ScheduleQC Blog
Practical guides on Primavera P6 schedule quality, the DCMA-14 assessment and schedule analysis.
DCMA-14 Schedule Quality
What Is the DCMA-14? A Complete Guide to Schedule Quality Assessment
A reference guide to the 14 DCMA schedule checks: what each one measures, the thresholds in the 2012 pamphlet, and what you actually have to do when a metric comes back red.
Oct 21, 2026 · 9 min readDCMA-14 Metric 2 — Leads: Why They're Almost Always Wrong
Leads are negative lags, and DCMA wants none of them. This guide explains what leads do to float, whether the ban is universal, and how to model the same overlap correctly.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min readDCMA-14 Metric 10: Do Construction Schedules Need to Be Resource-Loaded?
DCMA's resources check applies only if a schedule is resource-loaded. Here is what the pamphlet says, what contracts and GAO practices add, and how much loading is practical.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min readDCMA-14 Metric 4 — Relationship Types: Why Non-FS Relationships Get Flagged
DCMA expects at least 90% of logic links to be Finish-to-Start and Start-to-Finish to be rare. This guide explains why, and how to document the SS and FF links that construction legitimately needs.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readNegative Float in Primavera P6: What Causes It and How to Fix It
Negative total float means your current dates cannot meet a constraint or deadline. This guide covers the five common causes in P6, what DCMA expects, and the order to resolve them.
Oct 21, 2026 · 10 min readDCMA-14 Metric 3 — Lags: When They're Valid and When They're Gaming
DCMA limits lags to 5% of logic links and says they should not manipulate float. This guide gives a practical test for which lags are defensible in a construction schedule and which are not.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readDCMA-14 Metric 9: Invalid Dates, Data Date Issues and Out-of-Sequence Progress
Invalid dates are forecast dates before the data date or actual dates after it. This guide explains the DCMA check, its causes and how to find and fix them in P6.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readDCMA-14 Metric 6 — High Float: What Excessive Float Reveals
DCMA flags a schedule when more than 5% of incomplete tasks carry over 44 working days of total float. This guide treats high float as a symptom, lists the usual causes, and covers the debate over a fixed cutoff.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readDCMA-14 Metric 8: High Duration Activities in a Construction Schedule
DCMA flags incomplete activities with a baseline duration over 44 working days that start in the detail planning window. Here is what counts, what is exempt and how to split long work.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min readDCMA-14 Metric 5 — Hard Constraints: What They Hide in Your Schedule
DCMA caps hard constraints at 5% of incomplete tasks, but DCMA and Primavera P6 define 'hard' differently. This guide sorts out the two lists, shows the negative float they create, and gives replacements.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min readDCMA-14 Metric 1 — Logic: What It Measures and How to Fix Failures
DCMA's first check counts the share of incomplete tasks with no predecessor, no successor, or neither. This guide defines it exactly, separates it from link density, and shows how to find and repair the gaps.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min readPassing DCMA vs Having a Good Schedule: They're Not the Same Thing
A schedule can meet every DCMA-14 threshold and still be unachievable. This article covers what the checks do not test, how they get gamed, and what a good schedule adds.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readHow to Use DCMA-14 as an Owner's Representative
Owners get more from the DCMA-14 by adapting it than by copying it. This guide covers what to specify, which metrics to review on each update and how to handle flags.
Oct 21, 2026 · 5 min readBEI and CPLI: The DCMA Performance Metrics That Predict Project Completion
BEI compares tasks completed with tasks baselined to be complete, and CPLI compares critical path length plus float with critical path length. Both are flagged by DCMA below 0.95.
Oct 21, 2026 · 6 min read