A baseline schedule is a proposed schedule to track the progress of a project or contract, which should be reworked if major changes occur. It aims to keep all parties updated on the project’s progress and ensure completion on time. Changes to the baseline schedule should be made if major new developments occur, and the new schedule replaces the old one.
A baseline schedule is a business term for a proposed schedule to indicate the progress of a specific project or contract. More than an estimate than a concrete plan, a baseline schedule should be reworked as soon as major changes in the scope or circumstances of the project or contract call into question its accuracy. When renewing a baseline schedule, the new schedule completely replaces the old one; in that sense, there can only be one baseline schedule at a time, even if its existence is somewhat tenuous.
The purpose of baseline schedules is to keep all involved entities – both the contracting and the customer side – up to date on the theoretical progress of a project. Often written as a series of goals to be accomplished by certain fixed dates, the schedule provides a reasonable pace to ensure the contractor completes the project on time. For example, if you are hired to build a new home, a proposed schedule might set May 1st as the construction start date, June 1st as the foundation start date, and so on.
When calculated by individuals with experience in the field, the schedule should achieve two objectives. First, he must define the contractor and the client on the same “page”, so that everyone has common expectations. Second, it must provide an adequate gauge by which the contractor can easily see whether the project is still on schedule.
More than an ideal obligation, it is necessary to make changes to the baseline schedule when major new developments call the original estimates into question. This is usually due to changes in the scope of the project. When building a new home, it may be necessary to make changes to the baseline if clients decide to make substantial additions to the proposed original floor plan. Minor unforeseen project delays, such as a late shipment, typically do not invalidate the original schedule.
If and when changes are made to the baseline, the new baseline schedule becomes the only schedule. In other words, once changed, it’s as if the old agenda never existed. This avoids confusion and keeps everyone’s eyes fixed on the endpoint rather than any issues that occurred along the way.
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