PROJECT
COSTRUCTION
MANGEMENT
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT NETWORK
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT
NETWORK
The project network is the tool used for
planning, scheduling and monitoring project
progress.
The network depicts the project activities that
must be completed, the logical sequences, the
interdependencies of the activities to be
completed and in most cases the time for the
activities to start and finish along with the
longest path through the network-CRITICAL
PATH.
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT
NETWORK
The network is the framework for the project
information system that will be used by the
project managers to make decisions concerning
project time, cost and performance.
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT
NETWORK
Project networks minimize surprises by getting
the plan out early and allowing corrective
feedback.
FROM WORK PACKAGE TO
NETWORK
Project networks are developed from the WBS.
Project network is a visual flow diagram of the
sequence, inter relationships and dependencies
of all the activities that must be accomplished to
completed the project.
FROM WORK PACKAGE TO
NETWORK
Activity is an element in the project that
consumes time-for example, work or waiting.
Work packages from the WBS are used to build
the activities found in the project network.
An activity can include one or more work
packages.
FROM WORK PACKAGE TO
NETWORK
Networks are built using nodes (boxes) and
arrow ( lines ).
Node represents activity
Arrow represents dependency and project flow
CONSTRCUTING A
PROJECT NETWORK
Terminology:
Activity : It is an element of the project that requires
time. Activities usually represent one or more tasks
from a work package.
Merge Activity: this is an activity that has more than
one activity immediately preceding it (more than
one dependency arrow flowing to it).
Parallel Activities: activities that can take place at
the same time, if the manager wishes.
Path: A sequence of connected dependent activities.
Critical Path: the longest path through the network.
APPROACHES
The two approaches used to develop project
networks are known as activity on node (AON)
and activity on arrow (AOA).
AON method has come to dominate most
projects.
BASIC RULES TO FOLLOW IN
DEVELOPING PROJECT NETWORKS
Networks flow typically from left to right.
An activity cannot begin until all preceding connected activities have been
completed.
Arrows on networks indicate precedence and flow. Arrows can cross over each
other.
Each activity should have a unique identification number
An activity identification number must be larger that that of any activities that
precede it.
Looping is not allowed ( recycling through a set of activities)
Conditional statements are not allowed ( if successful, do something, if not, do
nothing )
Experience suggests that when there are multiple starts a common start node
can be used to indicate a clear project beginning on the network similarly
ending.
AON FUNDAMENTALS
AON method is also sometimes called
precedence diagramming method.
Activity is represented by a node (box)
The dependencies among activities are depicted
by arrows
Arrows indicate how the activities are related
and the sequence in which things must be
accomplished.
AON FUNDAMENTALS
Activities that must be completed immediately
before an activity are called predecessor
activities.
Activities that must immediately follow an
activity are called successor activities.
Activities that can occur while another activity is
taking place is known as concurrent or parallel
activities.
X
Z
J
AA
CLASS ASSIGNMENT
KOLL BUSINESS CENTRE
ACTIVITY
DESCRIPTION
PRECEDING ACTIVITY
APPLICATION
APPROVAL
NONE
CONSTRUCTION
PLANS
TRAFFIC STUDY
SERVICE AVALIABLITY A
STAFF REPORT
B,C
COMMISION
APPROVAL
B,C,D
WAIT FOR
CONSTRUCTION
OCCUPANCY
E,G
NETWORK COMPUTATION
PROCESS
Performing a few simple computations allows
the project manager to complete a process
known as the forward and backward pass.
Completion of the forward and backward pass
will answer the following questions:
Forward pass:
How soon can the activity start? Early start- ES
How soon can the activity finish? Early finish- EF
How soon can the project be finished? Expected
Time-TE
NETWORK COMPUTATIONS
Backward pass:
How late can the activity start? Late start- LS
How late can the activity finish? Late finish- LF
Which activities represent the critical path?
How long the project can be delayed? Slack or
float-SL
FORWARD PASS
Forward pass starts with the first project activity
( ies ) and traces each path through the network
to the last project activity ( ies ).
