Construction Scheduling: Complete How-to Guide [2025]

What Is Construction Scheduling?

Construction scheduling involves creating a plan for executing a project, including the delivery timelines, the people responsible, and the specific project tasks to be completed. 

It’s a core project management function that prevents project delays, long lead times, budget overruns, and scope creep (performing tasks not included in the contract).

Construction planning or scheduling typically involves all project stakeholders (or team members). For example, subcontractors (electricians, painters, etc.), suppliers, the client, and the general contractor will participate in the process for a hospital construction project. This ensures all project team members are aligned on deadlines, milestones, and the scope of work.

What is a construction schedule?

A construction or project schedule is a living document outlining how to execute the project plan. 

It includes the construction tasks, the sequence in which they will be completed, the resources required, end dates, and the people responsible. It’s a roadmap document that guides the entire project from start to finish.

Construction project schedules clearly define each stakeholder’s responsibilities and help contractors set strategies to forestall disruptions like labor shortages, weather, etc. It also ensures the project is completed on time, in compliance with the customer’s expectations, and within the set budget.

Construction schedules are represented using Gantt charts, Excel Spreadsheets, network diagrams, 3D models, bar charts, and more.

What Are the Basics of Construction Scheduling?

When creating construction schedules, the basic principle is to break down the entire project into more minor activities or deliverables and provide answers to these five key questions;

• What’s needed to execute each task? This includes tools, equipment, money, and human resources.

• Who’s responsible for each project activity?

• When will each task be completed? This includes their respective timeframe and sequence.

• How will you monitor the project's progress?

• What are the potential disruptions, and how can they be prevented? Some solutions include adding a buffer to all estimates and completion dates and making alternative supply arrangements.

When answering the above questions, you may come across the following terms:

• Project milestones: Key stages in a project that must be completed by a specific date.

• Duration: The time (in days) it takes to complete a specific activity or task. Adding the durations for each task gives you the project timeline.

• Dependencies are relationships between two or more tasks that mean one cannot start or finish without the other. For example, a wall cannot be painted (task B) until the drywall is installed (task A). 

• Lead time: The time interval between when a task starts and when it's completed. It’s also the time it takes for a material, tool, or equipment to arrive at the job site from the manufacturer or warehouse.

• Lag time: A delay intentionally placed between dependent tasks. For example, after painting, crews wait for a couple of hours for the wall to dry before hanging pictures.

• Float: The maximum amount of time a task can be delayed without negatively affecting the project’s completion date or the start of the next task.

• Resource allocation: Strategically assigning materials, labor, finances, and equipment to respective project activities.

• Baseline schedule: The final document produced after the construction scheduling process.

Construction schedules are living documents that contractors review and update based on ongoing conditions such as material availability and weather forecasts.

As a result, it’s advisable to pair such documents with a tool that automates workflows so you can react promptly to changes. ServiceTitan’s Construction Management platform automates key construction workflows such as:

1. Creating estimates: The estimate builder allows you to create estimates for an entire project from scratch, a spreadsheet, or customizable templates. You can also color-code each estimate item based on the activity to which it belongs in your Schedule of Values.

2. Procuring materials and tools: After the client accepts the estimate, you can initiate the requisition of specific materials and create purchase orders (POs) without leaving the platform. To reduce errors, ServiceTitan automatically populates your PO with details from the estimate.

3. Tracking job costs: The platform’s Budget Vs Actual table gives a daily breakdown of what you’ve spent on each line item. This helps you track your spending and avoid budget overruns.

4. Progress billing: ServiceTitan automatically populates your continuation sheet with line items from your SOV. It also lets you bill progressively for specific projects based on your cash flow needs or agreement with the client.

5. Payments processing: ServiceTitan empowers construction companies to collect ACH, cash, check, or credit card payments. By allowing customers to pay via their preferred payment method, ServiceTitan prevents delayed payments.

These features collectively help construction business owners manage projects and track tasks, bills, and payments in one place. 

Pat Beyer, owner of Beyer Boys, a multitrade company in Texas, gives a vivid comparison of life before and after the company switched to ServiceTitan:

“The handoff of those jobs was never clean. We didn’t get the equipment put in, or the warranty put in, or we didn’t include drawings, or we have no customer history, or we don’t know the contractor. There were all of these things that we dealt with. Now, we can have all of that data in there when the transaction happens.”

What Are the Principles of Construction Scheduling?

