Develop a project schedule

This standard is about developing a project schedule.

This involves being competent in schedule development and assurance techniques to develop a project schedule that meets the delivery requirements of the project and is justifiable to stakeholders.

Who this standard is for
This standard is for project controls-related roles, including project controls engineers, estimators, planners, schedulers, cost controllers, risk analysts, risk managers and contract managers.

---

1. explain to stakeholders the principles of developing plans, schedules, estimates, budgets and cost baselines including the interrelationship between the scheduling function and other project controls functions
2. gather and validate the information required to develop a project schedule
3. identify the internal and external factors that impact on the schedule
4. select and use techniques to develop a project schedule that meets project requirements by:
   • applying the estimate to the schedule
   • considering funding and cost constraints
   • deriving work activities from breakdown structures and coding
   • developing activity logic
   • identify critical and sub-critical paths and dependencies
   • capturing true scope, requirements, and objectives
   • considering resource demand loading, including levelling, smoothing and availability, dependencies, structures, and interfaces
   • considering progress measurement
   • considering risks and uncertainties
   • applying relevant assumptions and contingency
   • considering commercial requirements and their impact on assumptions and risk
5. create different types of schedules
6. utilise software appropriate to creating schedules
7. correctly apply version control
8. use appropriate scheduling assurance techniques and scheduling narratives to provide confidence in the project schedule
9. obtain and make use of specialist advice, when needed
10. produce the supporting basis of schedule
11. present schedules and basis of schedules to stakeholders
12. justify to stakeholders how a schedule meets requirements and make recommendations

---

1. the main terms used in scheduling
2. the principles of scheduling strategy and the hierarchy of schedules
3. typical internal and external factors that impact on the schedule
4. the importance of assumptions, contingencies, and allowances
5. planning logic activities, gaining input and validation from stakeholders to:
   • clarify project scope
   • incorporate project activities
   • identify the critical path
   • determine resource availability
   • identify dependencies
   • develop project structures
   • identify interfaces
   • risk-adjust plans
6. the different techniques used to produce schedules and when to apply them
7. progress measurement and rules of credit
8. breakdown and coding structures
9. how scheduling links too other disciplines, particularly the relationship between the schedule and the estimate
10. sources of relevant specialist advice
11. schedule version control
12. how to develop a basis of schedule and schedule narratives and their contents
13. schedule assurance techniques and how to apply them
14. the delivery processes and strategy used to design, construct and commission the project
15. formats for presenting schedules and basis of schedules and how to explain them to meet the needs of different stakeholders
16. schedule information required for an optimisation exercise
17. application of and limitations of software used for scheduling

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Additional information:

Types of schedules
these may include:

• critical milestones
• specific events
• required activities
• activity durations
• resource availability
• dependencies and interfaces

Techniques
These may include:

• manual e.g. post it note
• activity durations
• activity logic plans, including networks and sequences
• application of resources (resource loading)
• collaborative planning and scheduling skills
• cost loading
• critical path
• deriving work activities from a scope of work
• facilitative work practices
• forward pass, backward pass to calculate total float, free float and critical path
• leads and lags
• outlining resource availability, dependencies, structures, and interfaces
• risk-adjusting, in line with project, business and contractual risk profile and risk appetite
• digital engineering tools
  • Building Information Modelling (BIM)
  • 4D and 5D scheduling

Schedule assurance techniques
These may include:

• review of assumptions and contingencies
• benchmarking
• comparisons to historical data, published data and other projects
• schedule integrity analysis
• schedule quality check
• schedule risk analysis, including contingency assessment

Factors
These may include:

• risks
• interfaces
• constraints
• funding and cash flow
• time
• quality
• resource
• changes to work scope
• commercial requirements
• human factors such as optimism bias

---

---

---

1

---

2029

---

Current

---

Original

---

Engineering Construction Industry Training Board

---

ECI PC22, ECI PC25, ECI PC32, ECI PC34, ECI PC38, ECI PC71

---

Contract Manager, Engineer, Estimator, Risk Manager, Project Controls, Cost controller, Planner, Scheduler, Risk analyst

---

---

Schedule; scheduling; scheduling techniques; network diagram; sequencing; resource loading; cost loading; critical path; float; forward pass; backward pass; schedule narratives; basis of schedule; assurance; schedule assurance techniques; 4D scheduling; 5D scheduling; collaborative planning; collaboration

---