Every job has a schedule. Some schedules are formal, some are informal, some schedules are pulled out of the air, but all jobs have a day on which they start and a day they finish. In between are a whole bunch of seemingly unrelated but integrated activities that result in a building being built.
A schedule does not drive the building. The building, its size, location, financing, type of structure, etc., drive the schedule. You wouldn’t have the same type of schedule for apartments that you would for a strip shopping center.
I’ve always said it doesn’t matter what kind of schedule is chosen, whether it be a simple bar chart, a more formal Gantt chart, or even a full-blown critical path method one, as long there is something on paper for all trades to see. The days of even a doghouse being built without a schedule that someone can sue and be sued over are gone.
What kind of schedule do you use?
What kind of schedule should be chosen for a given project? In Year 2003 dollars, if a project is less than $1 million in total cost, I can’t see the need for anything fancier than a typical Gantt chart that we’re all familiar with, showing the respective trades start and finish dates for major phases of the project. This is because in the end, if the building’s not completed by the finish date, then the lawyers get involved anyway when and if it goes into liquidated damages.
If it’s over a million bucks and especially if the project: 1) has a duration of more than one calendar year; 2) consists of more than one type of building, which may or may not be physically connected to one another; and 3) has specialized, non-typical components such as in a medical or scientific facility, then a full-blown CPM chart is needed. This is because the need for phasing multi-trade room-level breakdowns are greater, and the effect that schedule limitations have on actual production are increased.
If time/money/crew efforts don’t need to be cost-weighted, such as on smaller projects, then there’s no need for a CPM chart. It’s the process of automating scheduling accelerations and decelerations and subsequent cost and time adjustments using such software as Primavera’s P3/SureTrak that make doing a CPM schedule for larger jobs worthwhile.
Once the schedule is created, then comes the critical task of doing a schedule of values overlay that puts allowable draws on specific completed activities as spelled out originally in the schedule. A schedule of values is normally required as part of contract documents. I can’t fathom a new commercial building contract in modern times not requiring one. Screw up doing the schedule of values and your company’s cash flow gets stretched if not totally screwed up. Then your job bonus is gone at a minimum, if not your job.
Of course everyone plays the game of front-loading the schedule of values as much as possible, and all other parties on the opposite side of the fence, the owners and architects in particular, know that all contractors try to front-load.
Do I front-load my own schedule of values? You betcha. It’s part of my job. I really don’t think it’s the least bit dishonest to do so, either. Why not? Because we’re not going to get a single dime more than what was contracted for. It’s just a matter of exactly when we get those dimes during the contract. The job is bonded and we lose our collective behinds if it’s not done on time. So, to me, trying to extract a little cash cushion up front to help internally finance the job is definitely part of my job.
How should a schedule of values be generated? I hope that during your estimate you took off everything by plan sheet or even by each room so you can go back and refer to your green sheets to see what labor and materials were assigned to what activity and where. If you didn’t, then you’re either going to have to do some thumbnail takeoffs so you can assign dollars to them, or else pull the numbers out of the air. It’s okay to pull numbers out of thin air, as long as you have the experience, proven track record and present trade knowledge to do so. Kinda silly to do it that way if you ask me, but it’s done all the time that way in real life.
Normally, except on tiny jobs where little breakdown is needed, I’ll do a thumbnail takeoff of equipment and major fixtures assigned to phases of the main schedule and combine it with “massaging” the labor to front-load as much as I can get away with. I ask for payments for mobilization, special insurance requirements, bonding, and other upfront costs that might not be spelled out in the contract but which the architect will generally approve anyway if asked for politely as schedule of values line items.
The bottom line is the schedule can be your friend or your enemy. Run your jobs right and tight and it’ll be your friend.
Kent Craig is a second-generation mechanical contractor and project manager with unlimited Master’s licenses in boilers, air conditioning, heating, and plumbing. He may be reached by calling 919-851-3985, or via email at [email protected].