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Changing Remaining on Non-Statused Activities (RD is Different than OD)

11 replies [Last post]
Wed, 2019-02-13 16:54
Robert Dawkins
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Groups: Sarawak Primavera User Group (SPUG)

I'm working with a contractor who has just reciently changed the remaining duration on a few un-statused activites in the latest update. This is based on the USACE schedule requirement:

3.3.13 Original Durations
Activity Original Durations (OD) shall be reasonable to perform the work
item. OD changes are prohibited unless justification is provided to
and approved by the Contracting Officer.

An issue or argument has come up between me my colleague about which is correct when the plan has changed. I will not state my thought here.

Thanks

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Replies

Fri, 2019-02-15 11:25
#1
Rafael Davila
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The following is a link to the USACE Schedule Specifications.

USACE Schedule Specifications - SAS Guide Specs 15 May 2015

  • 3.3.14 Original Durations Activity Original Durations (OD) shall be reasonable to perform the work item. OD changes are prohibited unless justification is provided to and approved by the Contracting Officer.
  • 3.3.18 Remaining Duration Update the remaining duration for each activity based on the number of estimated work days necessary to complete the activity. Remaining duration may not mathematically correlate with percentage found under Paragraph "Percent Complete", above.
  • Please take a look at the following reference as it might help you to get the desired results with regard to OD and RD.

The Inner Workings Of P6

 P6-OD-RD

In addition to the USACE Schedule Specifications the following mandatory requirements might be of interest.

Primavera P6 – USACE Mandatory Requirements

The USACE Schedule Specification is full of errors and is biased in favor of specific software. Just take a look at a few sections, it is a disaster.

USACE 2015 cpm specifications - UFGS 01 32 01.00 10 from Rafael Davila

In the case you are a contractor and the Schedule is hijacked you might resort to using a GHOST Schedule to keep control of your Means and Methods.

Ghost Schedule   

Good Luck.

 

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Thu, 2019-02-14 16:03
#2
Robert Dawkins
User offline. Last seen 4 years 34 weeks ago. Offline
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Groups: Sarawak Primavera User Group (SPUG)

That was the point of my argument! Well said!

I'm dealing with an colleague who makes broad statments that are incorrect and those higher up take this persons position as the truth. UGH!!! This person challenges everything to the point I want to walk out of the meetings. Self promoting.

Thanks

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Thu, 2019-02-14 16:03
#3
Robert Dawkins
User offline. Last seen 4 years 34 weeks ago. Offline
Joined: 16 Feb 2012
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Groups: Sarawak Primavera User Group (SPUG)

That was the point of my argument! Well said!

I'm dealing with an colleague who makes broad statments that are incorrect and those higher up take this persons position as the truth. UGH!!! This person challenges everything to the point I want to walk out of the meetings. Self promoting.

Thanks

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Thu, 2019-02-14 14:05
#4
Zoltan Palffy
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because the specifications state that

3.3.13 Original Durations

Activity Original Durations (OD) shall be reasonable to perform the work item. OD changes are prohibited unless justification is provided toand approved by the Contracting Officer.

He technically did not change the OD he changed the RD so technically he can do this.

The real question is why ?

1. if he beleives that thses are now the correct durations based on a measured mile or some other basis and it does not impact the critical path then there should be no reason not to let him change it.

2. If he does not change it and he beleives that there are the correct duration and you do nto let him change it arent you just setting him up for failaure ?

3. If he does change it and it does impact the critical path then NO he should not be permitted to chnage it and will have ot add more manpower or work over time to achieve these durations. This is the reason that section 3.3.13 exists.

Let him justify his change of durations to the Contracting Officer in writing and then see what the justification is and then go from there.

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Thu, 2019-02-14 02:48
#5
Santosh Bhat
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For Activites that have not started P6 determines OD to equal RD, but once in progress, the OD remains unchanged (as this is determined by the planned dates) and then Actual duration plus remaining duration equals At Completion duration..all these fields are available to view in activity view as columns. AD + RD = AtcD Note that duration is not affected by any baselines that are assignee, but baseline duration can also be viewed as columns.
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Wed, 2019-02-13 18:29
#6
Raymund de Laza
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As I understand, un-statused activity is not started activity. Therefore changing the RD means OD will change accordingly equal to RD.
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Wed, 2019-02-13 18:29
#7
Raymund de Laza
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As I understand, un-statused activity is not started activity. Therefore changing the RD means OD will change accordingly equal to RD.
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Wed, 2019-02-13 18:10
#8
Robert Dawkins
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I agree.

Thanks

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Wed, 2019-02-13 18:02
#9
Carlos Inostroza
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I agree, OD or Baseline duration should remain untouched, on the other hand RD can and should be modified acording to the perfomance observed in the ejecution of the project.

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Wed, 2019-02-13 17:58
#10
Robert Dawkins
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I left out some information. The question came up when the contractor changed the remaining duration of the un-statused activity . The OD and RD fields do not match in that activity. This was the latest update that was changed manually by the contractor based on his new plan going forward. The discussion was whether to just change both fields or change the remaining duration only leaving the original as is.  

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Wed, 2019-02-13 17:34
#11
Anoon Iimos
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Think of a "Baseline Schedule" vs. Current or Actual Schedule. If you were not progressing exactly as planned, then of course there would be differences between your schedules. Remember that there should be no changes in your baseline schedule i.e. OD etc. unless deemed needed and mutually agreed and approved. On the other hand, you can work out your current or actual schedule as you deemed to suit the actual conditions. Which may mean to fast track or crash your schedule and may result to a reduced remaining durations and perhaps gain more profits.
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