Best Practices for Primavera P6 CPM Scheduling

Project Schedule Activities

All project schedule activities should have sufficient detail, but not too detailed. The keys to successful activity development include the following criteria.

• Definable scope of work
• One primary trade per activity
• Definable geographical boundary:

• • By Floor / Area / Building or
  • Work Type: Design / Permitting
• Between 1-20 workdays
• Continues work within the activity
  • No Starts and Stops
• Use smart numbering and descriptions that are clear in any report (with or without organization)

Project Schedule Activity IDs

All activities should have smart IDs that one can distinguish easily with or without organization.

Suggested Activity IDs definitions

• PREFIX: First 2-5 letters of the specific trade + area/floor (example: GWBL1, STEELL1, CONCL5, ROOF, SITE, PROC)
• SUFFIX: Recommended to start from number 100.
• Increment Value: Increment value can be defined at 10 for procurement activities. It is recommended to have an increment value of 4 for all physical construction activities.

Some Examples:

• • MILE-10, MILE-20, MILE-30 (for Milestones); sometimes it is preferred to have the definition of the exact milestones as an ID also ( example: NTP as a unique ID for Activity “Notice to Proceed”, or SC as an ID for Activity “Substantial Completion”, or END or FC as an ID for Activity “Final Completion”)
  • SITE-100, SITE-110, SITE-120
  • FOUND-100, FOUND-110, FOUND-120, FOUND-130, FOUND 140
  • STRUC-100, STRUC-110, STRUC-120
  • ELEV-100, ELEV-110, ELEV-120
  • ROOF-100, ROOF-110, ROOF-120
  • CLOSE-100, CLOSE-110, CLOSE-120

Activity Codes: Why Activity Codes?

• Activity codes are needed to assign responsibility to an activity
• Every activity should have a responsible party assigned to it
• For larger and more complex projects, codes are necessary to better parse through the information
• Codes can mirror the WBS at times but are a much more powerful way to filter information

Suggested Activity Codes

Activity codes should be arranged from general to specific. It is often a good practice to number them so that they can be easily located throughout the project’s duration. Here are suggested headings for your Activity Codes:

• 01_PROJECT PHASE
• 02-AREA
• 03-PHASE OF WORK
• 04 FLOOR
• 05 SUB-AREA

01_PROJECT PHASE

• ADMINISTRATION
• DESIGN & PERMITS
• PROCUREMENT
• CONSTRUCTION

02_AREA

• PARCEL #
• MILESTONES

03_PHASE OF WORK

• DEMOLITION
• SITE WORK
• EXCAVATION
• UTILITIES
• BELOW GRADE CONSTRUCTION
• ABOVE GRADE CONSTRUCTION
• ENVELOPE
• RISERS & ROUGH-INS
• FINISHES

04_FLOOR

• P2
• P1
• L1
• L2

05_SUB AREA

• UNITS
• CORRIDOR
• ELECTRICAL / MECHANICAL ROOM

06_ DIVISION

• CONCRETE
• MASONRY
• METALS
• THERMAL & MOISTURE PROTECT
• FINISHES
• SPECIALTIES

Another suggested way for activity codes definitions can be the following

1. GENERAL AREA
2. DETAILED AREA
3. TRADES
4. FRAGNETS
5. RESPONSIBILITIES

BREAKDOWN OF EACH CATEGORY

01: GENERAL AREA

ADMINISTRATION, MILESTONE, PROCUREMENT, SITE WORK, CONSTRUCTION, CLOSE-OUT

02: DETAILED AREA

SUBMITTALS, REVIEW AND APPROVE, FAB & DELIVER, INITIAL SITE WORK, FINAL SITE WORK, SUPPORT OF EXCAVATION, FOUNDATION, STRUCTURE (P2- THROUGH ROOF), EXTERIOR SKIN, ROUGH-INS & FINISHES… AND ETC

03: TRADES

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS, SITE WORK, CONC, STEEL, ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL, OPENINGS, SPECIALTIES, AND SO FORTH

04: FRAGNETS

FRAG # 1 (DESCRIPTIONS), FRAG # 2 (DESCRIPTIONS), AND SO FORTH

05: RESPONSIBILITIES

JOHN, MICHEAL, MOHAMMAD, MIKE, SOFIA, AND SO FORTH

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