Construction Project Management - Tips/Tools/Techniques

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...

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 ...

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 ...