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Tips on Linking Activities – Chapter 03

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In the previous chapter we have seen what could be the possible impact on the activities linked with either ‘Start to Start’ or ‘Finish to Finish’ links after updates on predecessors.   You must have also noted that in case of ‘Start to Start’ link if the predecessors are delayed then the impact is not shown on the activity and its successors, which is extremely risky. Similarly in case of ‘Finish to Finish’ link if the predecessor is delayed in start but finishes on time the technical condition for starting may not be met with. However it is not as risky as the ‘Start to Start’ link case. Now I am check the same schedule with ‘Finish to Start’ links. With ‘Finish to Start’ link; to match the technical conditions at both the start and end, I am considering that the Plastering starts after finishing block masonry but with a lead of 6 days. Similarly the Painting starts after finishing plastering but with a lead of 6 days. Choosing this particular lead has a reason with som...
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Tips on Linking Activities – Chapter 02

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Continuing further on the topic with the summary of the previous article: The links of ‘Start to Start’ or ‘Finish to Finish’ on their own are not sufficient for preparing the Schedule & Planners should not get carried away with the end dates alone, Planners must check each & every activity to ensure: a)    The technical conditions are met with for both start and end dates for activities b)    The idling or the over-allocation of resources. Let’s check with some more limitations of these same links using the same example as given in Chapter 01.   The Typical List of Activities were: Block-work Masonry - Flat 101 Plastering – Flat 101 Painting – Flat 101 Block-work Masonry - Flat 102 Plastering – Flat 102, Painting – Flat 102 Block-work Masonry - Flat 103 Plastering – Flat 103 Painting – Flat 103 Further for ease of understanding and meeting the technical conditions I am considering that for a flat the Block masonry takes 18 ...
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Tips on Linking Activities – Chapter 01

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Further to my Tips on ‘Activity Description’ or ‘Naming the Activity’, I am now giving some tips on linking the activities. Every planner knows that there are 4 type of links available for use; which are: Finish to Start – FS – Activity ‘B’ can start after finishing Activity ‘A’ Start to Start – SS – Activity ‘B’ can start after starting Activity ‘A’ Finish to Finish – FF – Activity ‘B’ can finish after finishing Activity ‘A’ Start to Finish – SF – Activity ‘B’ must start for finishing Activity ‘A’ Most commonly used Link is ‘FS’ and least or almost never used, is ‘SF’. The remaining 2 Links of ‘SS’ and ‘FF’ is used by some planners however not all of them are aware of the limitations which are must while using these links. Off course, there are some adjustments in terms of ‘Lead’ and ‘Lag’ which are also used along with the Links. While ‘Primavera’ allows the use of SS & FF links to same activity to give a good amount of control; Microsoft Project” does not allows the ...
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Tips on WBS and Activity Description:

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Most planners use any available template for preparing the WBS & Activity list, without considering the pattern of BOQ. Later they may suffer in preparing the status reports for higher management as the focus of higher management would be in the progress achieved against BOQ or say the progress achieved in ‘Money’ terms. The BOQ can be prepared in various ways; for example some may prepare it structure wise & others may prepare it Item of work wise. The available template is useful only if the Procurement Strategy & Scope is similar and the BOQ pattern is same. Please go through my previous article *Planning to prepare a Plan" to pickup the threads. The article is available on my website & blog for which the links are given at the bottom line of this article. One may also access the article on linked-in. The most practical way is to prepare the WBS & activities based on the format of BOQ. In case where the BOQ is prepared Structure wise, after the Project t...
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Final Part - Construction Planning Simplified

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This is the 4 th and final chapter in this series of simplifying construction planning process for the Construction Team Members. The sole purpose of this entire series was to create awareness in Construction Engineers about how vital their contribution is in the planning process. It was essential for them to know the meaning and use of various terms used in planning; various steps of planning & scheduling right from planning to make a plan, Logistics, Methodology, Decomposition of the whole project, Phasing and Zoning etc. and then Sequencing of works. Naturally in all of these steps the experts in construction need to give valuable inputs and contribute. Further for determining the resources and duration for any activity, their data on productivity based on past experience and the difficulty level of works to modify the productivity is indispensable as planner would have much lower exposure as compared to Construction Managers. Overall, any planning is useless if it does not tak...
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