A baseline built the way it gets built.
CPM baselines in Primavera P6, developed with the people who will run the work. Contract milestones loaded first, real logic, honest durations, so the first update confirms the plan instead of exposing it.
Most baselines fail at the first update.
Durations sized to a promise
The finish date was announced, so activities were squeezed until the bars fit. It looks complete. The first data date says otherwise.
Constraints doing the work of logic
Start-no-earlier-than dates and long lags hold the network in place. P6 still calculates a critical path. It is not the one that will finish the job.
Procurement as one long bar
Switchgear, generators and structural steel hidden inside a single activity. The real driver sits outside the schedule until it arrives late.
How we develop a baseline.
- 01
Contract dates go in first
Notice to proceed, access dates, interim milestones, liquidated damages and owner-furnished items are loaded before any construction activity.
- 02
A WBS that matches the estimate
One breakdown for time and cost, coded so budget, schedule and earned value tie together from the first period.
- 03
Sequence from the field
Short planning sessions with superintendents and trade leads. They set the sequence and the durations, and they put their names on them.
- 04
Submittal to delivery, tied
Every long-lead item carries submittal, review, fabrication, testing and delivery activities, each tied to the installation it feeds.
- 05
Checked before it is issued
Each baseline passes our 14-point health check for open ends, hard constraints, lags, high float and long durations before submission.
What you walk away with.
Scoped to your project. Native files and plain-English outputs that stay yours when we leave.
A fully tied CPM schedule with calendars, activity codes and a clear driving path to every contract milestone.
Every assumption, calendar, constraint and duration source written down, so the baseline still defends itself a year in.
A summary for executives and lenders that ties line by line to the detailed activities underneath it.
Required-on-site dates for each critical item, worked back to the last safe purchase order release date.
The results of our logic, float and constraint checks, with each exception listed and explained in plain words.
When to call us.
The earlier we see the schedule, the more options you keep.
Before the submittal is due
Weeks ahead of the contract deadline, while there is still time to build logic properly instead of patching it.
Design is far enough along
Enough scope is defined to sequence the work, and open decisions remain that the schedule should inform.
The bid schedule must become real
The proposal schedule won the work. Now it needs the detail, logic and coding to run a project.
A similar project is starting
The WBS and logic library from the last one carry over, at a Program Rate.
Where this work has run.
Every project is confidential. Names describe the work, not the client.
Healthcare · IllustrativeAcute Care Bed Tower Baseline RebuildThe contractor's baseline showed an on-time finish that the logic could not support. We rebuilt it before the owner accepted it.
Data Centers · IllustrativeHyperscale Data Hall Commissioning ControlsReady for service meant Level 5 testing done, not a finished building. We scheduled every hall to that standard.
Manufacturing · IllustrativeBattery Module Assembly Plant BaselineA production start date was set before the site was graded. We built the baseline that shows what that date depends on.Straight answers to fair questions.
How long does a baseline take?
It depends on scope, design maturity and the number of trades. You get a firm timeline once we see the contract milestones and the drawings.
Do you only work in Primavera P6?
P6 is our primary tool and the format most owners specify. When a contract calls for Microsoft Project, we deliver in that instead.
Who owns the files?
You do. The native XER, the basis of schedule and every working file stay with your team.
Will our superintendents lose days to meetings?
No. We run short sessions by area or trade and do the build work between them, then walk the result back through with each lead.
Related services.
Send the schedule. Act while you have options.
Share the project, the latest XER and the date you are protecting. We will tell you plainly what the schedule is telling you.