planning and scheduling Professional (P.S.P)

Understanding the importance of development and implementing effective planning related to the contract documents.

Understand how the goals and objectives of different stakeholders affect the planning process and schedule development

Understand the purpose and effect of constructability analysis on project planning.

Understanding human, social, and cultural considerations and constraints plays an important role during the planning process.

Understand value engineering (VE) and its impact on cost, schedule, and quality of materials and equipment during the planning process.

Understand stakeholders’ considerations and constraints. Any party that has an interest (stake) in the endeavor or project is a stakeholder.

Understand project variables that affect the planning process and the associated risks, which might extend the proposed project timeline.

Understand how the scope of work is developed within the planning process.

Understand how project goals are developed and determine activities within the planning process.

Understand the project plan as the road map of action for the project team.

Understand the process for determining the project phases within the scope of work.

Understand the purpose of devising a work breakdown structure (WBS) as part of the planning process.

Understand the purpose of devising and organization breakdown structure (OBS) during the planning process.

Understand how the CBS is used for cost accounting and forecasting by management and the field during construction.

Understand how the various major elements of work scope will be completed in an interrelated, logical manner that identifies work phases and their relationship to each other.

Understand how the Stakeholder review is a key element in the planning process.

Understand how Contract documents may dictate how and when the cost estimate is developed.

Understand how A WBS and OBS are integrated into the cost estimate, and how this integration may form the basis for the schedule model.

Understand the baseline plan, as the definitive plan becomes the foundation for baseline schedule development.

Understanding the plan, scope of work, project goals, and contract requirements helps define

Forecasting requirements and their frequency.

Understand that both risk and changes require recovery plans.

Understand how the scope for the schedule model is developed as well as the components of the

schedule model.

Understand the work breakdown structure (WBS), organization breakdown structure (OBS), and cost breakdown structure (CBS), and their relation to scheduling

Understand WBS and the dependencies among work tasks to enhance team efficiencies.

Understand OBS and the dependencies among parts of the organization to enhance team efficiencies.

Understand CBS and its relationship to the WBS and OBS.

Understand and document schedule change using WBS and OBS concepts.

Understand the components of a schedule specification and the effect of the schedule specification on scheduling and progress reporting, controlling, analyzing, and forecasting.

Understanding the interests of the respective stakeholders in the schedule ensures that the schedule will be inclusive, encompassing, and responsive to the stakeholders and the contract.

Understand how to take the cost estimate using the WBS and develop the cost loaded baseline schedule.

Understand the various schedules types and how each may be best suited for application on a particular project.

Understand the definition of an activity as the plan or phase is converted into a schedule model.

Understand activity duration as an interactive component of the schedule.

Understand the how constraints and the activity’s calendar directly affect the activity’s duration,

Understand how various types of relationships affect the schedule model and the data that it reports.

Understand constraints--types, uses, implications for schedule analysis--and calendars as interactive components of the schedule model.

Understand the affects that constraints and calendars have on the baseline schedule, identification of the critical path and schedule analysis and forecasting.

Understand the principles, procedures, and processes for introducing cost and resource loading into schedule models.

Understand the implications of resource leveling on the schedule, especially how the various scheduling software programs load and level resources.

Understand how schedule status reporting reflects the cost and resource elements of activities.

Understand the basic concept of manually resource leveling a schedule model, considering all the resource constraints.

Understand how to update a schedule to reflect the utilization of cost and resource elements of an activity, related activities, and the general and overall progress of the project.

Understand how to apply resources and the impact that cost and resource leveling may have on the project schedule

Understand milestones and their effect on the project schedule, when information is converted from the planning phase to the scheduling phase.

Understand how attributes associated with schedule quality analysis and compliance review ensure the viability of the scheduling process and the developed schedule model.

Understand the documentation required for the project baseline schedule.

Understand what a baseline schedule is and what its functions are.

Understand how progress is observed, tracked, and used for forecasting in schedule updates.

Understand key contract or specification requirements imposed for tracking progress, schedule updating, forecasting and reporting.

Understand implications of using progress override or retained logic in schedule update calculations. In addition, understand needs, requirements and impacts when revising logic during a schedule update and document any logic changes in the reporting process.

Understand different schedule software perform different calculations when performing similar functions.

Understand the means and methods to determine progress and percentage complete as well as how these attributes are calculated by scheduling software used.

Recognize importance of tracking actual dates for starting or completing an activity is important and must match field conditions

Understand cost and resource management requirements during the updating and maintenance of the schedule.

Understand the how the different scheduling software programs perform cost and resource calculations and leveling.

Understand schedule change management and the implications change has on a project schedule.

Understand the underlying causes that result in a changed condition.

Understand what impacts change has on a project and how to identify, implement and track changes to a project schedule.

Understand the effects that schedule acceleration has on a project. It is important to know the various methods of acceleration, the changes in logic typically used to model acceleration, and the impact of changes in construction methods

Understand how to analyze a schedule and determine the implications to cost and productivity that could occur if acceleration is contemplated so that an achievable, credible model is created and can be used to monitor and control the revised execution plan.

Understand how to analyze what effect adding resources may have on the outcome as well as the cost impact of acceleration. Contract provisions may dictate when and how schedule acceleration may be required, implemented, and documented.

Understand the means and methods of implementing an acceleration plan fully to analyze the options for acceleration.

Understand the need to seek and incorporate feedback from stakeholders during the maintenance of

a schedule to depict actual conditions, impacts, and delays.

Understand how control level schedules are used to monitor and report progress.

Understand the various levels of detail that schedule information may be summarized and arranged for managing the schedule and reporting to a variety of stakeholders.

Understand how schedule progressing may identify variances and trends, and how the variances and trends will assist in schedule analysis, forecasts, and recovery plans.

Understand common schedule analysis tools and techniques and the results that they typically generate

Understand the mechanics of the software that is used to model and analyze the schedule in order to properly understand critical path analysis.

Understand how the software tool calculates start and finish dates, float, constraints, and durations. All of these impact calculations that determine the critical path.

Understand how schedule forecasts are developed and used to predict the outcomes.

Understand constructability analysis and review as it relates to scheduling.

Understand the need and type of progress reports and schedule reviews that are necessary during life of a project.

Understand why and how recovery schedules are developed and implemented.

Understand the different methods used to develop and implement recovery schedules and their supporting cost implications.

Understand the need for summarizing and reporting schedule monitoring and control information for management.