While that question seems relatively easy to answer, in reality, it is much more complex. There are several extremely important reasons to have a schedule that has the following characteristics:

1. Show the interrelationships of activities.
2. Have a closed network (All activities except the first and last activity should have predecessors and successors)
3. Availability should be addressed per task.
4. The project schedule must contain the design sequence, the procurement sequence, and the construction sequence.
5. The planned weather anticipated each month should be in the schedule calendar.
6. The schedule should have activities for:

a. Inspections and testing

b. Owner furnished items

c. Separate contracts negotiated by the owner

d. Closeout procedures

e. Commissioning activities

7. The schedule must be updated regularly (i.e. Monthly)

8. Schedule updates should show:

a. Percent completes of each activity

b. An updated data date

c. Contract change order from a cost and schedule perspective

d. All delays, whether caused by the contractor, the owner, the subcontractors and (or) a weather-caused delay.

By following the items listed above ACE completed over 10,000 schedules for companies like Gray Construction, Valiant, Matco Electric, and more! These items are crucial and have proven to be successful. No one plans to fail; They fail to plan.