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The 3-Week Schedule

The 3-week schedule is (should be) a subset of the main CPM project schedule. It is more of the ground-level plan that changes on a weekly basis and is used during the weekly production meetings with the general contractor.

It should be used along with the CPM schedule as the primary tool for showing what you plan to do in the short-term, making sure that there is a clear path for you to work in including no conflicts with other trades, all permits are done and RFI’s answered.

Any impacts should be noted on the 3-week schedule and anything that is required to be done by others before you can do your work should be noted on the schedule.

It is not suppose to be complicated, just a simple document with a few notes on it and the activities / work areas over the next few weeks.

When the meeting with the GC is complete the schedule should be sent over to them as a ‘record of what we are going to do.’ This will benefit you if they do not get done what was agreed to during the meeting or if the reschedule something else and disrupt your flow.

If the GC does not want to meet and have regular coordination meetings then you should send it over anyway with a cover stating that this is your plan for the next few weeks and to please contact you if there are any problems they see with the schedule.

If done correctly these can give you a ton of leverage.

On the production side it makes the superintendent really think ahead. At each line item you can question them and make sure they have (1) the materials they need, (2) the manpower, (3) the equipment, (4) all answers to open RFI’s, and (5) any permits they may need.

As the PM if you are looking at the project schedule, comparing it to the 3-week schedule and asking these questions you will more than make up for the couple hours this takes each week by the increased production you get by having all the materials, equipment and manpower on-site you need to get the job done. You will also increase production because you will have the plan documented with the GC and should they get in your way you will have a clear, documented basis for a change.

For the super they will have a clear plan to communicate with their crew and any production planning / tracking is simply a subset of the planned activities in the 3-week schedule.

Like the production tracking this is not about paperwork for the sake of paperwork. It is a critical planning tool for making sure that everything in the short-term is planned for and production can proceed smoothly. Running a job should not mean running around in a constant state of panic trying to put out fires. Some of this will never be eliminated because of the variables in construction but many “fires” could have been seen well in advance with the right planning and solid Q&A discussion between the PM and super/foreman.

See Excel Tools for Contractors on our website for worksheets including a 3-Week Schedule that you can download and use.

Posted by David on March 30, 2007 05:37 AM|Permalink

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