Cost and schedule are inherently connected in construction, but schedule data offers a critical advantage: it acts as a leading indicator of risk. While cost data tracks financial performance, the schedule outlines every activity and its sequence, providing a clear roadmap to project completion. To leverage the schedule to its fullest potential, a thoughtful approach to construction schedule analysis is essential. This involves systematically evaluating project timelines to assess progress, identify potential delays, and determine the most efficient path forward.
The Importance of Construction Schedule Analysis
Regular construction schedule analysis gives stakeholders a clear view of progress, performance issues, delays, and potential future risks. It is critical for all decision-makers – on both the Contractor and the Owner side – who need to make informed business decisions that can’t be achieved through cost data alone.
Essentially, a proper performance assessment is incomplete without a thorough schedule review. For example, tracking planned versus actual progress, pinpointing key delays, and evaluating re-sequencing decisions all rely on accurate schedule data. When updated and maintained consistently, the schedule provides the clearest view of overall project performance. This level of detail is vital for understanding delays and forecasting their impact on future timelines.
In short, a disciplined approach to construction schedule analysis throughout the project lifecycle improves accountability, enhances performance, strengthens communication, and drives better decision-making – ultimately increasing the likelihood of meeting project objectives. However, despite its utility, challenges in effective scheduling remain, underscoring the need for consistent and thoughtful management.
Looking at the Numbers:
An analysis of over 50,000 project schedules conducted by SmartPM revealed several key trends, highlighting a common challenge in the construction industry: most projects face scheduling issues.
- By the project midpoint, fewer than 12% of schedules matched their intended progress goals.
- 60% of projects were compressed, indicating unfeasible timelines.
- 76% of projects, when evaluated against their baseline schedules, show signs of delay.
These findings are consistent with broader industry data:
- Annual losses attributed to poor productivity range between $30 billion to $40 billion, as reported by FMI.
- The World Economic Forum suggests that investing 1% of construction costs into efficiency measures could yield global savings of $100 billion.
- According to the McKinsey Global Institute, an overwhelming 77% of mega-projects worldwide are at least 40% behind schedule.
- The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reports that 72% of firms experience longer durations than anticipated.
- McKinsey Global Institute also notes that large projects typically conclude 20% later than their original schedules.
- PMI’s Pulse of the Profession indicates that poor project performance wastes 9.9% of every dollar spent.
The Overlooked Role of the Schedule in Project Management
While the construction industry generally acknowledges the importance of planning and scheduling, the project schedule is often underutilized as a management tool. Frequently, schedules are created at the start of the project with unrealistic timelines, inadequate logic or sequencing, undefined activities, and insufficient or strained resources. In many cases, team input is also lacking during the schedule’s development.
As the project moves into execution, the schedule is too often treated as an afterthought or a “necessary evil” rather than a critical tool for managing the work. Delays occur, but they are frequently accepted without accountability or transparency, and recovery efforts are forecasted without considering historical performance. Many teams use the schedule to plan the work but fail to use it effectively to manage the work as it unfolds.
What’s typically missing is continuous and contemporaneous analysis of the schedule in areas such as:
- Schedule Quality: Was the schedule built with best practices?
- Identification of Critical Delays: What key activities are directly delaying or impacting milestones?
- Recovery Decisions: Were corrective actions overoptimistic, aggressive, or haphazard?
- Misleading Information: Were any changes made that were questionable, infeasible, or meant to obscure delays?
- Schedule Compression: How much compression is built into the schedule, and at what point does it become unachievable?
- Updating the Schedule: Is the schedule being updated to reflect reality as more information becomes available?
- Delay Forecasting: Are future delays being accurately forecasted based on patterns observed thus far?
The Path to Construction Schedule Analysis
Creating and maintaining high-quality schedules is essential for preventing overruns, controlling costs, and ensuring project success. The good news is there’s a way to achieve this through a structured approach to construction schedule analysis.
Our full ebook explores four key methods that will help you analyze and manage your construction schedules more effectively:
- Schedule Quality Analysis: Ensure your schedule follows best practices with logical task sequences and realistic durations to minimize risk.
- Critical Path Analysis: Identify the longest chain of dependent activities to understand the direct impact of any delays on your project’s completion date.
- Recovery Analysis: Learn how to identify corrective actions to bring delayed projects back on track.
- Feasibility Analysis: Assess whether your project plan is realistic, using historical data to forecast risks and prevent future bottlenecks.
These proven methodologies will provide the necessary insights to avoid common pitfalls and keep your construction projects on track.
For a deeper dive into each of these strategies and actionable insights on how to apply them to your projects, download our ebook on construction schedule analysis. Gain the tools you need to uncover the root causes of delays and cost overruns – and take control over your project’s outcome.
