Using Physical and Duration Percent Complete Types In

Primavera P6
If you are looking for a quick way to update the progress of work on your Primavera P6
schedule or you want to describe the progress of work that has a non-uniform
production rate, then you should become familiar with the different Percent Complete
Types offered in Oracle Primavera P6.

Here we’ll start with the situation where you already have a schedule and associated
baseline. There’s demand for accurate, weekly updates on your project and you need
an efficient and accurate way of modeling activity progress. This is where the different
Percent Complete Types in Primavera P6 come in rather handy.

The simplest and fastest way to update activity progress is to use the duration %
complete type. The remaining duration is automatically computed based on the
duration % complete input.

If you have an activity that has a non-uniform production rate then physical %
complete is the Percent Complete Type of choice. In this Percent Complete Type both
the % complete and remaining duration must be input.

If you are manufacturing parts then the units % complete type may be used to
describe manufactured units completed. Using the correct duration type is important
to efficiently and realistically track the progress of activities in Primavera P6.

This article explains how to use both the physical % complete and duration % complete
types in Primavera P6 to describe the work being performed on a project. It does not
go into detail on the units % complete type as this will be the subject for a future blog. 
Therefore, please note that different techniques for updating progress should
be employed if you have a resource or cost loaded schedule and when status is not
consistent for each resource assigned.  For best practice purposes, the following
methods generally apply to non-resource loaded schedules.

Primavera P6 Scenario
Your task is to update the schedule for the structural phase of a building construction
project, Figure 1.
Figure 1

All your tasks are sequential and have the classic Finish-to-Start relationship. The
schedule is fairly standard except for the Steps feature that was used to further
describe the Lay Foundation activity, and the 120-hour (5-day) elapsed time cure time
lag between the Lay Foundation and Strike Forms activities. Note that two activities
are assigned the Physical Percent Complete Type and the rest are assigned the
Duration Percent Complete Type.

Physical Percent Complete Updates

The physical % complete type is required for activities that have Steps assigned to
them. Additionally, it is the preferred method of updating activities when the
production work rate is non-inform. For example, the crew may have a learning curve
that will cause the first few days’ progress to be slower than the remaining days. The
activity may also require unspecified mobilization of material and equipment that
causes the first days progress to be slower. The physical % complete type is able to
account for both mobilization and learning curves.

Duration Percent Complete Updates

Again the distinguishing feature of the duration % complete type update is that
Primavera P6 will automatically compute the remaining duration when you enter the
duration % complete. This calculation is also instantaneous. To get Primavera P6 to
compute the remaining duration, after entering the expected finish date for the
physical % complete type, you still have to recalculate the schedule first. In other
words, the computation is not instantaneous the way it is for the duration % complete
type update.

Week One Steps Physical Update

In Figure 2, the structural phase construction project has begun.
Figure 2

Note that Notice to Proceed and Structural Phase Start activities are complete. Also,
the project management activity is in progress. Select the Lay Foundation activity and
select the Steps tab in the bottom details, again, Figure 2. There are three steps
associated with the Lay Foundation activity. Check the completed box in the Set Forms
row to declare the Set Forms step complete.

For the Lay Rebar step set the Step % Complete to 50%. Now select the Status tab,
Figure 3, in the bottom details and note that the 10-day activity is 50% complete.

Figure 3

Also, note that the remaining duration is still listed as 10-days. What happened? Well,
nothing, which is precisely the point. When you use the physical % complete type you
have to enter the estimated remaining duration yourself, Primavera P6 does not
compute this value for you.

To describe the time remaining on a physical type activity you have two options: 1) to
enter the expected finish date and Primavera P6 will compute the remaining duration
(only after you ask Primavera P6 to recalculate the schedule) or 2) to directly enter the
remaining duration. In Figure 4, the remaining duration is entered directly as 5-days.
Figure 4

After entering the remaining duration, and, therefore, the project status for the first
week, move the data date and recalculate the schedule. Your project should look
similar to Figure 5.

Figure 5
Week Two Steps Physical Update
Continue to highlight the Lay Foundation activity in the activities view. Go back to the
Steps tab in the bottom view and check off the Lay Rebar and Pour Concrete steps as
being complete, Figure 6.

Figure 6

Then go to the Status tab and check off the Lay Foundation activity as being complete,
Figure 7.
Figure 7

After entering the status for week two, move the Data Date, and recalculate the
schedule, Figure 8.

Figure 8
Week Three Status Duration Update
The status for week three is quite simple. First select the Strike Forms activity in the
activities view then simply select the Status tab and mark the Strike Forms activity as
Started and Finished, Figure 9.

Figure 9

This is the first non-milestone and non-level of effort duration % complete type in the
project schedule. Again, move the Data Date and recalculate the schedule, Figure 10.
Figure 10
Week Four Status Physical Update
We again want to use the Physical % Complete Type to describe the progress of our
schedule. The activity is to construct the exterior walls. This project has a non-uniform
productivity distribution. This is because of the required mobilization of material and
equipment on day-1 of this activity. The crew was also new to constructing this type of
wall, so they had a learning curve. In other words the crew took 5-days to construct
41.67% of the wall and only 5-days to construct the remaining 58.3% of the wall.

To update the project for week 4, first select exterior walls in the activities view. Then
select the Status tab in the bottom details and enter 41.67% (5-days/12-days duration)
for the Physical % complete, Figure 11.

Figure 11

As usual, the remaining duration is still listed as the entire length of the project. Enter
an Expected Finish data of February 6 th. In order to update the remaining duration
based on the expected finish date move the Data Date and recalculate the schedule.
Primavera P6 will compute the remaining duration, Figure 12.
Figure 12
Week Five Status Physical Update
Make certain the exterior walls activity is highlighted in the activities view. Check the
Finished toggle to enter status, move the Data Date, and recalculate the schedule. The
schedule will now appear similar to Figure 13.

Figure 13

Note the February sixth finish date, original 12-day duration, and the actual 10-day
duration.

Week Six Status Duration Update

The interior walls were constructed by a very experienced crew, so there was no
learning curve. Also, the mobilization delays were immaterial. For the first weeks work
on the interior walls activity set the duration % complete to 50%, Figure 14.
Figure 14

Primavera P6 will automatically compute the remaining duration of the 10-day activity
as 5-days. Advance the Data Date one week and recalculate the schedule. The Gantt
chart will look similar to Figure 15.

Figure 15
Week Seven Status Duration Update
Continue to highlight the interior walls activity. Now set the duration % complete to
100% and Primavera P6 will calculate the remaining duration as 0-days, Figure 16.

Figure 16

Move the Data Date. Recalculate the schedule, and the final Gantt chart for this
demonstration will be as displayed in Figure 17.
Figure 17
Summary
Primavera P6 has different percent complete types to suit the needs of the status
update.

The duration percent complete type is the simplest to use as the remaining duration is
automatically computed by Primavera P6 when the duration percent complete is
entered.

The physical percent complete type requires the additional step of entering either the
remaining duration or expected finish date. The physical percent complete type is
more accurate for modeling a non-uniform production rate. It is also required when
steps are used to provide more definition to an activity Gantt chart bar.