Glossary

Project Controls Glossary

ABCDEFGLMNOPRSW

A

Activity
A discrete unit of work in a schedule, with a duration, logic links and usually resources — the building block of a programme.
Actual CostAC
The cost actually incurred for work performed to date; compared with earned value to measure cost performance.
As-Built Programme
A schedule reconstructed from records to show how the works were actually carried out — central to retrospective delay analysis.

B

Baseline
The approved, fixed version of a programme against which actual progress, cost and delay are measured; the contractual measure of record.
Baseline Execution IndexBEI
A DCMA metric comparing tasks completed against those baselined to be complete — a read on whether the plan is being executed to schedule.
Budget at CompletionBAC
The total planned budget for the scope of work — the sum of all planned value.

C

Change Control
The disciplined process of assessing, approving and incorporating changes to scope, time or cost so their impact is understood and recorded.
Concurrent Delay
Where an employer-risk and a contractor-risk event each independently affect the completion date over the same period — materially affecting entitlement.
Constraint
A date imposed on an activity that overrides logic. Unjustified hard constraints are a common source of hidden float and misleading critical paths.
Cost Performance IndexCPI
Earned value divided by actual cost. Below 1.0 indicates cost overrun; above 1.0, underrun.
Critical Path
The sequence of activities with the least total float that controls the completion date.
Critical Path MethodCPM
The scheduling technique that calculates activity dates and float from durations and logic, identifying the critical path.
Critical Path Length IndexCPLI
A DCMA metric measuring how much the critical path must be accelerated to meet the finish date; below 1.0 signals the finish is at risk.

D

DCMA 14-Point Assessment
A widely used set of fourteen checks on schedule quality — logic, leads, lags, relationship types, constraints, float, duration, dates, resources, missed tasks, the critical-path test, CPLI and BEI.
Delay Analysis
The forensic assessment of how events affected the completion date, to establish entitlement to an Extension of Time.
Disruption
Loss of productivity — work becoming less efficient than it should have been — which may cause cost without necessarily delaying completion.

E

Earned ValueEV
The budgeted value of work actually completed to date — the anchor of earned value management.
Earned Value ManagementEVM
A technique integrating scope, schedule and cost to measure performance and forecast outcomes using planned value, earned value and actual cost.
Earned Schedule
A refinement of EVM that expresses schedule performance in time units rather than cost, giving a more reliable late-project indicator.
Estimate at CompletionEAC
A forecast of total cost at completion based on performance to date.
Extension of TimeEOT
A contractual adjustment of the completion date reflecting delay for which the contractor is entitled to more time.

F

Float
Total float is how long an activity can slip without delaying completion; free float is how long it can slip without delaying its successor.
Forensic Schedule Analysis
The detailed, evidence-based examination of schedules and records to establish cause, effect and entitlement in delay disputes.

G

Gantt Chart
A bar-chart view of a schedule showing activities against time — the familiar visual layer over the underlying CPM network.

L

Lag / Lead
A lag is a delay imposed on a logic link; a lead (negative lag) is an overlap. Excessive lags or leads can distort a schedule and mask real logic.
Longest Path
The continuous chain of driving activities to completion, traced through each activity's driving predecessor regardless of float.

M

Milestone
A zero-duration marker of a significant point or contractual date in a programme.
Mitigation
Reasonable steps taken to reduce the effect of a delay — distinct from acceleration, and relevant to entitlement.

N

Negative Float
A signal that, as logic and constraints stand, a required date cannot be met — work is already behind where it needs to be.

O

Open End
An activity missing a predecessor or successor, breaking the network so delay does not flow through correctly. A quality schedule has essentially none.

P

Planned ValuePV
The budgeted value of work scheduled to be complete by a given date — the baseline for earned value comparison.
PMO
Programme or project management office — the function that sets the operating model, standards and governance under which delivery happens.
Primavera P6
Oracle's enterprise planning and scheduling tool, widely used for large construction and infrastructure programmes.
Programme
The time model of a project — activities, logic, durations and dates. In UK and GCC usage, 'programme' is the schedule.

R

Recovery Programme
A re-planned schedule intended to bring a delayed project back toward its completion date — credible only if genuinely achievable.
Risk Register
The live record of identified risks with likelihood, impact, ownership and mitigation.

S

Schedule Assurance
The independent validation that a programme is technically sound and reliable before it is trusted or accepted.
Schedule Performance IndexSPI
Earned value divided by planned value. Below 1.0 indicates behind schedule; above 1.0, ahead.
Stage Gate
A defined decision point between programme phases where progress, cost, risk and readiness are reviewed before authorising the next stage.

W

Work Breakdown StructureWBS
The hierarchical decomposition of scope into manageable packages — the backbone of how a programme is structured and reported.
Window Analysis
A delay-analysis method that examines the schedule in time slices, assessing the impact of events within each window against the programme then current.