Construction Planning, Monitoring & Tracking: Baseline, Lookaheads, EVM, S-Curves, Delay Analysis and TIA

Planning tells a project what should happen; monitoring and tracking tell it what is actually happening and what will happen next if nothing changes. Most project failures are not planning failures — they are control failures, where deviation was visible in the data but was not measured, reported or acted on in time.

This guide follows the frameworks of PMI (PMBOK Guide, Practice Standard for Scheduling, Practice Standard for Earned Value Management), AACE International recommended practices, the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol and FIDIC contract requirements.

Tools in one line: Excel, Microsoft Project and Primavera P6 are widely used to build schedules; CM PRO is built to monitor and track them — import P6 XER, update progress from site, and get dynamic critical path, EVM, S-curves and recovery plans in one place.

STEP 011. Programme vs Baseline

Programme (schedule): the logic-linked network of activities, durations, relationships (FS, SS, FF, SF), calendars and resources that describes how the works will be delivered. Under FIDIC 1999/2017 Sub-Clause 8.3, the Contractor must submit a detailed programme and revise it whenever it no longer reflects actual progress.

Baseline: the approved and frozen version of the programme against which performance is measured. PMI defines it as the approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control. The baseline never moves with progress — the current (updated) schedule does.

STEP 022. The Schedule Hierarchy and Planning Documents

AACE RP 37R-06 (Schedule Levels of Detail) describes schedules from summary to detailed. In practice a construction project uses:

1. Level 1 – Master / Milestone Schedule: key dates and contractual milestones for client and management.
2. Level 2 – Summary Schedule: phases and areas (structure, MEP, finishes) per building or zone.
3. Level 3 – Baseline Programme (CPM): the full logic-driven network, normally the contractual baseline.
4. Level 4 – Monthly / Three-Month Lookahead: work fronts, procurement and resources for the coming period.
5. Level 5 – Weekly and Daily Schedules: crew-level tasks, permits, inspections and material call-offs.

Supporting documents that make the schedule controllable:

• WBS (Work Breakdown Structure): decomposes scope into deliverables — floors, blocks, systems — so progress can be measured per area.
• Resource and procurement schedules: long-lead items, submittals and approvals linked to activities.
• Daily Progress Report (DPR): manpower, equipment, quantities executed, weather, hindrances and instructions. It is the primary contemporaneous record for both progress and claims.
• Weekly / Monthly Progress Reports: planned vs actual, critical path, look-ahead, risks and EVM indicators.
• Inspection Requests, Permits to Work and site instructions: evidence of when work was actually done and approved.
• Delay / hindrance register: every event that affects progress, with date, cause and responsible party.
• Recovery Plan: a short-term plan to regain lost time (Section 6).

STEP 033. Monitoring and Tracking — The Correct Method

PMI''s Monitor and Control process group and AACE''s Total Cost Management framework follow the same cycle: Plan → Measure → Compare → Forecast → Act.

1. Set a data date (status date) for each update — weekly for most building projects, monthly for formal reporting.
2. Record actuals only: actual start, actual finish and remaining duration or % complete per activity. Never edit baseline dates while updating.
3. Recalculate the CPM network from the data date. Activities that started early or late shift the remaining logic; the critical path can change.
4. Compare current vs baseline: start/finish variance, float erosion, milestone slippage.
5. Measure earned value and plot S-curves (Sections 4–5).
6. Forecast completion on physical schedule logic, not on billing.
7. Act: resequence, add resources, open new fronts, or trigger a recovery plan and notify delays contractually.

Key rule: keep physical progress and financial progress separate. Invoices, advances and retention do not prove work is done on site.

STEP 044. Earned Value Management (EVM)

EVM, standardised by PMI and ANSI/EIA-748, integrates scope, time and cost:

• PV (Planned Value): budgeted value of work scheduled to date.
• EV (Earned Value): budgeted value of work actually completed.
• AC (Actual Cost): actual cost incurred for that work.
• BAC (Budget at Completion): total budget.

SPI is useful at summary level, but near completion it trends back to 1.0 even on a late project. Therefore date forecasts should be confirmed through CPM or Earned Schedule, not SPI alone.

