Floating Values

I think you need to learn Critical path method first.

find some articles about CPM.

Then make a small project with several activity e.g. 10 activities, then calculate ES EF LS LF FF TF then you will understand every thing.



LF - if you finish the activity later than LF, the whole project will be delayed



For example, a single activty project say activity A dur 10 Day ES 1May. the project contractual finish date is 20May

so for A ES is 1May , EF 10May

if A finish on 20May, it still meet the contract date of 20May

so LF for A is 20May, the TF is LF-EF =10 days.



you can add TF to all activitis by shift the project compeltion date. But for each activity the only way is to add constain

Nurhan,



See what the consultant is saying is logical to a certain extend,



I am working in a residential project and it contains podiums divided into 18 areas,



So each area is independent of one another and the precast erection in these areas happen independently,



So sometimes due to logistics problems, some areas will be lagging behind the target dates,



In this case, if the roof slabs of the adjoining areas are not connected logically the slabs will be showing all unrealisic floats, i.e if sometimes the roof slab in a particular area is not completed and if we want to know how much is the float available for completing that particular slab,then the relationship between the activities play a vital role,



I meant to say, total float really depends on the relationship between the activities and on taking the schedule report you will be able to get the open end listed activities and it is ideal to clsoe all the open ends in the program which has to be submitted to the consultant,



Regards,



FMV

Nuhran Serin,



As I understand it, what you want to do is specify latest dates for completion of individual activities. This may be achieved by setting ’late finish’ constraints in the activities. For example, if you had a design brief that had to be out for review (for internal political reasons) on the 1st Feb, when the review period wouldn’t start until mid march, you would apply a late finish constraint to that activity of 1st Feb:



Activities box



Constaints Tab



tick Late Finish button,



pick date from the calendar.



This will hold in (constrain) the late date to the date you want, even after scheduling.



I would suggest though, that there are very few reasons for doing this.



1) ’Political’ reasons which have little to do with the running of the Project.



2) A project lacking in comprehensive detail in activities and/or logic. If there is an occurence or activity or date that needs to be met within your project, it should be shown as such within your plan.



Once you have captured all of the factors driving the end dates of your project, you may well have some activities with large amounts of float, this is not something to fear, or to hide, it’s just the way things are.

Hi Nurhan,



Steven’s reply is logical for your query,



Since P3 is making backward pass for calculating the late dates, if the must finish - constraint is not given in the project over view, the value will remain constant or uniform, when you are scheduling every day,



but when, you are giving a must finish by constraint then that date is taken for backward pass by P3 and the total float will go on decreasing every day unless the activity is not updated,



And the late dates all depends upon the activity’s successor relatioship,



if the project must finish by constraint is not given, in that case if an activity is getting delayed , then also the total float will remain positive and you can’t make out the exact delayed completion of the project,



Thanks,



FMV

if you do not want to show the dates that the software is calculating for you. what’s the point in using it. as it is just a picture you are drawing why not just use an excel spreadsheet and type in the dates you want and fill the cells with nice colours.



if you do not believe the dates that the software is giving you then calculate it manually to check it.

"Late Dates" are generated by the "Backward Pass", that P3 performs during the scheduling process.



The date specified as the "Project Completion Date" specifies which date the backward pass uses in the calculation, or if the "Project Completion Date" is not given then the finish of the last activity can determine the final date.



To constrain the completion your project to a specific date apply a finish constraint to the activity.



It is possible to artificially constrain activities to a certain Total Float, but I personally wouldnt.



Try this out on a single activity, and understand what the dates P3 is giving you are.



It is possible to constrain activities to certain levels of Total Float, personally I wouldnt, but you could.

why???

Nurhan Serin,



Are u trying to change the dates manually?



To modify the dates you must change relationships, lags and/or durations.



About the second question, I think it is not possible to do.



Kind regards,



Marcio Eduardo

Rio de Janeiro - Brazil