The Schedule Baseline is a project management tool used to measure the accuracy of a projected construction schedule against the actual execution documented on an active or completed project schedule.
Even the most carefully crafted Project Schedules will be subject to adjustments, delays, and other alterations as active construction begins. Evaluating all relevant changes and contributing factors can help construction project managers coordinate appropriate responses and plan better for future jobs - and that's where Schedule Baselines come into play.
A Schedule Baseline is a snapshot of a project schedule at a particular moment in time. Recorded as a fixed, time-stamped reference, the Schedule Baseline can then be utilized as a point of comparison against an active, up-to-date project schedule. This type of comparison can provide valuable business intelligence insights which demonstrate schedule progress and resource performance.
Regular analysis of Schedule Baseline Reports can provide detailed visibility regarding schedule projections, slippage incurred, actual project durations, and more. This information helps construction companies minimize negative impacts to project outcomes by improving responsive measures and future project scheduling.
ConstructionOnline™ Schedule Baselines
A key element of OnPlan™ Scheduling in ConstructionOnline™ is the ability to create Schedule Baselines for any existing Schedule with detail at the task level. Schedules can have multiple Baselines recorded, with no limit to the number of Baselines that can be saved per Schedule.
Best Practice: Create an "Initial Schedule Baseline" upon completion of the initial Project Schedule to document the original, ideal projected timeline.
When a Schedule Baseline is created, the current "Start" and "End" dates for the Schedule are recorded. Based off the "Initial Schedule Baseline," ConstructionOnline™ will be able to display Projected (Baseline) Workdays v. Actual Workdays, along with calculated Slippage, in valuable dashboards & reports.
Many construction companies may prefer to evaluate Schedule Progress with greater frequency, which contributes to improved data and responsiveness. To this end, Schedule Baselines may be created at the start/end of each phase of the construction job or on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.
TrueVision™ Multi-Project Scheduling
With dashboards & reports that present a holistic, company-wide view of all active construction schedules in a company's ConstructionOnline account, TrueVision™ Multi-Project Scheduling - a key component of ConstructionOnline's TrueVision™ Business Intelligence toolkit - delivers advanced insights designed to help construction teams achieve peak performance, productivity, and profitability.
Schedule Baselines can be collapsed or hidden for each Project Schedule displayed in TrueVision™ Multi-Project Scheduling, allowing ConstructionOnline™ Company Users the flexibility to compare and contrast various details from multiple project timelines in a single, dynamic view. Access to Projected Start & End Dates, Schedule Milestones, Completion Percentages, Schedule Baselines, and more offers the visibility construction managers need to strategically stagger schedules and make overall better business decisions.
SCHEDULE BASELINE KEY TERMINOLOGY:
- Baseline: Static representation of the construction project schedule at a particular date and time
- Actual: Current, functioning construction project schedule, actively being managed to reflect actual execution - includes delays, adjustments, and rework
- Milestone: A particular type of task within construction project schedules, representative of key inflection points that impact the project's ability to progress as projected
- Workdays: Days of the week available for schedule task (i.e. Monday through Friday) as opposed to Calendar Days, which would encompass workdays and non-workdays (i.e. Sunday-Saturday and holidays)
- Slippage: Calculation within schedule that indicates how far behind a specific schedule task, schedule group, or overall project schedule has fallen.
Slippage = Difference between Actual Duration - Projected Duration