1/24/2016 CriticalpathmethodCPMDesigningBuildingsWiki

DesigningBuildingsWiki Register Signin

Theconstructionindustryknowledgebase Search

Projectplans Projectactivities Legislationandstandards Industrycontext Home/news Siteinfo/tools

Lastedited16Dec2015
Seefullhistory
Createanarticle

CriticalpathmethodCPM
Share Follow

Seealso:Ganttchart
Relatedarticles

Contents Acceleration.
1Introduction Contractor'smasterprogramme.
2Graphicrepresentation
3Calculatingthecriticalpath Designweb.
4Probabilityapplications Earnedvalue.
5Conclusion
6Findoutmore Fasttrackconstruction.
6.1RelatedarticlesonDesigningBuildingsWiki Ganttchart.

Informationreleaseschedules.
Introduction Keyperformanceindicators.

Networkdiagramsidentifytheinterrelationshipsamongtasksandestablishthemostappropriate
momentfortheirexecution.Theyalsohelpinpreparingtheprojectcalendaranddetermining
criticalpaths. Featuredarticles

Thetypicalnetworkrepresentsasetofdifferentarrowdiagramswhichgofromtheoriginnode Skillsplanner
tothedestinationnode.Inthissense,thepathisdefinedasasequenceofconnectedevents
whichflowfromthestartoftheprojecttotheend.Thetimenecessaryincoveringanyofthese
pathsisthesumofthetimecorrespondingtoeachofthetasksinvolved.Thecriticalpathisthe
onethatrequiresthelongestperiodoftimetoprogressfromstarttocompletionandindicatesthe
minimumtimeframenecessarytocompletethewholeproject.

Thecriticalpathisessentiallytheroutewhichrepresentsaproject'sbottleneck.Thereductionof Atwoyear,1.3mresearchanddevelopment
thetotalexecutiontimeframewillonlybepossibleiftheactivitiesonthispathcanbeshortened, programmetocreateaplatformthatmakes
sincethetimenecessarytoexecutenoncriticalactivitiesdoesnotaffecttheprojectstotal realtimeskillsdataavailable.
duration.Thehabitofacceleratingallprojectactivitiesinordertoreducethetotaltimeframeis
thereforeunnecessary.Decreasingthedurationofoneormorecriticalactivities,canreducethe
project'stotaltimeframebutitmayalsochangethecriticalpathsothatactivitieswhichwerenot Summitheldtotackleoccupationalhealth
previouslycriticalbecomeso. issues

TheCPMorCriticalPathMethodwasdevelopedbyMorganR.WalkeroftheEngineering Summitmeetingheldbynewcommitteeto
ServicesDivisionatDuPont,andJamesE.Kelley,whoworkedatRemingtonRand.Walkerand dealwithoccupationalhealthissuesthat
Kellywereinterestedinsolvingtheproblemofimprovingschedulingtechniquesusedinthe persistacrosstheconstructionindustry.
constructionofindustrialplantsitisbasedonadeterministicorexactdurationofeachtask.

TheassociatedPERTtechniquewasdevelopedintheSpecialProjectsOfficeoftheUSNavy, BuildingoftheweekBTTower
whenAdmiralW.F.Rabornrecognisedthatanintegratedplanningsystemandreliablecontrol
systemwerenecessaryinschedulingPolarisballisticmissiles.Withhissupport,aresearch

http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Critical_path_method_CPM 1/5
1/24/2016 CriticalpathmethodCPMDesigningBuildingsWiki

teamwasestablishedin1958todevelopPERT(ProgramEvaluationResearchTask).Atthe
timeoftheNavy'sfirstinternalreportonthematter,PERTbecametheProgramEvaluationand
ReviewTechnique.D.G.Malcolm,J.H.Roseboom,C.E.ClarkandW.Fazar,allfromthe
researchteamsponsoredbytheNavywereauthorsofthefirstdocumentpublishedonPERT.
Thismethodisbasedontheprobabilityofactivitydurations.

