How to Make a Construction Schedule: Step-by-Step Guide

Construction projects involve multiple phases and processes, and you need a clear plan of execution to complete the project on time. You should create a thoroughly planned construction schedule to increase your chances of meeting your client’s expectations. This step-by-step guide on how to make a construction schedule will help so you do not miss out on crucial aspects of the plan. 

What Is a Construction Schedule?  

A construction schedule is a blueprint that guides you through the various stages of the construction process, ensuring you stay on course. It organizes construction activities and their sequence in the project cycle. It includes the project’s timeframe. 

Other crucial components of a construction schedule include:

• Resource management
• Deliverables
• Tasks and tasks duration
• Budget 
• Deadline

A good construction schedule helps you establish the most efficient methods of completing your project. 

You can create a schedule for small jobs using tools like Excel or Google Sheets, but you need special construction scheduling software to create a schedule for bigger and more complex projects. 

Why Is a Construction Schedule Important? 

As a contractor, architect or project manager, you understand the complexity of the construction process. Without a well-laid-out plan, you may lose direction.  

Here are some of the key reasons why construction scheduling is important:

• Ensuring you stay within the budget: Project scheduling requires that you estimate costs for the project. These estimates help contractors keep the project within the budget.
• Assigning dates to tasks: Creating timelines and milestones is essential to project scheduling. It enables you to assess the feasibility of meeting project deadlines. The timelines help contractors meet client deadlines and avoid penalties. 

• Resource allocation: A construction schedule allows contractors to allocate materials, equipment and labor properly. It helps managers allocate resources efficiently to increase productivity and minimize wastage. 
• Monitor progress and evaluate performance: A detailed schedule is a good tool for monitoring a project’s progress based on set milestones and performance metrics. The schedule helps contractors compare the plan and the progress of the actual work. 
• Enhance safety: A schedule can minimize risks of injuries by creating strategic sequencing of activities. 

A good schedule is a framework contractors rely on to complete their projects on time and within budget. It should be clear and concise. 

How to Make a Construction Schedule

Follow the steps below to create your construction schedule:

1. Gather Information About the Project

The first step is to collect as much information as possible about the project. Conduct research on budget, equipment and material needs, timeline preferences, local regulations, labor and subcontractor requirements, worksite specifics and cost projections. These requirements might change as the project progresses, so you should plan ahead. 

You should also identify the project stakeholders who will benefit from accessing the construction schedule. Key stakeholders include project owners, project managers, team members and subcontractors. Research suppliers to identify companies that will supply quality items to ensure you deliver a high-quality project that meets the required standards and the client’s expectations. 

2. Choose a Scheduling Tool

You can use several tools or software to create a schedule. Use construction project scheduling tools that your team members and other stakeholders can easily understand. 

The tools you use will give you access to different scheduling techniques, such as:

• Critical path scheduling: This scheduling technique splits project activities into segments with activity marked as ‘path.’ The activities have start and end dates. This technique focuses on letting members know which task should be completed before the next one can be started.
• Grant charts: Grant charts are one of the most popular scheduling techniques in the construction industry because they are versatile and easy to use. The charts present a list of activities and their dependencies, as well as their status.
• Line of balancing scheduling: This scheduling technique is used for repetitive tasks. It is popular in road construction.
• Resource-oriented scheduling: This technique focuses on the resources needed to complete a project. It is mostly used in projects with unique or minimal resource needs.

3. List and Prioritize Tasks

Tasks or activities are the fundamental components of any construction project. Determine the important tasks you and your team plan to execute and group them into smaller steps or deliverables. Contractors often use the work breakdown structure (WBS) to divide construction tasks into smaller ones. You may prioritize the importance of each task so your team knows which projects to pay the most attention to before embarking on the next task.

Document the resources required for each task, be it materials, labor or specific machinery or construction equipment. You may have to contact your team or relevant stakeholders to pick their brains on how the tasks should be planned and the amount of resources required for each task. For example, you should know the type and number of doors needed for the project. The smaller tasks break your construction project into larger phases or milestones.

Allocate tasks to your teams based on their specialties or roles in the project. Once you start executing, you should know who or which team works on a specific task. You may have to delegate some tasks to subcontractors.

While allocating resources to tasks, you may identify potential constraints or limitations. To ensure the project runs smoothly to completion, create a plan for addressing these deficiencies. 

4. Set Timelines

Estimate the time each task, phase and project milestone will take. This ensures you make timely adjustments when you miss early milestones or experience delays. When deciding on the time estimate, plan for eventualities such as sudden changes in weather, which can cause delays. Equipment may also break down, and it may take time to repair or replace it. The timeline should be realistic.

Make estimates for non-task-related project activities, such as procurement and delivery. You should know what and when to order or reorder and the expected delivery duration. Contact your project consultants and suppliers early enough to ensure you get services and products on time. 

5. Review and Update as Work Proceeds

Before executing your project schedule, present it to all stakeholders so they can review it. Use feedback from the stakeholders to make necessary changes to the draft schedule. This review step also ensures all stakeholders agree on the project schedule from the start. Once the schedule is reviewed or approved, it is time to execute the plan.

You should make necessary changes to reflect the project’s changing needs as work proceeds. Regular communication with the stakeholders is crucial for all parties to understand the project’s status and the adjustments required as work proceeds. 

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As you build a construction schedule for your next assignment, you need doors — and we can supply them to you promptly. We at Manhattan Door Corporation are your trusted interior door manufacturer, and we can handle projects ranging from one to 10,000 doors. We have rush-order capabilities to fulfill orders quickly and ensure you stay ahead of your project schedule. Feel free to contact us for more information about our products.