CST Schedule Variance & Delay Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A project reports SV = -$15,000 and SPI = 0.82. What do these metrics collectively indicate?
- The project is under budget and ahead of schedule
- The project is behind schedule and completing less work than planned per dollar spent (Correct answer)
- The project is over budget but on schedule
- The project has a positive cost variance offsetting schedule delays
Correct answer: The project is behind schedule and completing less work than planned per dollar spent
A negative SV and SPI below 1.0 both confirm the project is behind schedule, completing only 82 cents of planned work per dollar of time elapsed.
Question 2: Which delay analysis technique overlays the as-planned schedule against the as-built schedule to identify where delays originated?
- Time Impact Analysis (TIA)
- Collapsed As-Built (CAB)
- Window Analysis
- As-Planned vs. As-Built comparison (Correct answer)
Correct answer: As-Planned vs. As-Built comparison
The As-Planned vs. As-Built comparison graphically overlays both schedules to identify divergence points and delay sources.
Question 3: During a delay claim, the opposing party argues that your critical path delay was concurrent with their excusable delay. The most likely result is:
- Full time extension granted to the claimant
- No time extension because concurrent delays cancel each other out
- Time extension may be granted but no additional compensation for the overlapping period (Correct answer)
- The contractor receives both time and additional costs
Correct answer: Time extension may be granted but no additional compensation for the overlapping period
Concurrent delays typically result in a time extension for the overlapping period, but additional costs are generally not awarded to either party during that window.
Question 4: A schedule shows Total Float = 0 and Free Float = 0 for Activity X. If Activity X is delayed by 5 days, what is the most likely impact?
- Only successor activities are delayed; the project finish is unaffected
- The project finish date is delayed by 5 days (Correct answer)
- The delay absorbs into the remaining buffer with no impact
- Free float in predecessors increases by 5 days
Correct answer: The project finish date is delayed by 5 days
Zero total float means the activity is on the critical path, so any delay directly extends the project finish date by the same duration.
Question 5: The Earned Schedule (ES) method improves upon traditional EVM schedule metrics by:
- Replacing cost variance with a duration-based measure of schedule performance
- Eliminating the need for a baseline schedule
- Converting SV from dollars to days, providing a time-based schedule variance (Correct answer)
- Using resource histograms instead of network logic
Correct answer: Converting SV from dollars to days, providing a time-based schedule variance
Earned Schedule converts the schedule variance from a cost-unit measure to actual time units (days/weeks), making schedule slippage directly interpretable.
Question 6: A project manager notices that the SPI has been consistently below 1.0 for six weeks but the critical path has not changed. The most likely explanation is:
- Only non-critical activities are behind schedule, consuming float (Correct answer)
- Critical activities are ahead of schedule masking non-critical delays
- The baseline was set incorrectly at project initiation
- Resource leveling eliminated all float, making all paths critical
Correct answer: Only non-critical activities are behind schedule, consuming float
Non-critical activities can be behind schedule and reduce earned value without shifting the critical path, since their delays absorb available float.
Question 7: In a construction delay claim, 'pacing delays' refer to:
- Delays caused by the owner issuing work orders too slowly
- A contractor intentionally slowing non-critical work to match a known critical path delay caused by another party (Correct answer)
- Acceleration of schedule to recover lost time
- Delays caused by subcontractors not meeting milestone dates
Correct answer: A contractor intentionally slowing non-critical work to match a known critical path delay caused by another party
Pacing delays occur when a contractor slows otherwise non-critical work in response to an owner-caused critical delay, to avoid inefficient out-of-sequence work.
CST Schedule Variance & Delay Analysis 2
A project reports SV = -$15,000 and SPI = 0.82.
What do these metrics collectively indicate?