Construction Management

Engr Hussain Mehmood

Department of Civil Engineering, Sarhad University Peshawar.

 The Critical Path Method
(CPM)

May 12, 2019 2

Introduction
Suppose that you meet with two friends and decide to go on a
hunting trip.
You must do specific activity such that the trip will be at the
right way. The following activity must be done.

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From chart you can see that the 3rd activity (preparing the jeep) have the
longest period of time any delay with this activity leads to delay in the trip
this activity is a “critical activity”

Critical activity : An activity on the critical path any delay on the start or
finish of a critical activity will result in a delay in the entire project

Critical path : The longest path in a network from start to finish

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Steps Required To Schedule a Project
The preparation of CPM includes the following four steps:

1- Determine the work activities:

The project must be divided into smaller activities or
tasks .
The activity shouldn’t be more than 14-20 days
(long durations should be avoided)
Use WBS in scheduling by using an order of letters
and numbers

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 Steps to Schedule a Project
2. Estimate activity durations:
– Duration = Total Quantity/Productivity
– = 10,000 M3 / 800 M3/day
– = 12.5 days ≈ 13 days
– Multiple crews – multiple shifts
– Productivity adjustment factors
– Define calendars

Slide No. 6
Estimating Activity Duration

Time Interval
 Time Interval is selected according to the nature of the
activity (seconds - minutes…)

 It is common practice in construction industry to use

calendar day.

 Use one and only one time unit for any schedule.

Sources
1. From company’s record

2. From standard estimating guide

3.Interviewing field personnel.

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Weather and Contingency Allowance

 Two approaches for assignment of weather allowance:

1. Add the Weather Allowance at the end of the project as a separate activity.

2. Add Weather Allowance to those affected by the weather.

3.Add weather allowance at the end of each construction segment (site

preparation, foundation, … etc.)

Contingency items
Other activities can be added to allow for contingency such as strikes

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3- Determine the logical relationships :
This step is a technical matter and obtained from
the project manager and technical team, and
logical relationships shouldn’t confused with
constraints

4- Draw the logic network and perform the CPM

calculations

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5-Review and analyze the schedule:

1. review the logic

2. Make sure the activity has the correct predecessor

3. make sure there is no redundant activity

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6- Implement the schedule:

Definition: take the schedule from paper to the execution.

7-Monitor and control the schedule:

Definition: comparing what we planed with what

actually done.

8-Revise the database and record feedback.

9-Resource allocation and leveling.

(will discuss in next lectures)
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Example
Draw the logic network and perform the CPM calculations for the schedule shown
next.

Activity IPA Duration

A - 5
B A 8
C A 6
D B 9
E B,C 6
F C 3
G D,E,F 1

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Forward pass calculations

In mathematical terms, the ES for activity j is as follows :

ESj =max( EFi )

where (EFi) represents the EF for all preceding activities.

Likewise, the EF time for activity j is as follows :

EF j= ESj + Dur j

where Dur j is the duration of activity j

Forward pass: The process of navigating through a network from start to

end and calculating the completion date for the project and the early dates
for each activity

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Solution :

5,13 13,22
B D
8 9
0,5
13,19 22,23
A G
E
5 1
6
5,11 11,14
C F
6 3

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 CPM Definitions
• The Critical Path: The longest path in a
network from start to finish
– The definition “the path with zero float” is
inaccurate
– The critical path represents the summation of the
durations of activities along that path, including
lags

Slide No. 16
 CPM Definitions
– For every network, there must be at least one critical path but
there might be more than one critical path
– Multiple paths may share one or more activities
– Activities on the critical path, by definition, have no float (unless
in some cases of imposed finished date, critical activities then
are those with least float)
– A critical activity: An activity on the critical path. It is an activity
that is if delayed, the entire project will get delayed

Slide No. 17
 CPM Definitions
• Early Start, ES: The earliest date the activity can start within
project constraints
• Early Finish, EF: The earliest date the activity can finish within
project constraints
• Late Start, LS: The latest date the activity can start without
delaying the completion of the project
• Late Finish, LF: The latest date the activity can finish without
delaying the completion of the project

Slide No. 18
 CPM Definitions
Total Float, TF: The maximum amount of time
an activity can be delayed from its early start
(ES) without delaying the entire project
• TF = LS – ES = LF – EF = LF – ES – Dur
Free Float, FF: may be defined as the maximum
amount of time an activity can be delayed
without delaying the early start of the
succeeding activities. FF = min(ES ) - EF i i+1 i

where min (ESi+1) means the least (i.e., earliest) of the early
start dates of succeeding activities

Slide No. 19
Solution :

5,13 13,22
B D
8 9
0,5 5,13 13,19 13,22 22,23
A G
E
5 1
6
0,5
16,22 22,23
5,11 11,14
C F
6 3
10,16 19,22

CPM ( ES = LS , EF = LF , TF = FF = 0)
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Node Format

ES Activity ID EF

Activity Name

LS Duration LF

TF FF

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