Graphicrepresentation

Thegraphicrepresentationofaprojectiscalledanetworkandconsistsofalistofactivitiesand ReadabouttheBTTower,a

priorities.Thisvisualrepresentationallowseachparttoberelatedtothewhole,allowingthe telecommunicationscentrethatremainsone

projecttobeeasilyunderstood.Itisimportantthatthepriorityrelationshipsbetweenthe ofthemostrecognisableandiconicfeatures

activitiesinvolvedintheprojectareclearlyidentifiedandrepresentedusingpartialgraphs,which onLondon'sskyline.

aresubsequentlyusedtoformacompletenetwork.

Signupforournewsletter
Anetworkdiagramincludesthefollowingsteps:
(http://designingbuildings.us4.list
Alltheprojectactivitiesshouldbeclearlydefinedandidentified. manage.com/subscribe?
Thetechnologicalsequencebetweentheactivitiesmustbeindicated.
Anetworkmustbeconstructedwhichshowstherelativepriorityrelationships. u=d574d9ea2afa87f3015d176f3&id=b0e8c9e30b)
Theexecutionperiodsforeachactivityshouldbeestimated.
Thenetworkisevaluatedandthecriticalpathiscalculated.
Astimegoesonandmoreinformationisacquired,itisrevisedandreevaluated.

Thetypicalnetworkcharacterisesasetofdifferentarrowdiagramswhichgofromtheorigin
nodetothedestinationnode.Inthissense,thepathisdefinedasasequenceofconnected
activities,whichflowfromthestartoftheproject(node1)totheend.Thetimerequiredtofollow
oneofthesepathsisthesumofthetimescorrespondingtoeachoftheactivities.Thecritical
pathisthatwhichrequiresthelongesttimetoprogressfrominceptiontocompletion,and
indicatestheminimumtimeframerequiredtocompletethewholeproject.Thediagrambelowisa Ourweeklynewsletterkeepsyouuptodate
graphicrepresentationusingthearrowdiagramtechnique.Notethatafictitiousactivity(F)ofno withwhat'sgoingon,featuresourlatest
durationhadtobeenteredsothatactivitiesFandGdonothavethesamestartandfinishnode articlesandhighlightsthebeststoriesfrom
onlyinthiswayisitpossibletodifferentiatebothactivitiesandcalculatethefloatforoneof aroundtheweb.
them,inparticularthatofF.

Newmodelfortowncentres

Reportpromotesradicalnewmodelto
revitaliseBritain'shighstreets.

Calculatingthecriticalpath

Immigrationskillscharge
Analgorithmisusedtocalculatethecriticalpathwhichincludestwophases:forwardstepand
backwardstep.Theforwardstepstartsattheoriginnodeandendsatthedestinationnode.At
eachnodeanumberiscalculatedwhichrepresentstheearlieststarttimeforthecorresponding
action.Thesenumbersarerepresentedinthefigureaboveintheupperleftsector.Forthe

http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Critical_path_method_CPM 2/5
1/24/2016 CriticalpathmethodCPMDesigningBuildingsWiki

backwardsstepthecalculationsaretakenfromthedestinationnodeandflowtowardstheorigin
node.Thenumbercalculatedateachnode(shownwithintheupperrightsector)representsthe
latestfinishtimeforthecorrespondingactivity.

Theearlystarttimeforeachactivityistheearliestdateonwhichthisactivitymaybegin,
assumingthatthepriorityactivitieshavestartedontheirrespectiveearlieststartdates.The
forwardstepbeginsattheoriginnode,whereDijisthedurationoftheactivity(i,j)andEithe
earlystarttimeforalltheactivitieswhichshareoriginnodeiifi=1,thereforeitistheoriginnode
andbyconventionE1=0forallcriticalpathcalculations.Thecalculationsforthisforwardstep
MigrationAdvisoryCommitteeproposalfora
areobtainedusingthefollowingexpression:
1,000ayearimmigrationskillschargeis
seenasyetanotherburdenbyindustry
leaders.

BSRIAlaunchnewsmarttechnologytopic
guide
IfthetimenecessarytocarryoutanactivityisDij,theearlyfinishtimecansimilarlybe
determinedasTij=Ei+Dij.

