Our involvement in project schedules begins as early as a project’s development and extends through design, procurement, construction, closeout, and turnover. We not only use industry-recognized CPM scheduling software but we also integrate the project’s Building Information Model (BIM) data to align scope and schedule and utilize earned value management analytics to align schedule and cost.
Having a master schedule in place at the earliest stages of project development is instrumental to effective project management. Our master schedules address the entire project or program life cycle. They include activities for all phases of design, contractor procurement, permitting, swing space, mobilization, construction and associated phasing, commissioning, certification/accreditation, outfitting, third party contract work, transition, burn-in. and initial operation periods. These schedules represent the project or program in its entirety.
Our master schedules can also be used to assess critical project logistics and incorporate these constraints on sequence and duration into the schedule. The master schedule can then reflect consideration for phasing of swing space and renovation, site access for and movement of materials and workers, construction alongside ongoing operations, and other issues. These master schedules are instrumental in identifying “pinch points” early on and developing strategies to address their impacts on the project duration.
The most significant scheduling effort in the project life cycle takes place during the construction phase. The development of a feasible baseline schedule, the production of accurate and reasonable schedule updates, and the preparation of recovery schedules, when needed, require design, construction, and scheduling expertise. MBP schedulers bring that experience to all the projects we support. We serve both contractor and owner clients throughout the construction phase. For our contractor clients, we collaboratively prepare baseline, update, and recovery schedules that meet the contract requirements and represent realistic schedules with achievable milestones. For our owner clients, we review and assess contractor schedule submissions and provide insight as to their reasonableness and accuracy. We offer guidance to all our clients – contractors and owners – that will result in schedules that represent the best path to project completion.
Change in construction is inevitable and effective project managers need to be able to proactively and expeditiously assess the time impact of changes on the overall project schedule. MBP serves both contractor and owner clients in analyzing the time impact of changes. For our contractor clients, we collaboratively prepare time impact analyses that comply with contract requirements and accurately reflect the likely schedule impact associated with the change. For our owner clients, we review and assess the contractor’s time impact analyses and provide insight as to the reasonableness of the requested time extension. At all times, we provide recommendations for time extensions which are based on our assessment of the anticipated level of effort required to complete the changed work and a sequence of work that will minimize impact to other ongoing construction operations.
The integration of Building Information Models (BIM) and CPM schedules in 4D scheduling provides a visualization of the construction sequence that can readily identify potential phasing and construction conflicts and out-of-sequence work. MBP brings together BIM design models with scheduling software to develop baseline 4D schedules to vet constructibility. MBP also utilizes 4D schedule updates to track as-built performance against planned performance. Integration of BIM coordination models into the schedule updates allows for more detailed visualization of progress in 4D.
Through the use of earned value analysis tools, MBP offers enhanced insight into the health of a project and its likelihood of completing on time and within budget. Earned value management (EVM) provides additional data points so we can compare cost and schedule of work completed with the actual value of the work in place. By tracking cost and schedule variances as well as cost and schedule efficiencies, we provide a more in-depth assessment of project status. MBP provides EVM analytics alongside our schedule reviews to assist our clients to align and track both cost and schedule performance.
