How do you check a contractor's programme update?
Compare the update with the last approved programme. Check the actual dates, the logic, the critical path and any new delay the contractor claims.
What to compare
- Actual start and finish dates against your site records.
- Changes to the order of tasks or the logic links.
- Changes to durations, especially on the critical path.
- The forecast completion date against the contract date.
- Any new delay events, with their cause.
Checklist before you reply
- Check actual dates against your site diary.
- Look for durations that grew with no reason.
- Look for logic links that were deleted or changed.
- Check that each claimed delay sits on the critical path.
- Reply in writing within the time the contract allows.
- Save this version beside the last one.
Tasks moved without notice are a warning sign. A delay to work with spare time may not move the completion date.
Lay the two versions side by side and mark each difference. A short list of findings is easier to reply to than a long letter.
In your reply, state what you accept, what you question and why. Silence can be read as agreement under some contracts, so check the clause. Every version you keep shows how the dates moved and who caused each move.
A worked example
Say the contractor on a clinic build sends its monthly update. Completion is now two weeks later than last month, and the update blames late ceiling drawings.
The site diary shows the ceiling framers started on time. The update has also stretched painting from ten days to eighteen, and the link from painting to handover is gone.
The reply accepts the actual dates. It questions the longer painting time and the missing link, and asks for the real cause of the two-week slip. It goes out within the reply period, with both versions attached. When the contractor sends a revised update, the same checks apply again.
Related answers
Questions
Do I need scheduling software to check an update?
It helps, because you can compare two versions. For a small job, a careful read of the dates may be enough.
What if the update shows a late finish?
Ask for the cause and the contractor's recovery plan. Check the contract for notice and extension of time rules.
Need this done for your project?