The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) a federal agency within the Department of Defense (DoD), ensures timely and cost-effective delivery of supplies and services. In 2005, the DCMA established the 14 point assessment to standardize best practices for projects exceeding $20 million.
Over the past 10 years, these 14 points have become a key tool for assessing project schedule health, benefiting both contractors and owners.
Below you’ll find what are the DCMA 14 point Assessment:
The DCMA 14 Point Assessment
Logic – The ‘Logic’ metric quantifies the percentage of incomplete activities lacking defined predecessors and/or successors, commonly referred to as ‘dangling’ activities.
It is recommended that the proportion of such activities does not exceed 5% of the total schedule.
Leads – These are discouraged due to its potential to introduce ambiguity and impede schedule logic integrity.
For effective scheduling, prioritize short activities with Finish-to-Start links over positive lag relationships.
Lags – The ‘Lags’ metric assesses the percentage of activities with positive lag relationships, quantifying the duration an activity commences post-predecessor completion.
While the DCMA permits up to 5% lag usage, excessive application impedes critical path analysis. Activity descriptions, rather than lag durations, are recommended for clarity.
FS Relationships – 90% of project schedule activities should use Finish-to-Start (FS) relationships, aligning with Waterfall methodology.
While FF, SS, and SF relationship types exist, their complexity in monitoring makes FS relationships the clearer choice for schedule logic.
Hard Constraints – Project schedules utilize Hard Constraints (Mandatory Start and Mandatory Finish) and Soft Constraints (As Late As Possible, Start On, Start On or Before, Start On or After, Finish On, Finish On or Before, and Finish On or After).
DCMA recommends limiting Hard Constraints to 5% of total constraints due to their potential to induce schedule anomalies, including negative lag, and impede logic-driven scheduling. Conversely, Soft Constraints facilitate logic-driven schedules and do not pose critical path disruptions.
High Float – Excessive Total Float within project schedule activities may indicate deficient logical relationships and potentially destabilize the Critical Path.
Review Total Float values over 44 days and limit them to 5% of incomplete activities.
Negative Float – Negative Float within a project schedule signifies schedule slippage.
DCMA guidelines strongly advise against negative float occurrence. In instances of negative float, a documented mitigation plan is mandatory.
High Duration – Keep tasks within 44 days; limit longer tasks to 5%. Break down long tasks for detailed updates and better reporting.
Invalid Dates – Invalid Dates checks forecast and actual dates. It flags activities with past forecast or future actual dates relative to the project status date.
Resources – Though not required, DCMA favors resource and cost-loaded schedules. If implemented, load all resources completely; assign costs or resources to all non-milestone activities.
Missed Tasks – This metric tracks late finishes against baseline dates, limiting slippage to 5%. It retrospectively assesses schedule progress and indicates potential delays.
Critical Path Test – To ensure logical schedule flow, this test extends a critical activity by 600 days. It then confirms project completion extends by the same. Any deviation signals logic errors, necessitating schedule review.
Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) – The CPLI assesses project efficiency for on-time milestone completion. Ideally, a CPLI of 1.00 signifies on-time delivery. Below 1.00 indicates inefficiency, and above 1.00 suggests potential early completion.
Baseline Execution Index (BEI) – The BEI offers early warning of potential schedule delays. Though not standard in all software, its calculated ratio provides valuable insight. A BEI of 1.0 indicates adherence to the schedule.
Summary
Despite its non-mandatory status, reviewers must perform audits of the DCMA 14-point assessment, and contractors must diligently implement its guidelines, to safeguard schedule integrity and ensure project success.
Subsequent articles will detail the methodologies for maintaining prescribed percentage thresholds and managing maximum date constraints within Primavera P6 software.
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