Five core activities must be embedded in construction schedules to ensure project completion. They are:

1. Work breakdown structure (WBS): An outline dividing an entire project into specific independent or dependent activities. For example, the WBS for a painting project includes surface preparation, application of the first and second coats, and painting trims and details. This breakdown helps project managers schedule tasks, determine where subcontractors are needed, and accurately estimate costs.

2. The critical path: A sequence of tasks determining the earliest time a project can be completed. Any delay in the critical path negatively impacts the project timeline. 

3. Resource allocation: Assigning resources (materials, equipment, money, and labor) to the respective tasks in a project schedule.

4. Risk assessment: Identifying factors or hazards that affect the project timeline and creating mitigation strategies.

5. Continuous monitoring: Ongoing review of a project’s progress against the set schedule to identify and correct potential setbacks before they worsen.

What Are the Different Types of Construction Scheduling Methods?

For all stakeholders to understand their roles and responsibilities, the construction schedule must be rendered visually using the following types of schedules:

1. Critical path method (CPM)

Construction project managers use this method to ensure all team members thoroughly understand the construction process, including timelines and dependencies. 

When implementing this method, managers first identify all tasks needed to complete the project and arrange them according to their inter-relationships. 

Time estimates are then attached to each task, producing a network diagram clearly showing the critical path—the sequence of tasks that determine the earliest completion date and have zero float. 

CPM enables effective resource management and allocation. It allows project managers to prioritize and focus resources on tasks included in the critical path.

Additionally, the network diagram produced by CPM clearly shows timelines and responsibilities, making it easier to track progress.

2. Program evaluation and review technique (PERT)

PERT, depending on the role it serves, is defined in two ways:

• The formula used to predict task durations for projects riddled with uncertainties

• A chart displaying the most probable time lapse between project milestones.

The definitions are not mutually exclusive, as they describe how PERT contributes to effective project planning and management.

For example, let’s say you’re managing a shopping center construction project. The time estimates for all tasks are hardly predictable because you’ve never done them before, or an external factor like unpredictable weather influences them.

To calculate the most probable time duration for each of the tasks, stakeholders from each department involved in the specific task come together to agree on three key estimates:

• Optimistic Time (OT): The earliest time it takes to complete a task, as long as there are no complications along the way.

• Most Likely Time (MT): The most likely time it takes to complete a task, bar unexpected events.

• Pessimistic Time (PT): The maximum time it takes to complete a task, given the absence of disruptions.

These estimates are then plugged into a weighted estimate formula, given as:

Construction managers create a network chart once the PERT Weighted Estimate for each task is calculated. Each task is represented by a numbered rectangle denoting the order in which it must be completed and connected by arrows showing dependencies.

Returning to our shopping center construction project example, let's say the first two tasks are grading the site and pouring the foundation. Given that OT is 4 days, MT is 6 days, and PT is 8 days, the PERT Weighted Estimate is given by:

[4 + (4 * 6) + 8] ÷ 6 = 6

Therefore, the PERT chart looks like this:

This means the time lapse between the project milestones of grading the site and pouring the foundation is predicted to be six days.

Although it allows for collaboration between team members, PERT’s major drawback is the time and resources required to calculate the weighted estimates. Fortunately, today’s construction management platforms automatically calculate PERT estimates once you input the variables.

3. Q scheduling

Q (or quantitative) scheduling uses bar charts to visualize resources allocated to specific project tasks, including their respective quantities and locations. Although it was created recently, it’s become popular in project management circles as it gives a better view of data. 

This method is particularly useful for projects with repetitive, sequential tasks requiring large resources. It allows team members to identify all required materials beforehand and order them early to reduce lead times and mitigate disruptions.

4. Line of balance (LOB)

This scheduling technique is typically reserved for commercial construction projects with repetitive tasks, such as building railways, high-rises, pipelines, and tunnels. Its goal is to ensure crews complete all tasks in a timely manner and with minimal downtime.

Also known as the flowline scheduling technique, LOB reveals the rate at which crews must complete tasks to meet deadlines and highlights the project’s progress at any given time.

5. Gantt chart

Have trouble knowing the impact of the work done on the overall project progress? Well, that’s what the Gantt chart is designed for.

It’s a graphical depiction of all planned activities against a suitable timescale broken into days, months, weeks, etc. It resembles a calendar, except it has multiple horizontal bars on the right-hand side representing activities. 

The length of each bar denotes each activity’s start and end dates, as well as durations. Vertical lines connecting two sequential activities indicate dependencies.

