A scheduling tool can calculate dates. It cannot determine whether a construction sequence is credible without the right inputs. Before developing the model, the team needs a shared understanding of scope, methods and interfaces.
Start with the boundaries of the work.
Reconcile the contract, drawings, specifications and scope responsibilities. Identify the milestones the schedule must explain and the approvals that make planned work possible. A work breakdown structure should follow those boundaries.
Ask how the field will execute.
Define work areas, access, temporary works, trade handoffs and logistics. Review the intended sequence with the people who will build it. An activity can be logically connected and still be impractical if its work area or predecessor handoff is unclear.
Make duration assumptions visible.
State the quantities, production rates, crew assumptions and working calendars used to estimate durations. Procurement durations also need a basis: review, manufacturing, delivery, required-on-job dates and installation readiness.
- Which work packages are sufficiently defined to model?
- What must be approved or available before each package starts?
- Who owns each unresolved interface or missing input?
- What assumptions must be confirmed before the baseline is accepted?
Record what remains unresolved.
Not every input will be final. Separate confirmed information from assumptions, record decision owners and identify when decisions are required. That creates a traceable starting point for the schedule and its later updates.
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