ThelastfinishLi,isthelatestanactivitycanfinishwithoutdelayingtheprojectbeyondthe
deadline.Inthesameway,thelaststartIij,isthelatestanactivitycanstartwithoutdelayingthe
projectscompletiondateitisdefinedasIij=LjDij.

Thesecondphase,thebackwardsstep,beginsatthedestinationnode.Itsobjectiveisto
calculatethelastfinish(Li)forallactivitieswhichconcludeatnodei.Ifi=n,thenthisisthe
destinationnode,Ln=En,andcorrespondstothestartofthebackwardsstep.Ingeneral,forany BSRIAlaunchnewsmarttechnologyguide
nodei: aimedatprovidinganinformativeintroduction
tothelatesttrendsinsmarthomesandthe
InternetofThings.

BREarticles

Oncethetwophasesarecomplete,theactivitieswhichcomprisethecriticalpathcanbe
identifiedtheyarethosewhichsatisfythefollowingconditions:

Thereisagreatcollectionofmorethan50
articlesbyBREavailableforfreeonDesigning
BuildingsWiki.

BIMpracticenote

Therearetwoimportanttypesoffloats:totalandfree.Thetotalfloat,Hijforactivity(i,j),isthe
differencebetweenthemaximumtimeavailabletocarryouttheactivity(LjEi)anditsduration
(Dij)itrepresentsthemaximumamountoftimethestartdatefortheactivitycanbedelayed,in
relationtotheearlystartwithoutdelayingthecompletionofthewholeproject:

Hij=LjEiDij=IijEi=LjTij

http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Critical_path_method_CPM 3/5
1/24/2016 CriticalpathmethodCPMDesigningBuildingsWiki

Intermsofthefreefloat,itisassumedthatallactivitiesstartasearlyaspossible.Inthiscase JCTpublishanintroductorypracticenote:
thefreefloat,Fijforactivity(i,j),istheexcessoftimeavailable(EjEi)overitsduration(Dij)it BuildingInformationModelling(BIM),
representsthedelayallowedforanactivitywithoutholdinguptheearlystartdatefortheinitiation CollaborativeandIntegratedTeamWorking.
ofanotheractivity.Anactivitywhichhasapositivetotalfloatmayalsohavefreefloat,butthis
canneverbegreaterthanthatshownbelow:
Top10skyscrapersintheUAE
Fij=EjEiDij

Intheexamplerepresenteditcanbeseenthattheactivitieswhichmakeupthecriticalpathare
A,C,EandG,turningoutaprojectwithan11monthduration.TheactivitiesB,DandFhave
floats,bothtotalandfree,of3,2,and1monthrespectively.

Probabilityapplications

Sincetheendofthefiftiesnetworkmethodshavebeenappliedsuccessfullytotheschedulingof
activitiesinindustryandconstruction,withreductionsofdeliverytimeframesandcostsranging
from20%to40%.Nevertheless,oneoftheinconveniencesofthecriticalpathmethodisits
deterministiccharacter.Thisfocusisnotappropriateforprojectswhereitisdifficulttoestimate
anexactdurationforeachactivity.

Withaneverincreasingnumberofskyscraper
Durationinrealityhasdegreesofprobability.Forthisreason,theoriginalversionofthePERT
completions,thislistlooksatthe10most
requiredtheuseofthreedifferenttypesofestimationaboutthedurationofanactivitytoobtain
impressivestructuresintheUAE.
basicinformationaboutitsprobabilitydistribution.Thisinformationisusedtoestimatethe
probabilityofcompletingtheprojectontheproposeddate.Inthiscase,uncertaintyandriskare
associatedwithschedulingthroughtheuseofminimum(oroptimistic),maximum(or
Pendulumarbitration
pessimistic)andhopeful(orprobable)durationsforeachtask.Thisallowstheestimationofthe
probabilityoffulfillingtheprojecttimeframebasedonaveragevaluesandvariancesinthe
activitieswhichcomprisethecriticalpath.Inthisway,havingdeterminedtheoptimistic,
pessimisticandprobabledurationsforatask,itispossibletoestimateitsaveragedurationand
variancesconsideringatypebdistributionfunction.Assumingthatthenumberofactivities
involvedinthecriticalpathissufficientlyhigh,thatthedurationdistributionfunctionsforeach
taskareofthesametypeandarestatisticallyindependent,itispossibletoestimatetheproject
timeframebasedonthesumoftheactivitydurationswhichcomprisethecriticalpath.In
addition,thevariancesintheprojectsdurationareevaluatedusingthesumofthevariancesin
activitieswhichformthecriticalpath,usingtheGausscurvedistributionfunction.These RobertFenwickElliottexplainswhypendulum
conditionsaresometimesnotfullyfollowedonprojectsnonetheless,thePERTtechniquehas arbitrationmaybepreferabletotheriskofa
offeredgoodpracticalresults. conventionaltrialandthebottomlesspitof
legalexpense.
ThethreetimeestimationsusedbyPERTforeachactivityprovideamostprobable,optimistic
andpessimisticestimation:

