CM776- Construction

Project Planning &

Scheduling
MBA CPM/CEQS 2020-2021
Riddha Basu
Lecture 4
Critical Path Method on
PDM
Critical Path Method: The Key
Parameters
Early Start
• The earliest time by when an activity can be started in a project
• If an activity has no predecessor, then its early start = project start date
• If there are predecessors, then its early start is calculated based on the early start/ early finish date of the
predecessors.
Early Finish
• The earliest time by when an activity can be finished in a project
• Early finish (EF)= Early start (ES) + Duration of the activity
Late Start
• The latest time by when an activity has to start, if the activity start is delayed beyond its late start date then the
whole project will be delayed
• Late start (LS)= Late Finish (LF)- Duration of the activity
Late Finish
• The latest time by when an activity has to finish, if the activity finish is delayed beyond its late finish date then the
whole project will be delayed
• If an activity has no successor then its late finish= the project completion date
• If there are successors, then the late finish date is calculated based on late start/ late finish date of its successors
 Forward Pass: Formula for ES
and EF
In critical path method, forward pass is the process of calculating ES and EF of each activity in the project

i j

Relationship with Formula for Early Start of j Formula for Early Finish j
predecessor (i)
Finish to start Early Finish of Predecessor +/- lead or lag Early Start of the activity + duration of the
lead/ lag activity
Start to start Early Start of Predecessor +/- lead or lag Early Start of the activity + duration of the
lead/ lag activity
Finish to finish Early Finish of the activity- duration of the Early Finish of Predecessor +/- lead or lag
activity lead/ lag
Start to finish Early Finish of the activity- duration of the Early Start of Predecessor +/- lead or lag
activity lead/ lag
 Forward Pass: Formula for ES
and EF
How to calculate ES or EF if there are multiple predecessors for an activity?
• Step 1: Calculate ES/EF dates for the relationships given with each predecessor
individually.
• Step 2: Take the maximum values as final ES and EF of the activity.

This is because, the ES/EF of an activity should be calculated in such a manner that all of
its predecessors must start/finish before the start/ finish of the concerned activity
depending upon its relationships with the predecessors.
 Backward Pass: Formula for ES
and EF
In critical path method, backward pass is the process of calculating LS and LF of each activity in the project

i j
Relationship with Formula for Late Start of i Formula for Late Finish of i
Successor j
Finish to start Late Finish of the activity – duration of the Late Start of Successor +/- lead or lag
activity lead/ lag
Start to start Late Start of Successor +/- lead or lag Late Start of the activity + duration of the
lead/ lag activity
Finish to finish Late Finish of the activity – duration of the Late Finish of Successor +/- lead or lag
activity lead/ lag
Start to finish Late Finish of Successor +/- lead or lag Late Start of the activity + duration of the
lead/ lag activity
 Backward Pass: Formula for LS
and LF
How to calculate LS or LF if there are multiple successors for an activity?
• Step 1: Calculate LS/LF dates for the relationships given with each successor
individually.
• Step 2: Take the minimum values as final LS and LF of the activity.

This is because, the LS/LF of an activity should be calculated in such a manner that none
of its successors are delayed beyond their respective LS/LF dates.
Critical Path Method: The Key
Parameters
Total Project Duration:
EF of last activity in the project- ES of first activity in the project
Critical path:
• Longest path in a project which provides the minimum time required to
complete a project
• Sometimes a project may have more than one critical paths.
Critical activity:
• Activities on critical path(s) are called critical activities
Critical Path Method: The Key
Parameters
Total Float Total float of Critical
Total Float: Activities
• Definition: Total float of an activity is Time available to complete the >0
the time by which the activity can be project > Time required to
complete the project
delayed without delaying total project Time available to complete the 0
duration. project = Time required to
• Total float of an activity j is calculated complete the project
Time available to complete the <0 (Negative float)
as: project < Time required to
• TFj= LSj- ESj (Also called start float) complete the project
• Or TFj= LFj- EFj (Also called finish float)
Critical Path Method: The Key
Parameters
Free Float:
It is the time by which an activity can be delayed without delaying the total project
duration.
i j
Relationship with j Formula for calculating FF of i
FS ESj- lagij- EFi
SS ESj- lagij- ESi
FF EFj- lagij- EFi
SF EFj- lagij- ESi

