Critical Path & Float Analysis Flashcards
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Read the first 7 Critical Path & Float Analysis flashcards as text
A schedule update reveals that a previously non-critical activity now has zero Total Float. What most likely caused this change?
Answer: Predecessor activities experienced delays that consumed available float
When predecessor delays consume float, downstream activities lose their scheduling flexibility and can become critical.
In a project with a Finish-to-Finish (FF) relationship between Activities X and Y, if Activity X has a late finish of day 30, what constraint does this place on Activity Y?
Answer: Activity Y must finish on or before Activity X's finish
A Finish-to-Finish relationship means the successor (Y) cannot finish until the predecessor (X) finishes; Y's Late Finish is constrained by X's finish date.
Why is it important to identify the critical path before applying schedule compression techniques?
Answer: Because compressing non-critical activities wastes cost without reducing project duration
Only compressing activities on the critical path will shorten the project duration; compressing non-critical activities increases cost with no schedule benefit.
An activity has a Total Float of 8 days and a Free Float of 3 days. If the scheduler uses 5 days of Total Float on this activity, what is the impact on successor activities?
Answer: The Early Start of at least one successor is delayed
Using 5 days of Total Float when only 3 days of Free Float exist means 2 days of Interfering Float are consumed, delaying the Early Start of a successor.
On a project network diagram using Activity-on-Node (AON) format, what does an arrow represent?
Answer: A dependency or logical relationship between activities
In AON diagrams, nodes represent activities and arrows represent the logical dependencies (relationships) between them.
Which scenario would most likely cause the critical path to shift to a different path during project execution?
Answer: A non-critical activity experiencing a delay greater than its Total Float
When a non-critical activity's delay exceeds its Total Float, that activity and its path become critical, shifting the critical path.
A scheduler is performing 'what-if' analysis by changing activity durations. After increasing Activity M's duration from 5 to 9 days, the project end date does not change. What can be concluded?
Answer: Activity M had at least 4 days of Total Float
If a 4-day duration increase does not extend the project end date, Activity M must have had at least 4 days of Total Float to absorb the change.