Check the schedule before you submit it

By the end of this workflow your schedule has been through the same kind of audit an owner or a DOT reviewer runs, the problems it finds are fixed or explained, and you have a report to send with it.

Who does this#

The project's scheduler or project manager: an Editor or an Admin. See Who can see and do what.

Before you start#

• The schedule is built and linked.
• If this is a progress update, apply it first (see Update progress and the data date). The progress checks only run once the project has a data date, and one of them looks for a baseline.

Steps#

1. 1
   Open the checks. In the editor choose Tools ▾ → Schedule quality checks… (Schedule quality checks describes all sixteen checks and their thresholds). From Reports (see the Reports page), pick Schedule quality checks in the library and press Open schedule quality checks….
2. 2
   Read the score. The top line gives a percentage and how many checks pass, for example 88% — 14 of 16 checks pass. Below it, each check shows PASS or FAIL, its figure, and how many tasks it flags. Hover a check's name to see what it looks for. Checks that can't apply yet, for example because there is no data date, are left out rather than failed, and listed under Not checked below the results, each with its reason, such as Work missing a progress update — needs a data date.

3. 3
   Open a failing check. Click it to list the tasks that fail it, each with its row number and name.
4. 4
   Jump to a task. Click a task in the list. The dialog closes and the task is selected in the grid.
5. 5
   Fix it. What the fix is depends on the check. A task with Missing logic needs a predecessor or a successor. A Leads (negative lag) link needs its negative lag removed. Negative float means a deadline or a finish constraint the chain of work can't meet. Unstaffed crew means a crew entry still marked with ?.
6. 6
   Run it again. Open Schedule quality checks… again. The score and the lists reflect your changes.

7. 7
   Adjust the thresholds, if your contract says so. Open Thresholds below the checks, change the numbers your owner agreed, and press Apply thresholds. They are saved with the project, so everyone who opens it uses them. Reset to DCMA defaults puts them back.
8. 8
   Send the report. PDF report makes a letterhead document with the score, the failures and the tasks behind each one, for your submittal. Copy report puts a plain-text summary on the clipboard for an email. Both list the checks that didn't run, with their reasons, so a reviewer sees why a check is missing.

Good to know#

• What is checked. Sixteen checks adapted from the DCMA 14-point assessment, in four families: logic (missing links, leads, long lags, relationship types), constraints and float, progress (once there is a data date), and crews and equipment (once the project uses them).
• Finished work doesn't fail. The percentage checks measure the work still to do.
• Where else the score shows. The same score, called Schedule checks wherever it shows, appears in the column you can add on Projects, on the tile and card of the project Dashboard, where the card's Details… opens this dialog, and in the Projects table on the Company page.