# Schedule submittal specification clauses

*Sample clauses for an owner's scheduling specification. Copy them into your contract documents and edit the bracketed values to suit your contract form. They are free to use and need no permission.*

*The clauses name a method, the 14 checks of the DCMA 14-point assessment, and a free way to run it. They do not require any product: any tool that applies the same checks and thresholds and reports each one is acceptable.*

*This is not legal advice. Have your counsel review the wording against your form of contract before you issue it.*

## 1. Definitions

1.1 "Schedule" means the Contractor's critical path method (CPM) schedule for the Works, prepared in scheduling software and submitted in its native file format (for example .mpp, .xml or .xer).

1.2 "Status date" means the date up to which progress in a Schedule is reported.

1.3 "Schedule health report" means a report, generated from the submitted Schedule file, that applies each of the checks in clause 4 and states for each check the number of activities found, the number assessed, the threshold and whether the check is met.

## 2. Baseline schedule

2.1 Within [30] days after the notice to proceed, the Contractor shall submit a baseline Schedule covering the whole of the Works, logically linked from start to finish.

2.2 The baseline submittal shall include the native Schedule file, a narrative describing the approach, calendars and critical path, and a schedule health report run on that file.

## 3. Schedule updates

3.1 The Contractor shall submit an updated Schedule every [month], with a status date no earlier than [5] working days before the submittal.

3.2 Each update shall include the native Schedule file, a narrative of progress, changes to logic or durations since the last submittal and the critical path, and a schedule health report run on that file.

3.3 The Contractor shall keep the accepted baseline in the Schedule file so that the baseline checks in clause 4 can be run.

## 4. Schedule quality checks

4.1 Each Schedule shall be assessed against the 14 checks of the DCMA 14-point assessment, with the thresholds below. Percentages are of the open (not complete) activities, or of the relationships, that each check assesses; summary activities are excluded.

| No. | Check | What it measures | Threshold |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Logic | Open tasks missing a predecessor or a successor. | at most 5% |
| 2 | Leads | Dependencies with a negative lag. | none |
| 3 | Lags | Dependencies with a positive lag. | at most 5% |
| 4 | Relationship types | The share of dependencies that are finish-to-start. | at least 90% |
| 5 | Hard constraints | Open tasks set to Must start on, Must finish on, Start no later than or Finish no later than. | at most 5% |
| 6 | High float | Open tasks with more than 44 working days of total float. | at most 5% |
| 7 | Negative float | Open tasks with less than zero total float. | none |
| 8 | High duration | Open tasks longer than 44 working days. | at most 5% |
| 9 | Invalid dates | Planned dates before the status date, or actual dates after it. | none |
| 10 | Resources | Open tasks with no resource assigned. | none |
| 11 | Missed tasks | Tasks the baseline said would be done by now that are not done, or finished late. | at most 5% |
| 12 | Critical path test | Delays one critical task by 600 working days and checks that the project finish moves by the same amount. | exactly 600 working days |
| 13 | Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) | Whether the remaining critical path can finish by the baseline finish. | at least 0.95 |
| 14 | Baseline Execution Index (BEI) | Tasks completed, against the tasks the baseline said would be done by now. | at least 0.95 |

4.2 Checks that compare against a baseline (missed tasks, CPLI and BEI) apply from the first update after the baseline is accepted, and may be reported as not assessed on the baseline submittal.

4.3 Where a check is not met, the narrative shall list each exception and either justify it or state the corrective action and the update in which it will be made.

## 5. Schedule health report

5.1 A schedule health report shall be attached to each Schedule submittal. The report shall name the Schedule file it was run on, its status date and the date the report was produced.

5.2 A report from the free Schedule Health Check at onplana.com/tools/schedule-health-check meets this clause. A report from any other tool that applies the checks and thresholds of clause 4 and reports each check separately is equally acceptable.

## 6. Review

6.1 The Owner may return as incomplete any submittal that has no schedule health report, or whose report was not run on the file submitted.

6.2 A report showing every check met does not by itself mean the Schedule is accepted, and acceptance of a Schedule does not relieve the Contractor of any obligation under the Contract.