Source: APM

By using the chart, stakeholders can, at a glance, view the dependencies between tasks, including their progress, owners, phases, and deadlines.

However, they can quickly become cluttered and confusing when used for large, complex projects with multiple tasks and dependencies. They also say little about the resources required for each task, focusing only on timelines.

6. Resource-oriented scheduling

Critical resources are in short supply for some projects, as all parties need them. 

For example, a construction project in a deep forest will face a labor and equipment shortage. Workers must be transported from other areas, and multiple parties will need the crane or excavator simultaneously.

Project managers use resource-oriented scheduling to graphically allocate resources to specific tasks and activities to counter such resource shortages. This graphical depiction reveals when all parties need a resource at a particular time, when a resource becomes available, and which activities cannot happen simultaneously.

7. Last planner system

Unlike other resource scheduling methodologies we’ve covered, which involve discussions between top-level decision-makers, people closest to the task play a key role in the last planner system.

That is, the workers on the ground who execute the task.

Here, workers visualize what the final project looks like and then work backward to jointly commit to hitting a particular milestone within the next one to six weeks. This fosters accountability and predictability and gives workers a target to work towards.

All construction schedule methods have their respective pros and cons. Hence, they are usually used in tandem, with one method’s strengths compensating for the other’s weaknesses.

How to Create a Construction Schedule?

Stuck on how to create your construction schedule? Follow these steps.

1. Define project scope and objectives

Creating a project schedule starts with defining the project’s scope—size, complexity, and key deliverables—and setting measurable objectives. You should do this after thoroughly understanding the client’s expectations and communicating with team members.

This prevents scope creep and misalignment between stakeholders.

2. Identify and prioritize tasks

Divide projects into phases or tasks for effective resource allocation and management, which serve as milestones. Arrange these tasks sequentially based on their interdependencies to ensure the project proceeds without encumbrance.

For example, say you just won the bid to build a shopping center. 

The entire project can be divided into phases: site preparation (including clearing and grading), foundation filling, fixing the building's finishes, and landscaping and utility installation.

These phases can be further subdivided into distinct tasks alongside a detailed description for each worker. This ensures nothing is overlooked, especially when the project is complex.

Consider using ServiceTitan’s digital forms to document subtasks such as site inspections, safety checks, and material procurements for accurate documentation and record-keeping.

This keeps detailed records for future reference and prompts workers to proceed to the next stage of the project plan.

3. Assign resources and responsibilities

After listing the tasks, the next step is to allocate resources—labor, materials, and equipment—to each one.

Tasks that have an outsized impact on the critical path receive priority when allocating resources, especially when supply outstrips resource demand. 

ServiceTitan’s Project Tracking software helps lead technicians manage their crews. It allows them to assign tasks to specific crew members, dispatch them to certain jobs, and set meal breaks, supporting effective human resource allocation at the job site.

Lead technicians can also close out jobs by clicking “Mark as done” to indicate that all or specific crew members have completed their responsibilities at the job site.

Additionally, office employees can use ServiceTitan’s Task Management platform to assign project-relevant tasks to specific team members, such as resolving customer complaints and returning inventory items. Due dates and priority levels can also be added to the task so they’re handled promptly and nothing falls through the cracks. 

4. Create a timeline

Develop a timeline for executing all tasks identified in the previous step. Visualization tools, such as Gantt charts and network charts, available in project management programs, can help.

Your timelines should show start and end dates, durations, and key milestones. Add buffers to prevent unexpected events, such as inclement weather, material shortages, and long lead times, from derailing the project.

Additionally, be prepared to adjust your timelines as the project proceeds based on current realities. Priorities and the time allotted to specific tasks may change, and unexpected events may occur. 

ServiceTitan’s Service Scheduling software allows project managers to react quickly to curveballs by extending or rescheduling appointments. Project managers can communicate these changes to customers directly from the platform via SMS or email.

Additionally, ServiceTitan’s Project Portfolio provides a high-level snapshot of all current projects, including their progress, status, budgeted vs. actual expenses, and billing status.

Jade Vasun,  ServiceTitan’s Senior Product Manager, explains how ServiceTitan’s Project Portfolio, Parent Projects, and Project Plan features help project managers:

“With our solution, you’ll be able to easily access all of your projects from the top navigation with just one click. You’ll have the ability to customize your projects so you can see any data point you want.”

Learn more about how ServiceTitan’s features can help you manage construction projects.