Optimistictime(b):besttimeexpectediftheactivitysexecutiongoesextremelywell. Formorenews,gotothehomepage.
Pessimistictime(a):worsttimeexpectedifeverythinggoesverybadly.
Mostprobabletime(m):timeexpectedifexecutiongoesnormally.

Duetothefactthata(optimistictime)andb(pessimistictime)mayvaryinrelationtom
(mostprobabletime),thisdistributionmaybeasymmetrical.Asthedistributionwastheone
thatbestadjustedtothegeneralproperties,itwaschosenbytheoriginalPERTresearchteam
asamodeltodeterminetheaverageexpectedtimes"te"andthetypicalorstandarddistribution
,associatedwiththethreetimeestimations.Followingananalysiswhichinvolvedahypothesis
ontherelationshipsbetweentherouteandtypicaldeviations,andanapproximationwithregard
totherelationshipbetweentheaverageandmodeinthedistribution,thefollowinggeneral
formulaewereproposedforteand:

http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Critical_path_method_CPM 4/5
1/24/2016 CriticalpathmethodCPMDesigningBuildingsWiki

Conclusion

CurrentsoftwarecombinesthePERTandCPMtechniques.Graphically,thenodesrepresentthe
activitiesandthearrowstheirinterrelationships.Thesemethodsallowamorecomplete
understandingthanaganttchartforthedifferenttasksinvolvedinaproject.Theyprovide
informationonthedependencyrelationshipsandthedecisionstobemadetoreachtheproposed
aim.Fundamentallytheyprovidethefollowinginformation:

Taskstobecarriedouttoreachtheobjectiveintheproposedtimeframe.
Activitiesthatdeterminetheprojecttimeframe(criticalpath).
Minimumprojectdurationbasedontheresourcesavailable.
Taskswhichrequireaspecialefforttoreachtheestablishedtimeframe.
Currentprojectsituationwithregardtothecompletiondate.
Diagramofdynamicactivities,whichcanbemodifiedinlinewiththedatarelatingtothe
constructionworks.
Theeffectofthechangesmadetoascheduleontheconstructionworksactivitiesand
phaseswhichremaintobecarriedout.

ThetextinthisarticleisbasedonanextractfromCONSTRUCTIONMANAGEMENT,by
EugenioPellicer,VctorYepes,JosM.C.Teixeira,HelderMouraandJoaqunCatala.Valencia,
Porto,2008.TheoriginalmanualispartoftheConstructionManagersLibrarycreatedwithin
theLeonardodaVinci(LdV)projectNo:PL/06/B/F/PP/174014,entitled:COMMONLEARNING
OUTCOMEFOREUROPEANMANAGERSINCONSTRUCTION.Itisreproducedhereina
modifiedformwiththekindpermissionoftheCharteredInstituteofBuilding

Findoutmore

RelatedarticlesonDesigningBuildingsWiki
Acceleration.
Contractor'smasterprogramme.
Designweb.
Earnedvalue.
Fasttrackconstruction.
Ganttchart.
Informationreleaseschedules.
Keyperformanceindicators.
Leadtime.
Milestones.
Programmefloat.
Schedulingconstructionactivities.

Share Addacomment Sendusfeedback

DesigningBuildingsLtd.2016 About Help PrivacyPolicy T&Cs Contact Feed ReportAbuse Press

http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Critical_path_method_CPM 5/5