Scheduling for Home Builders with Microsoft Project

by David Marchman, Tulio Sulbaran

Overview

Your company’s ability to complete a high quality home on time and within budget is your most important asset. Don’t let scheduling problems destroy it. Master project scheduling and you’ll lower overhead and boost profits. Create efficient schedules to monitor and control construction progress using Microsoft® Project 2010. You’ll produce more projects with the same management staff and fewer headaches in the field and the back office. This book will help you schedule your next project with confidence and ease. Learn how to: • • record and communicate progress • • control financial, human, and physical resources • • record expenditures and analyze cost details • • manage cash flow and tasks • • create a baseline schedule and updates Don’t let sloppy scheduling eat up the time and money you need to build your business and move on to your next profitable project. You must have Microsoft® Project 2010 installed on your computer to access the practice files. There are two versions of Microsoft Project - standard and professional. The standard version costs less because it is designed for a single user, whereas the professional version is designed to be used on a server and accessed by multiple users. *Sample schedules are available online. Web address provided in the book. “A formalized scheduling procedure is one of the most powerful tools a builder can use. Scheduling with Microsoft Project illustrates best practices for keeping your projects on time and on budget.” - John Barrows, CGB, GMB, CGP, President, J. Barrows Inc., Wainscott, NY Your company’s ability to complete a high quality home on time and within budget is your most important asset. Don’t let scheduling problems destroy it. Master project scheduling and you’ll lower overhead and boost profits. Create efficient schedules to monitor and control construction progress using Microsoft® Project 2010. You’ll produce more projects with the same management staff and fewer headaches in the field and the back office. This book will help you schedule your next project with confidence and ease. Learn how to: • • record and communicate progress • • control financial, human, and physical resources • • record expenditures and analyze cost details • • manage cash flow and tasks • • create a baseline schedule and updates Don’t let sloppy scheduling eat up the time and money you need to build your business and move on to your next profitable project. You must have Microsoft® Project 2010 installed on your computer to access the practice files. There are two versions of Microsoft Project - standard and professional. The standard version costs less because it is designed for a single user, whereas the professional version is designed to be used on a server and accessed by multiple users. *Sample schedules are available online. Web address provided in the book. “A formalized scheduling procedure is one of the most powerful tools a builder can use. Scheduling with Microsoft Project illustrates best practices for keeping your projects on time and on budget.” - John Barrows, CGB, GMB, CGP, President, J. Barrows Inc., Wainscott, NY

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780867186789
Publisher:	National Association of Home Builders
Publication date:	01/01/2012
Edition description:	Third edition
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	9 Years

About the Author

David Marchman is Professor of Construction Engineering Technology at the University of Southern Mississippi and associate director of the School of Construction. He teaches construction scheduling to students in the classroom and to home builders in the field through seminars and workshops. Tuilo Sulbaran, PhD, teaches scheduling in the School of Construction a the University of Southern Mississippi. He shares his international expertise in residential architecture, engineering, and construction as a scheduling and estimating consultant to residential construction companies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

