CPM Calculations

Activities must use the same units.

Calculations yield ordinal time increments.
Calculations will generate ES, EF, LS, LF,
TF, and FF for each activity.
Forward Pass
Early start and early finish of each activity in
the network schedule.
Minimum total project duration.
Getting Started
End of Day Convention
End of day convention which says that the early
start of an activity starts at the end of the previous
workday. This prevents the schedule from picking
up an extra day that has no work. Therefore, the
early start of activity A is 0.
Early Finish (EF)
Early Finish (EF) = Early Start (ES) + Duration
Early Start (ES)
The early start (ES) of an activity is the earliest an
activity can start based on the earliest the activity, or
activities, preceding it finished.
Early Start and Finish
Activities C and D
Early Start and Finish
Activity E
Early Start and Finish
Activity F

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Early Start & Early Finish Activities
Start-to-Start Relationships
The early start (ES) of an activity that has a
start-to-start relationship with its predecessor
is equal to the early start of the predecessor
plus the lag, if a lag exists.
Early Start (ES)SS = Early Start (ES)P + Lag
Early Start and Finish
Activity I

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Early Start and Finish
Activities G and H

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Early Start and Finish
Activity J

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Project Duration

Project Duration = Early finish of the last

activity of the project or the highest of the
early finishes of the activities that end the
project.
Activity J has an early finish of 29 days, the
minimum total project duration.
Backward Pass
The late finish and late start of each activity in
the network schedule.

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Late Start
The late start (LS) of an activity is the latest
the activity can start without affecting the total
project duration.
Late Start (LS) = late finish (LF) - duration

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Late Finish (LF)
Late finish (LF) of an activity is the latest the
activity can finish without affecting the total
project duration.
The late finish (LF) of an activity is the latest
an activity can finish based on the latest the
activity, or activities, succeeding it started.
Late Start and Finish
Activity G

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Late Start and Finish
Activity H

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Late Start and Finish
Activity I

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Late Start and Finish
Activity E

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Late Start and Finish
Successors w/ Start-to-Start
When the successor has a start-to-start relationship,
the late start of the activity has to be calculated with
multiple considerations. Choose the lowest value.
Activity F will generate a late start using the normal
calculation based on its late finish minus its duration.
Late Start (LS) = Late Finish (LF) - Duration
Activity F will generate a late start based on the latest start
of its start-to-start successors minus the lag time.
Late Start (LS)of activity = Late Start (LS)ss successor - Lag
The start-to-start successors of an activity do not
figure into the late finish calculation of the activity.
Late Finish and Late Start
Activity F

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Late Finish and Late Start
Activity D

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Late Finish and Late Start
Activity C

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Late Finish and Late Start
Activity B

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Late Finish and Late Start
Activity A

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Critical Path
The critical path of the project is the longest
path through the network that establishes the
minimum total project duration.
The critical path is comprised of the unbroken
chain of activities through the network with a
zero total float.
Total Float
The total float of an activity is the amount of
time an activitys duration can be lengthened
without affecting the total project duration.

Total Float (TF) = Late Finish (LF) Early Finish (EF)

Total Float (TF) = Late Start (LS) Early Start (ES)
Total Float (TF) = Late Finish (LF) Early Start (ES) - Duration
Total Float
Total Float

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Total Float
Start-to-Start Activities
Critical Path
The critical path(s) of the project is the unbroken chain,
or chains, of activities with zero total float.

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Free Float
The amount of time an activitys start or
duration can be extended without affecting
the start of its successor(s).
 Free Float
Finish-to-Start
The free float (FF)FS of an activity with a finish-
to-start successor(s) is the amount of time that
the start or duration of the activity can be
lengthened without affecting the start of
successor activity(s) that directly follows it.

Free Float (FF)activity w FS = Early Start (ES)successor Early Finish (EF)activity

 Free Float
Start-to-Start
The free float (FF)FS of an activity with a start-to-
start successor(s) is the amount of time that the
start of the activity can be delayed without
affecting the start of its start-to-start successor.

Free Float (FF)activity w SS =

Early Start (ES)SS successor Early Start (ES)activity - Lag
 Free Float
Finish-to-Finish
The free float (FF)FF of an activity with a finish-
to-finish successor(s) is the amount of time that
the finish of the activity can be delayed without
affecting the finish of its finish-to-finish
successor.

Free Float (FF)activity w FF =

Early Finish (EF)FF successor Early Finish (EF)activity - Lag
Free Float

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CPM in Tabular Form