Trust the date after the test.
A finish date is only as good as the network under it. Ours, the contractor’s or yours, every file runs the same fourteen checks, then goes to a second senior reviewer.
Fourteen ways a schedule lies to you.
Modeled on the DCMA 14-point schedule assessment. Software runs them in minutes. A senior scheduler reads every result and explains it.
Every unfinished activity needs a predecessor and a successor. An open end is work nobody has connected to the finish.
Negative lags let a task start before its predecessor finishes. They buy time on paper and nowhere else.
Long waits typed into a relationship hide real work, like cure time or review, that should be its own activity.
Finish-to-start ties should carry most of the network. Heavy use of other types makes the path hard to trace.
Must-finish-on dates override logic. Use enough of them and the schedule reports the date someone wished for.
Months of float on one activity usually means a missing successor, not a lucky cushion.
Negative float means the plan already misses a required date. It needs a recovery path, not silence.
Very long activities cannot be measured well. We break them into pieces the field can actually progress.
No forecast dates in the past and no actual dates in the future, measured against the data date.
Where the contract calls for loading, activities carry the labor, quantities or cost needed for earned value.
Activities that should have finished by the data date and did not. A rising count is the forecast failing quietly.
We add delay to a critical activity. If the finish date does not move by the same amount, the path is broken.
The critical path length index shows whether the remaining path can still make the required finish.
The baseline execution index compares tasks finished with tasks planned to finish. It shows whether the plan is being worked.
The methods behind the answer.
Recognized methods and guidance we work to. They are methods, not certifications, and we never present them as anything else.
Critical path method
The foundation under every schedule we build or review: activities, logic, durations and float.
AACE recommended practices
We follow AACE International recommended practices for scheduling, risk analysis and forensic schedule analysis.
GAO Schedule Assessment Guide
Its best practices for a reliable schedule shape how we score a baseline and write review findings.
Earned value management
Cost and schedule measured together, so SPI, CPI and the estimate at completion tell one story.
Nothing leaves on one signature.
Every baseline, update narrative, risk run and claim exhibit is reviewed by a senior specialist who did not build it, before it reaches the client.
- Logic and datesThe reviewer reruns the checks and traces the critical path from the data date to the finish.
- Numbers that tie outCosts, quantities and earned value figures reconcile to the source files.
- Plain-English narrativeFindings say what moved, why it moved and what the owner should decide.
Your files stay yours.
Schedules, cost reports and claim files can move markets and disputes. We handle them that way.
Need-to-know access
Only the people assigned to your engagement can open your files, and access ends when the work does.
Controlled sharing
Files move through the transfer method you approve, never through personal email or public links.
Confidential by default
We never name clients or publish project details. Every project on this site is shown as Confidential.
Put your schedule under load.
Send us an XER or MPP file. We will run the fourteen checks and tell you what they found. A senior project controls lead replies within one business day.