As you can trace along the path, you add the
activity times. The longest path denotes the
project completion time for the plan and is
called the critical path (CP).
FORWARD PASS
KOLL BUSINESS CENTER
ACITVITY
DESCRIPTION
PRECEDING
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY TIME
APPLICATION
APPROVAL
NONE
CONSTRUCTIO
N PLANS
15
TRAFFIC STUDY
10
SERVICE
AVALIABLITY
STAFF REPORT
B,C
15
COMMISION
APPROVAL
B,C,D
10
WAIT FOR
CONSTRUCTIO
N
170
ES
SL
LS
ID
EF
DESCRIPTION
DUR
LF
FORWARD PASS
You add activity times along each path in the
network ( ES + Dur = EF )
You carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity
where it becomes its early start (ES) unless
The next succeeding activity is a merge activity.
In this case you select the largest early finish
number (EF) of all its immediate predecessor
activities.
BACKWARD PASS
The backward pass starts with the last project
activity on the network. You trace backward on
each path subtracting activity times to find the
late start LS and late finish times LF for each
activity. Before backward pass can be
computed , the late finish for the last project
activity must be selected.
This time is usually set equal to the EF of the
last project activity or in case of multiple finish
activities the activity with the largest EF.
BACKWARD PASS
You subtract activity times along each path
starting with the project end activity ( LF Dur =
LS)
You carry the LS to the next preceding activity to
establish its LF, unless
The next preceding activity is a burst activity; in
this case you select the smallest LS of all its
immediate successor activities to establish its LF
BACKWARD PASS
KOLL BUSINESS CENTER
ACITVITY
DESCRIPTION
PRECEDING
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY TIME
APPLICATION
APPROVAL
NONE
CONSTRUCTIO
N PLANS
15
TRAFFIC STUDY
10
SERVICE
AVALIABLITY
STAFF REPORT
B,C
15
COMMISION
APPROVAL
B,C,D
10
WAIT FOR
CONSTRUCTIO
N
170
ES
SL
LS
ID
EF
DESCRIPTION
DUR
LF
DETERMINING
SLACK(FLOAT)
It is possible to determine which activities can
be delayed by computing slack or float.
Total slack or float for an activity is simply the
difference between the LS and ES or between
the LF and EF
Total slack tells us the amount of time an
activity can be delayed and yet not delay the
project.
DETERMINING SLACK
(FLOAT)
After the slack for each activity is computed, the
critical path is easily identified.
When the LF = EF for the end project activity,
the critical path can be identified as those
activities that also have LF = EF or a slack of
zero LF- EF = 0
The critical path is the network path that has the
least slack in common
CLASS ASSIGNMENT
ID
DESCRIPTION
PREDECESSO
R
TIME
EXTERNAL SPECIFICATION
NONE
REVIEW DESIGN
DOCUMENT NEW FEATURES
WRITE SOFTWARE
60
PROGRAM AND TEST
60
EDIT AND PUBLISH NOTES
REVIEW MANUAL
ALPHA SITE
E,F
20
PRINT MANUAL
10
BETA SITE
H,I
10
MANUFACUTRE
12
RELEASE AND SHIP
FORWARD PASS?
BACKWARD PASS?
SLACK?
CRITICAL PATH?
THREE POINT ESTIMATION
EXAMPLE
Q1: Moon Travels are planning on implementing a
travel booking system. In the past they were using a
completely manual system, which caused errors and
delays for their customers. The project manager is
confident that the implementation will be completed
in 6 weeks, with a most optimistic estimate being 4
weeks, and the worst case scenario might take it to
11 weeks. What must be the three point estimate for
this travel booking system implementation?
A: 4 weeks
B: 6 weeks
C: 11 weeks
D: None of the Above.
THREE POINT ESTIMATION
EXAMPLE
Q2: You are the project manager of Libra Travels
SSS Project. You have decided to use the 3 point
estimation technique for his project. For the
Test Corporate Bookings activity, the following
estimates are available. O=4, P=9, M=5. What
is the result of this estimate?
A: 5.5 weeks
B: Eighteen weeks
C: 33.33 Days
D: Three weeks
