4 Ideas to Craft the Perfect Construction Timeline
One of the most important steps to take when bidding for and planning out a project is the timeline. If the project timeline is too long, the client may not be happy, and you may not be awarded the project.
On the other hand, if the timeline is too short, it may be unrealistic, and your crew may simply not be able to complete it. They may find that there’s little to no time to search for good concrete forms for sale or get construction vendors and contractors booked.
To that end, these tips will help you put together the perfect construction timeline that is just right.
1. Use Bar Charts
Bar charts are very useful, simple to use, and highly effective. To begin, make a list of everything that needs to happen on your job site, the date that the project should begin, how long it will take, and when it should be completed.
Then draw a line (or use a tool such as a spreadsheet program) and mark off days or months along it. Next, draw a bar for each activity on your list from the start date to the end date.
When you’re done, you’ll have multiple bars along your timeline, moving in a gradual curve as the timeline proceeds. This visual makes it fairly easy to see what tasks are happening now, which ones are completed, and which ones are coming up.
You can make your bar charts more detailed by adding extra information to each bar, such as the resources needed, the estimated cost, and any other factors that you may need to see at a glance.
2. Q Scheduling
As the name suggests, quantitative or Q Scheduling is a form of timelining that focuses on quantity. This is a newer technique that is designed to show the relation between costs and the various activities that make up the total project.
The Q can also stand for Queue Scheduling in that tasks are mainly done sequentially. There is no interference or crossover between two tasks at the same job site. That doesn’t mean multiple tasks can’t be done at the same time, just that resources/crew members allocated to one activity must work on that activity until it’s complete.
3. Line of Balance
A similar type of scheduling technique is called Line of Balance. This is the preferred scheduling method for repetitive tasks. Resources are allocated for each task, and the goal is to complete each task, so the following activities can start on time.
Critical Path
The Critical Path method is a little more detailed than the other options.Once you have your list of tasks for the project, each of them is linked to the other tasks that they connect to. This lets you see what tasks have to be completed before other tasks can begin.
It’s a good method for projects that must be completed in specific sequential order, which is the case for many tasks in a construction project.
A Critical Path method can also be used to note early and late finish dates. Your late finish dates are the absolute last possible date for a task to be completed, while early finish dates note the earliest a task can be finished.
If your project is hitting many of your early finish dates, it means the entire project is ahead of schedule. On the other hand, if you’re hitting more of your late finish dates, it can indicate a problem, or you can expect some delay.
Let Us Help You Hit Those Early Finish Dates
Forming America is here to make certain you have all of the concrete forming and shoring equipment needed to get your project off to a good start. Contact us today to discuss your needs and how we can help you.