Chapter 4 - Delay Analysis Using Bar Chart Schedules

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This chapter describes how one goes about performing a delay analysis when the Project schedule is a bar chart. The first step in analyzing a bar chart is to define the critical path. Every Project has a critical path. If a Project does not have a critical path method (CPM) schedule, it does not mean that it does not have a critical path. In CPM scheduling, the drafter of the schedule prepares a logic or network diagram. Once durations are assigned to the activities in the diagram, the critical path is calculated. This is a purely arithmetic process. The definition of the critical path is the longest path of work activities through the network diagram. Thus, the path with the longest duration defines the shortest possible duration for the Project. The Project cannot finish until every path has been traversed. A delay to an activity on the critical path will delay the completion date of the Project. Whether the critical path is defined in a CPM schedule or a bar chart, every Project has a series of interrelated activities that will control the Project completion time.