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MMSR: Multi-Layered, Multimedia Schedule Reporting

Abstract

Scheduling is the art and science of forecasting future performance based on historical information. It aims at charting a roadmap for the project to follow during its different phases of development to secure timely completion. In most construction projects, an owner-approved schedule becomes one of the contract documents, and a way of communication between the main project team members (Owner, Architect/Engineer, and General Contractor). Changes are one of the few certainties a construction schedule will have to go through. These changes might be due to an initial lack of information, false assumptions, unexpected events, or acts of God (Also known as Force Majeure). Regular and timely updating of the initially approved construction schedule becomes a necessity to reflect the impact of the different changes on the project timeline. This paper presents a new communication tool based on the framework of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and supplemented by multimedia files representing the planned Vs. actual project performance in the form of digital pictures, still and animated CAD drawings/models, and live video footage in addition to the computer-generated schedule. This communication tool presents a multi-layered view of the schedule, and allows for embedding additional files reflecting reasons for and amounts of delay, allowing for a better claim analysis, resulting in reduction in project disputes.

The development of the layers followed a simple rule of thumb; 1-5-5-5-.., breaking down each level to 5 subsequent levels, until the required level of detail (Activity or work package level) is reached. Upon project completion, the completed model serves as an as-built chronology of project execution, which can serve as an as-built documentation of the project.

Historical Background

Several attempts were implemented to design a scheduling technique allowing for the planning, monitoring, and control of the schedule during different phases of project development, particularly the construction or execution phase. Such efforts Included: 1 – Checklists: Where the project was broken down into activities and a list of these anticipated project activities was produced, without any chronological order, and without any type of relationships reflecting interdependency. This technique has been used successfully for several centuries as both a planning and a control technique. As each of the activities was performed, a check mark was put next to it to denote its completion. The ease and simplicity of such a technique are quite obvious; yet its drawbacks are also easily recognizable. The main deficiencies of the checklist were its failure to reflect the impact of the delay in performing a current activity on other activities, and the absence of any logic or time dimension in the representation of activities. 2 - Bar Charts: Also known as Gant charts, which tried to avoid one of the major drawbacks of the checklist, by graphically representing the list of activities plotted

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Saad, I. (2006, June), Multi Layered, Multimedia Schedule Reporting Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--915