The critical path method and construction contracts: A polemic

The Critical Path Method, in common with other planning tools seeks to simulate technologically related events and activities. One of the assumptions of the Critical Path Method states that there will be unlimited resources available enabling every task to commence at its earliest possible starting time. This rarely happens in practice. For some time, heuristic algorithms have been available for the resolution of resourcing conflicts. At the construction site level, critical path schedules are often generated from a known resource availability which dictates the network logic. The networks so produced are different from networks which model the technological relationships and then make adjustments for resource constraints. It was hoped that a resource- based network would be more rational than an activity-based network. However, there is no guarantee that the resource-based network will provide the most efficient solution. Developments in the combinatorial mathematics of scheduling enable the degree of inefficiency to be measured. At the construction site level, these issues tend to be irrelevant, however, if the Critical Path Method is being used to justify or disprove a construction claim, then distortions can be introduced.