If there are more than one successor for an activity; then calculate FF for each
successor individually and take the minimum as final FF of the activity
Finish to Start
Relationships
ES/ EF & LS/LF
Finish to Start
Relationships
Total Float & Free Float
Start to Start Relationships
ES/ EF & LS/LF
Start to Start Relationships
Total Float & Free Float
Finish to Finish
Relationships
ES/ EF & LS/LF
Finish to Finish
Relationships
Total Float & Free Float
Start to Finish
Relationships
ES/ EF & LS/LF
Start to Finish
Relationships
Total Float & Free Float
 Example 1
Calculate ES/EF/LS/LF/TFL and FFL of each activity and determine the critical path and
total project duration
Solution:
4 /0 4 /0 4 /4 12/16/13 18/22/19
0 /0 0 /0
0 1 3 8 8 13 13 14 16 22
0 1 7 12 12 17 17 18 16 22
4/0/3 5 /1/4 0 /0 0 /0 Legend:
4 8 12 18 TFL/FFL
4 8 12 18 ES EF
ACTIVITY
3/3 LS DUR LF
2 11
5 14
Critical Path: A-C-F-H
Project Duration: 22 days
Example 2
• Draw a precedence diagram based upon the information given below,
and do CPM calculations to complete the table
A/c Duration IPA ES EF LS LF TF FF
A 2
B 5 A SS+5
C 7 A
D 10 A SS+3
E 4 B FF+2
F 6 C,D
G 1 E,F
Solution:
Legend:
TFL/FFL
0/0 4/4 0 /0 ES EF
0 2 9 13 19 ACTIVITY
A 2 C F
0 2 7 6 LS DUR LF
2 6 13 13 19
0 /0 Critical Path: A-D-F-G
Project Duration: 20 days
3 D 13
0 /0
3 10 13 19 20
7 /0 G
5 10 19 1 20
B
12 5 17
7 /7 2
8 E 12
15 4 19
Critical Path Method on
ADM
Common CPM Computations
Activity Computations
• Early Dates (ESij and EFij)
• Late Dates (LSij and LFij)
• Floats
– Total Float (TFLij)
– Free Float (FFLij)
Event Computations:
• Early Event Time (EETi)
• Late Event Time (LETi)
Project Computations:
• Project Duration
• Critical Path(s)
Forward Pass
Backward Pass
Float Calculations
Total Float
Independent Float

Free Float Interfering Float

 Example 1
Solution
TFL/FFL
EETi ESij Activity i-j EFij EETj
i j
LETi LSij D ij LFij LETj

Project Duration: 19 days

Calculate ES, EF, LS, LF, TFL Critical Path: A-C-E-F
& FFL of the activities.
Determine project
duration & critical path
 Class Assignment
Calculate ES, EF, LS, LF, TFL & FFL of the activities. Determine project duration & critical path
I
30 E 70 90
6 3
F O
B 5 R M 5
7
4 5

A C J Q
G 110 120
10 20 40 60 80
4 8 3 5
3

D H N
5 K 8 P
4 7 4

L
50 100

12
Project Duration: 40 days TFL/FFL
Critical Path: A-D-H-G-J-N-P-Q EETi ESij Activity i-j EFij EETj
i j
LETi LSij D ij LFij LETj

11 8 3 1
10 10 16 24 24I
30 E 70
27 28
9030
10
15 21
10 6 27 27 27 3 30
28
15 24 28
5 0 30
15 F5 5 27 30 O2 2
2 0
B 5 3 0 R M 5
7
4 5 33 0 0
0 0 5 5 0 0 15 20 0 0 35
3 20 23 23 25 Q 40
A 8 C J 35 35 40
3 3 7 12 12 G 20 20 23 23 110 120
10 0 0 20 3 40 6020 80 35 35 40 40
0 3 8 12 12 12 20 20 23 23 23 5
0 3 3 4 8 20 3 14 35
3 12 12 23 35
3 23 0 0 0 0
0 0 H 5 N
00 D 9 9
K 8 P
4 7 4
7 7 31
7 7 12 12 31 31 31
7 7 16 7 L 19 10031
50
7 19 31 31
12
Thank You