Who it's for: the project manager and their deputy, and the site manager. Contractors see only the part of the schedule assigned to them.
What you'll do: build a construction schedule from work scopes and tasks, set dates and dependencies, view it as a Gantt chart, freeze a baseline and track the drift.
Before you start
- The schedule is on every plan, from Start: the Work list, the Timeline (Gantt chart) and the baseline.
- On the Solo plan there is a Task list by room instead of a schedule. See Solo plan — investor and contractor in one project.
- If your schedule is in Excel or MS Project, you can import it from an XLSX file instead of retyping it.
Steps
1. Add work scopes and tasks
- Go to Schedule and click Add work scope, e.g. “Foundations”, “Roof”, “MEP”. You can start a scope from scratch or from a template with a ready task list.
- In a scope, choose Add task; in a task, Add subtask. WBS numbering is assigned automatically.
- Mark checkpoints, e.g. the shell inspection, as milestones.
2. Or import the schedule from XLSX
- Choose Import and load an XLSX sheet, e.g. an MS Project export saved to Excel.
- Match the file's columns to the schedule fields and save the mapping as a preset so you don't have to do it again.
- The next import either replaces the whole plan or merges changes by WBS code.
3. Set dates and dependencies
- Enter the Planned period for each item. The actual period fills in as work progresses.
- In Dependencies, choose the predecessor and the link type, e.g. finish-to-start, with a lag or lead in days.
- Scope dates and progress are calculated from their tasks, so you don't have to keep them up to date by hand.
4. Or plan without dates — from days and dependencies
You don't need dates to get started. The order of the work and how long each part takes is enough.
- Add tasks and give each one only a number of Days, without a Planned start. On the timeline, do the same from the row menu: ⋮ → Change number of days.
- In Dependencies, link the tasks, e.g. finish-to-start, with a lag or lead in days.
- Set the starting point:
- the project start date — in the schedule header, next to Project timeline, set the Start (or enter it when you create the project). Tasks without predecessors start on that day,
- or the Planned start of the first task.
- The rest falls into place: each following task gets its dates from its predecessor, the dependency type and its own number of days.
If you change the project start date later, you can tick Move the whole schedule by the same number of days. Otherwise tasks that already have dates stay where they are.
5. See the plan on the timeline
Switch to the Timeline view. You'll see a Gantt chart by days, weeks or months, with today and the project start and end marked. On a phone the chart opens in landscape, and Fullscreen gives you more room.
6. Freeze the baseline
Once dates are agreed, freeze them as the baseline. If the project has an investor (client), they get the baseline for approval. From then on each item shows how many days it differs from the baseline, and the Baseline drift summary collects all slips in one place.
7. Assign contractors
Assign contractors to scopes and tasks. A contractor sees only their part of the plan. On their tasks they enter progress, photos and hours, can ask for a date change or report additional work.
What happens next
- A contractor's date change request waits for the manager's decision. An approved change also moves the dependent tasks.
- Delayed items are marked with the number of days late.
- Other modules use the schedule: the site journal (work done), acceptances, issues (repair tasks) and the budget (planned task costs).
Troubleshooting
- A task has days but no dates. It's waiting for a date: its predecessor's or the project start. A dependency set on a scope that has tasks doesn't place the tasks inside it — link the tasks themselves.
- I can't change a scope's dates. Scope dates are calculated from its tasks. Change the task dates.
- A contractor can't see a task. Check that they are assigned to that task or its scope.