Step 1: Plan the Plan

Step 1: Plan the Plan

Before opening your scheduling software and entering a single activity, you need to Plan the Plan. This is the thinking and information-gathering phase — understanding what the schedule needs to do, who will use it, and what decisions need to be made before development begins.

Skipping this step is one of the most common planning mistakes. The considerations below span every aspect of the project and will directly shape how the schedule is structured, coded, and maintained.

Considerations When Planning

• Who is the audience for distribution and reporting?
• What level of detail is required?
• Will resources be added to the schedule now, or in the future?
• Will costs be added now or in the future? Do WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and CBS (Cost Breakdown Structure) align?
• Will Earned Value Management (EVM) be used? Is WBS and CBS alignment required?
• Will the planning software need to communicate with other systems — cost, EVM, etc.?
• Will Primavera P6 be the platform for EVM, or another software?
• What reports will need to be set up for communicating schedule and progress updates? Is additional activity coding required for:
  • Excel
  • Visio
  • Power BI
  • Time Chainage Diagrams
  • 4D Modelling
  • GIS Mapping
• What activity codes and/or User Defined Fields will be required?
• Is the schedule part of a suite of schedules?
• Does the schedule need to be logic-linked to other schedules? If so, how?

General

The term construction planning implies a primary responsibility to construction — generally accurate under a traditional competitive tender system. Under a Project Management system, construction is only part of a co-ordinated team effort. Other team members will benefit from the information derived from construction planning.

Design & Documentation

• When design and construction is overlapped (fast-tracked), much of the design will be critical — good planning can prioritise relevant design scope.
• Consider temporary works design and approvals required prior to installation/construction. Temporary works design can become critical.
• Value Engineering — once design is sufficiently progressed.
• Risk Workshops — involve all relevant stakeholders.

Resources

• Identify specialist resources that are in short supply and high demand, such as: testing, commissioning, installation, client resources (design review/approval/inspections), Industrial Relations issues, remote location constraints, and installation/commissioning by specialist contractors.
• Before trying to plan the best utilisation of resources — determine what resources are actually available.
• Check the availability and experience of local resources and contractors, particularly for controlling resources.
• Are local resources already over-committed?
• Is there sufficient local supervision staff available?
• Do resources/supervision need to be imported to a remote location?
• Local availability of equipment, including servicing and maintenance.
• Controlling resources/labour — e.g. structure crews (formworkers, reinforcement fixers) can be considered as controlling resources.

Site Conditions

• Review site conditions, access, and restrictions.
• Review ground conditions and bearing pressures for equipment.
• Laydown areas for materials and equipment.
• Site amenities — offices, parking, power, water, drainage, sewer for site establishment.
• Noise restrictions.
• Allow for incomplete components of work caused by: temporary works, access requirements, materials handling requirements (hoists/cranes attached to structures), staged construction and handover, and location of site offices/amenities/laydown/access roads.
• Hazardous materials removal — transportation routes, specialist dump sites, preparation prior to removal/transport, encapsulation of materials.
• Site access and traffic movements during different construction phases/stages.
• Minimise existing services/utilities relocations.
• Adjoining properties — require structural underpinning?
• Materials handling — avoid double/triple handling.
• Mobile crane vs. fixed crane.
• Is temporary dewatering required?
• Worker access to the site(s).

Location Impacts

• Site establishment and amenities: relocation to be minimised; must not impede material flow or storage; should allow easy access to/from work face; fire risk to be minimised; security; temporary buildings to be relocatable; suitably designed access paths/roads; walkways protected from weather; emergency vehicle access; required utilities and services; rubbish sorting/recycling; communications systems; boosting requirements; minimise double handling.
• Environmental concerns — heat, cyclones, noise, heritage.
• Onsite or local stockpiling vs. transportation and over-dimensional loads.
• Understand the geology of the site.
• Traffic conditions and restrictions.
• Industrial Relations — location-specific issues.
• Protection of heritage/indigenous assets.
• Protection of adjoining properties (gantries, scaffold, hoarding).
• Protection of environmental assets.
• Inspect the site — adjoining properties, traffic conditions, physical obstructions, local authority requirements, local weather conditions.
• Develop installation methods to suit local conditions and environment.

Long Lead-time & Procurement

• Consider long lead-time procurement of specialist items, equipment, and labour.
• Authority approvals and approval of management plans.
• Is expedited delivery required (air freight or sea/road/rail freight)?
• Long lead-time materials (structural steel, precast items) can be regarded as controlling elements.
• Key long lead-time items include: Mechanical equipment (Air Handling Units), Lifts/elevators and LMR equipment, Escalators/travelators, Fire pumps/boosters, specialist cabling and pipes, Electrical switchboards/transformers, Vertical transportation, Supply and connection of essential utilities (temporary and permanent).