STEP 055. S-Curves

An S-curve plots cumulative progress (value or %) against time. Construction progress is slow at mobilisation, fastest during the main works and slow again in finishing — hence the "S".

• Baseline S-curve: planned cumulative progress.
• Actual S-curve: earned progress to the data date.
• Forecast curve: projected remaining progress.

The gap between baseline and actual curves at the data date shows schedule slippage visually; a flattening actual curve is an early warning long before a milestone is missed. Separate S-curves for physical progress and cost/cash flow give management a clear view of both.

STEP 066. Recovery Plans

When the update shows critical delay, FIDIC Sub-Clause 8.6 (1999) / 8.7 (2017) allows the Engineer to instruct the Contractor to submit a revised programme and methods to expedite progress. A good recovery plan:

• Targets a short window (typically 2 weeks to 1 month);
• Selects the critical and near-critical activities that drive the delay;
• States extra resources, shifts, resequencing or parallel fronts;
• Is monitored separately and closed once the targets are met, after which reporting returns to the master schedule.

STEP 077. Delay Analysis

Delay analysis determines how much a project was delayed, why, and who bears the risk. Delays are classified (SCL Protocol, AACE RP 29R-03) as:

• Excusable & compensable: employer-risk events (late drawings, access, variations) — time and cost.
• Excusable & non-compensable: neutral events (exceptional weather, force majeure) — time only.
• Non-excusable: contractor-risk events (low productivity, late procurement) — no relief; liquidated damages may apply.
• Concurrent delay: two or more delays of different responsibility affecting the critical path in the same period, handled per contract and applicable law.

Recognised methods (AACE RP 29R-03, SCL Protocol 2nd Edition):

Every method depends on records: DPRs, updated schedules, correspondence, IRs and the hindrance register. Without contemporaneous evidence, no method is credible.

STEP 088. Time Impact Analysis (TIA)

TIA is the method recommended by the SCL Protocol for assessing extension of time at the time the event occurs. Steps:

1. Take the latest accepted update just before the delay event (with progress to that data date).
2. Build a fragnet: a small network of new or changed activities representing the event (e.g. "Revised slab drawing awaited", "Variation – additional shear wall").
3. Link the fragnet logically into the affected activities.
4. Recalculate the schedule and compare the forecast completion with and without the fragnet.
5. The difference in completion date is the time impact, considering available float and concurrent contractor delays.
6. Submit with notice and supporting particulars — FIDIC 1999 Sub-Clause 20.1 (28 days notice) / FIDIC 2017 Sub-Clause 20.2 — and request EOT under Sub-Clause 8.4 (1999) / 8.5 (2017).

Benefits: it is contemporaneous, transparent, uses the real current logic, and lets both parties agree time early instead of disputing it at the end of the project.

STEP 099. Benefits for the Project

• Early detection of slippage through float erosion, SPI and S-curve gaps;
• Reliable completion forecasts based on actual site logic;
• Better resource and procurement decisions from lookaheads;
• Defensible EOT claims backed by DPRs, updates and TIA;
• Management confidence through consistent, standard reports.

STEP 1010. Practical Checklist

• Approve and freeze a logic-linked Level 3 baseline before starting.
• Update weekly with actual dates only; never rewrite the baseline.
• Recalculate the critical path each update.
• Keep signed DPRs with manpower, quantities and hindrances.
• Report EVM (SPI, CPI) and S-curves monthly.
• Forecast dates from CPM, not from billing.
• Notify delays within contract time limits and support with TIA.
• Use short, monitored recovery plans for critical slippage.

STEP 11References

• PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide).
• PMI, Practice Standard for Scheduling and Practice Standard for Earned Value Management.
• ANSI/EIA-748, Earned Value Management Systems.
• AACE International RP 29R-03 Forensic Schedule Analysis; RP 37R-06 Schedule Levels of Detail; RP 52R-06 Time Impact Analysis.
• Society of Construction Law, Delay and Disruption Protocol, 2nd Edition (2017).
• FIDIC Conditions of Contract for Construction (Red Book) 1999 and 2017 — Sub-Clauses 8.3, 8.4/8.5, 8.6/8.7, 20.1/20.2.