and reviews.
Possible assignment considerations
Compare the submission to what the contract actually required in detail, coding, format and content, before assessing its substance.
Examine constraints, lags, open ends and redundant relationships, and test whether the calculated critical path reflects how the work will be built.
Assess durations against the quantities and resources implied, and confirm the calendars reflect realistic working time including seasonal conditions.
Set out the findings and what accepting each one would mean later, so acceptance is a decision rather than a formality.
Considerations and limitations
Schedule detail and logic affect what a schedule can show. Constraints and duration assumptions affect the calculation. A limitation in one area is assessed for its significance to the question; it does not make the rest of the project record disappear.
A baseline may be one source for assessing planned work and later events. The submission and review history, updates, actual performance and contract-administration record can inform its relevance to a particular question.
Comments given verbally or informally, leaving nothing to show what was raised and what was accepted.
Baseline Construction Schedule Analysis
Also in this practice