Features › Plans and publishing
Schedule quality checks
Schedule quality checks run 16 checks adapted from the DCMA 14-point assessment and give the schedule a score before you submit it.
Before you send a schedule to an owner or a DOT, run the schedule quality checks. They look for the problems a reviewer looks for (missing logic, hard constraints, stale progress and the like) and give the schedule a score. The checks are adapted from the DCMA 14-point assessment.
Where to find it
- in the editor, Tools ▾ → Schedule quality checks…;
- the Reports page: Schedule quality checks, then Open schedule quality checks…;
- the Dashboard's Schedule checks card: Details….
The dialog is titled Schedule quality checks.
The score
The dialog marks each check PASS or FAIL and sums it up in its first line, for example 88% — 14 of 16 checks pass; its PDF and Copy report print the same line, under the project's name, the title and the dates. The same score is called Schedule checks wherever it appears: the Projects page's column, the Dashboard's tile and card, the Company page's projects table and a training course's Students table.
Checks whose inputs don't exist yet, such as the progress checks before you set a data date, don't count against you: they are left out of the score. Under the results, Not checked (7) lists each one with the reason it didn't run, for example Work missing a progress update — needs a data date or Unstaffed crew — no task lists a crew yet. The reasons:
| Check | Not checked when |
|---|---|
| Invalid actual dates, Out-of-sequence progress | there is no data date and no task has an actual start or finish |
| Work missing a progress update | there is no data date |
| Stale progress | the project isn't Active |
| Unstaffed crew | no task lists a crew yet |
| Unfilled requirements | no task has bookings or equipment yet |
| Equipment with no crew | no task needs equipment yet |
Percentage checks measure remaining work, so completed work doesn't fail the audit. Click any check that shows a task count, or Tab to it and press Enter, to list the tasks behind it, and click a task to jump straight to it in the grid. The dialog opens with the keyboard's focus on the first failing check that lists tasks, else on Thresholds.
Each check in plain words
Logic
| Check | What it looks for |
|---|---|
| Missing logic | Unfinished tasks with no predecessor and no successor. The first start and the last finish are allowed. |
| Leads (negative lag) | Links with a negative lag (a wait between linked tasks). A lead can hide the true logic. |
| Excessive lags | Links with a lag longer than the limit. A cure time is fine; long lags hide scope. |
| Relationship types | Links that aren't finish-to-start. A schedule full of start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish links is harder to follow. |
Constraints & float
| Check | What it looks for |
|---|---|
| Hard constraints | Unfinished tasks pinned by a Must-Start-On or Must-Finish-On date, which overrides logic and can hide slippage. |
| High float | Unfinished tasks with more float (days a task can slip before it delays the finish) than the limit, often a sign of a missing successor. |
| Negative float | Unfinished tasks that can't meet a deadline or finish constraint on the current logic. |
| High duration | Unfinished tasks with more remaining duration than the limit. Long tasks should usually be broken down. |
Statusing
| Check | What it looks for |
|---|---|
| Invalid actual dates | An actual start or finish after the data date: work can't have happened in the future. |
| Out-of-sequence progress | Tasks that started before their predecessors allow. |
| Work missing a progress update | Work under way that hasn't been updated as of the data date and, with a baseline, work the baseline expected to have started that shows no progress. |
| Baseline set | Whether the project has an active baseline to measure against. |
| Stale progress | Tasks under way whose progress hasn't been updated for longer than the limit (Active projects only). |
The first three apply once there is a data date (the first two also once any task has actual dates). See Progress tracking and the Projects page and Baselines and variance.
Resourcing
| Check | What it looks for |
|---|---|
| Unstaffed crew | Unfinished tasks with a ? crew entry: crew needed, nobody found. Applies once the project uses crew. |
| Unfilled requirements | Unfinished tasks whose crew or equipment still has an open slot. Applies once the project has equipment or assigned people. |
| Equipment with no crew | Equipment planned with no crew line at all, so no trade is asked for to run it. A crew line still to be found (marked ?) still passes. Applies once the project has equipment. |
A project with neither equipment nor assigned people scores exactly as it would without these last two checks. See Crew planning and Equipment on tasks.
Thresholds
The limits start at the DCMA values. Open Thresholds in the dialog to change them; Apply thresholds saves them with the project, so a district's agreed tolerances travel with it, and Reset to DCMA defaults puts them back.
Sharing the result
Copy report puts a plain-text summary on the clipboard for an email. PDF report produces a letterhead document titled "Schedule quality checks", with the project and company, the failures flagged in red and the tables of tasks behind them. It survives email: it is the submittal copy. Both end with the same Not checked list as the dialog, each check with its reason.
Who can use it
Anyone who can open the project in the editor. Field accounts don't see it. See Who can see and do what.
Describes Ganttry 1.15.0. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.