About the Authors xiii

Introduction 1

1 Introduction to Scheduling 5

Benefits of Scheduling 5

Estimates and Schedules 6

Communication 7

Tasks 7

Phases 8

Milestones 8

Gantt Charts and Reports 8

Rough Logic Diagram 9

Measuring Success 11

2 Creating the Microsoft® Project Schedule 13

Creating and Opening Microsoft® Project Files 14

Gantt Chart 16

Views 18

Adjusting the Timescale 20

Entering Task Names 21

Entering Task Duration 22

Entering Milestones 25

Entering Task Links 27

Identifying Critical Tasks 35

Entering Sort/Filter/Group Tasks 36

Schedule Options 40

Knowing the Basics 41

3 Managing Resources and Costs 43

Controlling Resources 43

Cash Flow 45

Two Types of Schedule 45

Creating Resource Lists 45

Assigning Costs to Resource Lists 52

Assigning Resources/Costs to Tasks 56

Adding Resource Notes 59

Managing Resources Efficiently 61

4 Monitoring and Updating the Schedule 63

Updating the Schedule 63

Copying the Schedule 64

Setting Baselines 66

Project Information Dialog Box 70

Recording Progress 72

Selecting the Status Date 77

Modifying the Schedule 80

Knowledge is Power 81

5 Updating Task Resources and Costs 83

Updating Project Resource and Cost Information 83

Comparing Baseline Costs with Actual Costs 84

Recording Actual Expenditures 84

Analyzing Costs 91

Splitting Tasks 93

Understanding Cost Details 95

6 Generating Reports 97

Communicating the Schedule 97

Executing Prints and Copies 98

Viewing Print Area 98

Projects Tab Reports Button 106

Editing Custom Reports 117

Copying Reports 127

Using Reports to Communicate 127

Glossary 129

Index 133

Figures

Introduction

I.1 View at 1600 × 1200 2

I.2 View at 1024 × 768 3

Chapter 1

1.1 Gantt chart 9

Chapter 2

2.1 A blank project file in Gantt chart view 14

2.2 File menu 14

2.3 Templates for creating new schedules 15

2.4 Project information dialog box 16

2.5 Gantt chart default view 17

2.6 Save As dialog box 17

2.7 Gantt chart 18

2.8 View tab 19

2.9 Timescale drop-down menu 20

2.10 Timescale dialog box 21

2.11 Task ID, Name, and Duration columns 22

2.12 Task drop-down menu 24

2.13 Recurring Task Information dialog box 25

2.14 Pour Slab task selected to place milestone before it 26

2.15 New milestone inserted 26

2.16 Milestone activity named 27

2.17 Linking tasks using the link button 27

2.18 Task dependency dialog box 28

2.19 Linked tasks displayed on Gantt chart 28

2.20 Linking the Clear Site and Under Slab Plumbing tasks 30

2.21 Task Details form 31

2.22 Choosing the task dependency type 32

2.23 Task dependency dialog box 33

2.24 Go To dialog box 34

2.25 Task dependency: lag and lead time 35

2.26 Gantt chart with critical path 36

2.27 Sort options 37

2.28 Sort levels 37

2.29 Filter options 38

2.30 Group options 39

2.31 Project options 40

2.32 Project Options dialog box 41

Chapter 3

3.1 Resource Sheet view 46

3.2 Resource type 47

3.3 Material unit of measure 48

3.4 Group field 49

3.5 Max. Units field 50

3.6 Std. Rate and Ovt. Rate fields 50

3.7 Std. Rate field for concrete 51

3.8 Resource Information dialog box (General tab selected) 52

3.9 Varying rates for different time periods 53

3.10 Fixed Cost field 54

3.11 Gantt chart 55

3.12 Adding a Cost column to the Gantt chart 56

3.13 Opening the Assign Resources dialog box 56

3.14 Assigning resources 57

3.15 Assigning resources to multiple tasks with the Ctrl key 58

3.16 Adding Notes 59

3.17 Notes tab 60

3.18 Note icon 60

Chapter 4

4.1 Save As function 65

4.2 Set Baseline dialog box 67

4.3 Set Baseline dialog box-Set interim plan 68

4.4 Set Baseline dialog box copy menu 69

4.5 Project Information dialog box 71

4.6 Project Statistics report 71

4.7 Update Tasks 72

4.8 Update Tasks dialog box (pre-update) 73

4.9 Update Tasks dialog box (pre-update) showing calendar 73

4.10 Update Tasks dialog box (after update)-Clear Site 74

4.11 Update Tasks dialog box (pre-update)-Building Layout 75

4.12 Update Tasks dialog box (after update)-Building Layout 75

4.13 Building Layout task in Gantt chart (after update) 76

4.14 Update Tasks dialog box (pre-update)-Prepare Slab for Pour 77

4.15 Project Information dialog box 78

4.16 Progress Lines 79

4.17 Progress Lines dialog box 79

4.18 Progress Lines dialog box with Baseline plan selected 80

4.19 Updated Gantt chart 80

Chapter 5

5.1 Accessing the Cost table 85

5.2 Cost table 85

5.3 Task Usage view 87

5.4 Actual Cost field 87

5.5 Accessing the Tracking Gantt view 87

5.6 Tracking Gantt view 88

5.7 Cost Table-Building Layout-Total Cost 89

5.8 Task Usage View-Building Layout-Work Hours 89

5.9 Building Layout (after update) 89

5.10 Prepare Slab for Pour (before update) 90

5.11 Cost Table-Prepare Slab for Pour-Total Cost 90

5.12 More Tables dialog box 91

5.13 Earned Value table 92

5.14 Building Layout task 94

5.15 Split Task dialog box 94

5.16 Split Task dialog box 94

5.17 Split Task results 94

Chapter 6

6.1 View tab 98

6.2 Page setup 99

6.3 Page scaling 99

6.4 Preview of Gantt chart 100

6.5 Printer selection 100

6.6 Calendar view-zoom 101

6.7 Gantt chart view 102

6.8 Network diagram view 103

6.9 Task usage view 103

6.10 Tracking Gantt view 104

6.11 Resource graph usage view 104

6.12 Resource sheet view 105

6.13 Resource usage view 105

6.14 More Views 106

6.15 More Views dialog box 106

6.16 Accessing the Reports dialog box 107

6.17 Reports dialog box 107

6.18 Overview Reports dialog box 108

6.19 Critical Tasks report 109

6.20 Selecting the Current Activities report 109

6.21 Current Activities dialog box 110

6.22 Tasks in Progress report 110

6.23 Selecting Costs reports 111

6.24 Cost Reports dialog box 112

6.25 Cash Flow report 112

6.26 Accessing assignments reports 113

6.27 Assignment reports dialog box 114

6.28 Who Does What report 114

6.29 Accessing workload reports 115

6.30 Workload reports dialog box 115

6.31 Resource Usage report 116

6.32 Accessing custom reports 117

6.33 Custom Reports dialog box 118

6.34 Task Report Definition tab 118

6.35 Text button 121

6.36 Text Styles dialog box 122

6.37 Task Report Details tab 123

6.38 Sort tab option 124