5. Monitor and adjust as needed

Once the project is underway, it’s crucial to track progress. This allows you to ensure it’s completed within the established deadlines and on budget.

Monitoring the project’s progress helps you respond promptly to contingencies before they have an irreversible impact on the project.

How can you monitor project progress?

Review the actual work done against the milestones and timelines set in your project schedule regularly. Pay attention to construction project metrics such as completion rates, cycle time, and budget adherence.

Give team members tasks to complete daily or weekly. Then, encourage them to submit daily log reports describing their achievements and the resources they used during the workday. Review these reports to determine what tasks remain undone and the resources available.

To monitor progress easily, use ServiceTitan’s Dispatch Board, which has color codes that give an overview of the progress of all tasks. For example, in the image below, light blue represents scheduled job appointments, dark blue stands for confirmed ones, and dark gray indicates non-job events.

Check out a detailed description of ServiceTitan’s Dispatch Board color codes.

Furthermore, you can program the board to notify you whenever a technician starts a job late or exceeds the time limit allotted to the job by 10 minutes or more.

This helps project managers promptly address delays before they affect dependent tasks or derail the entire project.

6. Communicate with stakeholders

Projects are more likely to succeed if all stakeholders know exactly what’s happening. Keep everyone informed whenever there are changes, challenges, or risks. This information makes it easier to resolve conflicts and make decisions.

To that end, hold daily meetings with team members, during which everyone shares their progress and blockers so others can suggest solutions. Package the results of such meetings into progress reports and share them with clients to demonstrate transparency and earn their trust.

What Are Some Construction Scheduling Best Practices?

With construction scheduling, best practices must be followed, regardless of a project’s complexity or unique challenges. They include the following:

Use technology to streamline scheduling

Every second is valuable when executing projects and could be the difference between success and failure.

Stop wasting time using manual tools to create schedules, track job progress, and communicate with stakeholders. Instead, automate the entire process with our Dispatch Platform’s features, such as:

• Notifications: Automatically updates stakeholders about schedule changes, delays, and task reassignments. Project managers are also notified whenever there’s a delay and can send appointment reminders to customers to prevent last-minute cancellations or no-shows.

• Adjusted Capacity Planning: Strategically controls the appointment slots available for specific job types based on current demand and season.

• Multi-day job management: Allows you to manage projects that span multiple days. You can create new jobs, duplicate existing ones, and move them from one project to another.

• Technician route optimization: Our AI-powered route optimization system assigns jobs to the right techs, considering their proximity to the project site, expertise, and previous experience.

Build flexibility into the schedule

Part of construction scheduling is predicting risks and implementing strategies to minimize or eliminate their impact on the project. This includes adding timeline buffers to account for delays caused by unexpected obstacles and overlaps between various trades.

For example, if you’re building a school in a storm-prone area, you must add a buffer to the expected deadline for weather disruptions and another one between roofing and installing the HVAC system. 

This allows you to set a realistic deadline you’re more likely to hit.

Maintain an updated inventory

Material shortages can severely disrupt projects. Plumbers can't connect fixtures without fittings and valves, and electricians can't install outlets without electrical boxes and wiring. Therefore, project and warehouse managers must monitor inventory levels frequently before they run out.

However, monitoring inventory can prove difficult when using clipboards and physical counts to track stock levels. With our digital Inventory Management platform, you can track all inventories, including their quantities, locations, and total values.

You'll also receive a notification whenever stock levels fall below a preset safety level. For example, if the stock safety level is set at three, our system notifies you immediately if the stock quantity falls below that level. 

If that happens, you can create purchase orders within the platform and send them directly to manufacturers so they can deliver the item as soon as possible before it stalls the project.

Review past projects for insights

Once a project is completed, organizing a review meeting with stakeholders is advisable. The idea is to identify lessons to take into new projects instead of making the same mistake twice.

Data from previous projects can also be used to determine more accurate timelines and cost estimates for future projects. This information can also be used to schedule projects better in the future to avoid exceeding deadlines.

Over to You!

Construction schedules are key to executing construction projects successfully. Without a detailed schedule, a project will likely fail due to poor resource management, budget overruns, and missed deadlines.

After creating schedules, use contractor software like ServiceTitan to ensure the project remains on course to hit set deadlines. You can also use the platform to streamline communication, monitor inventory, and assign tasks.

ServiceTitan is a comprehensive software solution that helps service companies manage construction projects effectively. Our cloud-based platform is used by thousands of contractors nationwide who have reported an average 25 percent revenue increase in just their first year with us.