Time-line

• 'Required on Site' dates for: people, supervision, materials, equipment, design documents/specifications, client/owner supplied items, weather impact on installation (e.g. asphalt in cold weather).
• Maximising off-site fabrication.
• Multi-activity charts for installation cycle confirmation.
• Prepare a rough schedule — broadly estimate time allocations for main elements (site establishment → excavation → structure → services → finishes → façade → T&C). Top-down planning using agreed productivity rates and benchmarking against similar projects.
• Identify controlling activities, trades, resources, and equipment.
• Consider installation methods that reduce the number of steps involved.
• Complex projects — the best delivery methodology will not be fully known until the schedule is reasonably developed and reviewed by the team.
• Decisions based on cost — a faster installation method may not reduce costs, but may reduce schedule risks.
• Multi-building complexes predominantly spread horizontally — divide into individual groups or vertically arranged elements.
• Multi-activity chart preparation and crane hook analysis.

Productivity

• Consider schedule 'black-out' zones — e.g. Winter months for earthmoving, utility relocations/shutdowns, resource unavailability, rail possessions/occupations, Winter/Summer conditions for particular installations.
• Utilise precast structural elements where possible.
• Safety — removing the risk, minimising plant vs. equipment interactions; no-go zones.
• Rate of production and delivery.
• Are temporary works required?
• Equipment location will influence assembly methods.
• Faster progress may require additional materials handling equipment and additional laydown areas, and materials supply must keep pace.
• Allow for unusual works — inaccessible areas, mixture of materials/systems, multiple specialist resources/equipment, confined space, restricted space, working at heights.
• Allow for difficult or time-consuming features or installation of components.
• Inclement weather impact on 'Just in Time' deliveries.
• Consider 'waiting times' for materials handling — both vertical and horizontal movements.
• Do local resources have the same productivity as metropolitan resources?
• Consider how workers access and move around the site, for safe work and efficiency.
• Crane hook analysis — what materials and when. 'Just in Time' deliveries for confined space sites.
• Local (remote location) manufacture of prefabricated items.
• Agree on whether the schedule will be pessimistic or optimistic — this will influence the contingency or risk allowance to be added.

Methodology

• Before jumping into the detail — gather all available information and develop a first impression about the broad approach.
• The extent of construction work tends to increase as the design develops.
• Construction planning is the only reliable source of information relating to materials handling, site access, site facilities, and construction duration.
• Consider installation methods that reduce labour congestion — spreading activities over levels or areas. Consider prefabrication offsite. Look for ways of achieving smooth work flow and minimal down time. Minimise 'tap on & tap off'.
• Depending on the type of project and organisation, planning should start before any firm design decisions have been made.
• Basic planning is not complete until there is a balanced framework of decisions and methodology agreed by the Project Team.
• Basic planning establishes the broad framework of decisions about who, what, where, and when.
• Almost everything can be delivered/installed/constructed in more than one way — basic planning looks at each operation in turn and develops likely method alternatives to establish the best overall framework of action.
• Staged construction — is there a requirement for early handover of parts of the project? Has site establishment taken this into consideration? Do temporary offices/amenities/access roads need to be relocated?
• The choice of installation/assembly method is influenced by: resources available, equipment available, supervision available, and specialised equipment.
• Installation methods to consider: safety, access/egress, temporary works, evacuation, materials handling, storage areas, confined space, specialist resources, removal of temporary works, design schedule, and procurement of long lead-time items.
• Bulk excavation methods to consider: over-excavation, sheet piling, de-watering, access/egress method, spoil removal, environmental controls, truck movements, and restricted hours (noise).
• Concrete pours: suitably sized to minimise weather risk and allow final finishing within daylight hours; maximise gravity; driving activity — supply of concrete, concrete pump capacity, crane and skip capacity; concrete mix design; traffic management of delivery trucks; standard of concrete finish.
• Excavation: excavations and site retention can form a considerable portion of the overall schedule — careful planning of this stage can often result in greater construction time savings for less planning effort. Poor control and supervision of in-ground works results in more lost time than can ever be recovered in successor phases.
• Structural Steel: sometimes erratic delivery; overseas lead time; standard rolled sizes.
• Essential Services/Utilities: High Voltage electricity — substation required on site or adjacent? Multiple substations required?