BCM Construction Scheduling and Planning 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which scheduling method uses a network diagram where each node represents an activity and arrows show dependencies?
- Gantt Chart
- Activity-on-Node (AON) (Correct answer)
- Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
- Linear Schedule Method
Correct answer: Activity-on-Node (AON)
Activity-on-Node (AON), also called Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), places activities in nodes with arrows showing logical relationships.
Question 2: The Critical Path in a project schedule is defined as the sequence of activities that:
- Has the most activities
- Requires the most resources
- Has zero total float and determines project duration (Correct answer)
- Has the highest risk
Correct answer: Has zero total float and determines project duration
The critical path is the longest path through the network with zero total float, meaning any delay on it directly extends the project finish date.
Question 3: What does 'Total Float' represent in Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling?
- The number of activities on the critical path
- The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion (Correct answer)
- The total duration of all activities
- The lag between two activities
Correct answer: The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion
Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the project's overall finish date.
Question 4: In CPM scheduling, the Early Start (ES) of an activity is calculated by:
- Adding the activity duration to its Late Finish
- Taking the earliest Early Finish of all predecessor activities
- Subtracting total float from the Late Start
- Taking the maximum Early Finish of all predecessor activities (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Taking the maximum Early Finish of all predecessor activities
The Early Start of an activity equals the maximum Early Finish among all its predecessors, ensuring all preceding work is complete before starting.
Question 5: Which type of logical relationship in Precedence Diagramming means 'Activity B cannot start until Activity A finishes'?
- Start-to-Start (SS)
- Finish-to-Finish (FF)
- Finish-to-Start (FS) (Correct answer)
- Start-to-Finish (SF)
Correct answer: Finish-to-Start (FS)
Finish-to-Start (FS) is the most common relationship, requiring the predecessor to finish before the successor can begin.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a Gantt Chart in construction scheduling?
- Calculate the critical path
- Allocate budget across activities
- Visually represent the project timeline with bars showing activity durations (Correct answer)
- Identify risk events
Correct answer: Visually represent the project timeline with bars showing activity durations
A Gantt chart is a bar chart that visually shows each activity's start and end dates on a timeline, making the schedule easy to read and communicate.
Question 7: When applying resource leveling to a construction schedule, the primary goal is to:
- Shorten the project duration
- Reduce project cost
- Smooth resource demand to avoid peaks and valleys (Correct answer)
- Eliminate all float from the schedule
Correct answer: Smooth resource demand to avoid peaks and valleys
Resource leveling adjusts activity start dates (within float) to create a more uniform resource demand, reducing costly crew mobilization/demobilization cycles.
BCM Construction Scheduling and Planning 1
Which scheduling method uses a network diagram where each node represents an activity and arrows show dependencies?