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Delay Duration and Reason capture in Primavera P6

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Alexander Kirakosyan
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Hi,

I am trying to setup a way in Primavera P6 to help capture all the delay related information, like delay reasons and durations. 

Delay Reason: I have come across "Delay Reason" activity code, but that will only allow me to provide a list of broad categories (e.g. Weather, Labor, Missing Material). So, I would also prefer to be able to create subcategories (e.g. under labor have subcategories of rework, absent perssonel, etc.)  that are tied to Broad categories. Is this possible in P6, or if the tool doesn't have any feature like that, what would be the best workaround for that. 

Delay Duration: Our scheduling team currently captures all the information regarding delays by creating "delay activities" and linking those a predecessors to delayed activities. This doesn't seem to be a sustainable way of do it. Is there a better way to capture delay duration info in P6?

 

Thanks!

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Rafael Davila
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Primavera "Bigger Database" at a time was Primavera Expedition it would push Schedule data plus it would have all the Enterprise Logs along with the required access control.  No need to push any log as they were embeded into the database to be updated and visible on real time.  No need to wait for someone to update the scheduler for him to push the data.  I believe their current substitute application is Primavera Contract Management. 

Primavera Contract Management

Prolog Manager is another system that have been in use for many years.  Prolog® Manager is a Windows-based project management application offering the most complete system of record for capturing and managing project information, from the field to the back office, for project managers accountable for construction costs, scope and schedules. With features including collaboration, purchasing management, cost control, document management and field administration capabilities, Prolog is designed to match today’s industry processes, while being adaptable to meet individual project requirements.

Prolog Manager 

Some contractors do not like the idea to share all such data when transferring schedule file to client. They want their managers to be aware of their own delays but do not want to warn others that could use this information to claim concurrent delays. That would be kept on a separate log [table] within their enterprise database to be shared only internally.  They do not want to show all their cards.  

Alexander Kirakosyan
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Thanks very much to all!!! This is very very helpful! 

I will have to learn more about Global change and using activity codes and will then try build everything in the p6. Will update here as soon as I build the logic, and check with you.

 

Rafayel, to your point on avoiding having everything in one place: The purpose of having everything in one place is to be able to push all the relevant data to a bigger database where I can store all historical data and then start analysing all the delays and the reasons behind them, so that the company can prioritize what to fix first. 

 

Thanks again to all, this is great input!

Rafael Davila
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Be reminded that Steven said - "won’t allow for is multiple delays against 1 activity". One single activity might be delayed several times by rain, by a storm, by unforeseen conditions, by lack of materials ...

Most, if not all, my clients keep such data on separate logs that are discussed on thir weekly meetings. Better than looking at convoluted reports from a CPM schedule. 

To name a few:

  • Adverse weather log.
  • Change Orders and Change Directives Log.
  • Request for Information Log.
  • Request for Quotation.
  • Resource Availability Log.
  • Issues Log.
  • Risks.
  • Submittals log.
  • Purchase log.
  • Drawings log.
  • Non-compliance log.
  • Billings and Payments Log.
  • Insurance Log.
  • Concrete Tests Log.
  • Soil Testing Log.
  • ..... a few others specific for the job and others I might be missing.

To include everything on the CPM database is not a good idea.  Scheduler can add some fields and notes as a reminder and/or cross-reference to the logs but should not rely 100% on such fields. 

Zoltan Palffy
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you can do as Steven suggest and just make one code and have several categories

Rafael Davila
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  • Why not use the user defined field label to disclose the reason and show the durations at the same time? 
  • Then a single field to make notes on delay reasons shall be good enough. 
  • With some formulas [Global Change] you can subtotal into other user defined field(s) any group of delay reason(s).
Steven Auld
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Alexander, If you use one Activity code for the delay code (created with sub sections to break down codes), the have another column - a user defined field - for storing the delay duration. The activity codes can be created with up to 25 levels within them, so gives a fair amount of room. What this won’t allow for is multiple delays against 1 activity, as you can only have 1 value assigned for each activity code type.
Rafael Davila
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Alternatively you can try using cost codes as Delay Reason to keep record of the team captures.  Use the layouts, filters and reporting capabilities of your software to expand your views at a click of the mouse.  You can expand the cost codes as needed to have a separate view for each occurrence. For this example I expanded Rain Delays to see the details. You will not need a lot of separate columns making it easier to do the math within your custom reports. It shall not be difficult to figure it out within your software. 

Once your team captures the delay reason the scheduler shall apply the changes to the schedule. 
  • For weather delays the preferred and frequently mandated method is via weather calendars.
  • AACE -84R-13 - Planning for Adverse Weather
  • For owner caused delays the preferred method is via added activities.  Frequently these are rejected by the Owner; in such case Ghost Schedules might be necessary.
  • Ghost Schedule    
  • For contractor caused delays this is usually taken care during periodic schedule updates.  Rarely new activities are required but it might happen.

Cost_Codes_as_Delay_Reason

Alexander Kirakosyan
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Zoltan, thanks so very much! The only concern I have with the notebooks, is that I can't add them as columns as far as I know. Whereas, I need all the information as a column and export them to Excel for further analysis. Could you provide more details on how admin categories work?

 

Steven, many thanks for your input! Actually very helpful! I am new to P6, so just getting familiar with all the functionalities. I guess having child codes would solve most of the problems. However, how can I assign value to them in terms of delay duration per each case? 
 

 

Just to provide complete picture: I want to capture all reasons for activity's delay, including invdividual delay case duration, and total number of delays (e.g. the activity got delayed 3 times, 1 time because of weather for 2 days, 2nd time because of missing materials with 5 day delay, and 3rd time missing labor for 2 days). An have all these in separate columns. I assume creating 6 different activity codes will solve the problem right? 

Activity code 1: Delay Reason 1

Activity code 2: Dealy Reason 1 duration

AC3: Delay Reason 2

AC4: Dealy Reason 2 duration

AC5: Delay Reason 3

AC6: Delay Reason 3 duration

 

Thanks for taking time and providing such valuable insights!

Steven Auld
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Alexander, Could you not just add child codes under the parent in the same activity code type? This would allow you to filter & group & sort on this field to show the activity codes by level to show the split. If you need more information than just additional codes then Notebooks or WP&Docs as Zoltan suggests. Steven
Zoltan Palffy
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got to admin categories and select either the document categories or the risk type or the notebook type and add any think that you wish to track there. 

I would use the notebook topic then also creat a udf and make the udf filed text type