PRECEDENCE

DIAGRAMMING
METHOD

DELIVERED BY:
ENGR. HADJI PEEJAY U. ARANDA
CE/EnP/RMP
INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

●
Project management is an important aspect for
many professions. This is true not only in the
construction sector but also in many other
activities where a group of people or even sub
group needs to be coordinated for greater
efficiency

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INTRODUCTION

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Precedence Diagramming Method or PDM is
another project management technique that is
applied in
– Planning
– Scheduling
– Control/Monitoring
Aspect of project management.

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INTRODUCTION

●
It is a technique that was developed around the
1960’s by H.B. Zachry in cooperation with IBM.

●
Unlike the usual practice in PERT/CPM, PDMs
represent activities as boxes that are assigned
properties of the activities they represent.

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INTRODUCTION

●
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) is a
graphical representation technique. It shows the
inter-dependencies of activities and is used in
schedule development.

●
The other name for this technique is Activity on
Node (AON).

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LEGAL BASIS

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INTRODUCTION

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Construction contracts require the Contractor to
submit a Construction Schedule to the DPWH
shortly after contract award which will become
part of the contract documents and is therefore
needed in contract processing.
●
The contractor is required to submit his plan and
schedule in the PERT/CPM or PDM format and
Bar Chart with S-Curve.

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RA 9184 IRR (sec 37.2.3 item f)

Notice of Award of Contract; and Other contract

documents that may be required by existing laws
and/or the Procuring Entity concerned in the
Bidding Documents, such as the construction
schedule and S-curve, manpower schedule,
construction methods, equipment utilization
schedule, construction safety and health program
approved by the Department of Labor and
Employment, and PERT/CPM or other
acceptable tools of project scheduling for
infrastructure projects.
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RA 9184 IRR
(Annex A Part 3 item i)
The program of work shall include, among other
things, estimates of the work, items, quantities
and costs and a PERT/CPM network of the
project activities. The program of work shall
cover at least a usable portion of the project and
no construction shall be started for portions of the
project that are less than usable, except projects
requiring stage construction, in which case
continuity of construction up to the completion of
a usable portion must be assured.
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RA 9184 IRR
(Annex A Part 3 item j)
Contract Time or Duration – In the preparation of
the Bidding Documents, the agency shall make
an estimate of the actual number of working days
required to complete the project through
PERT/CPM analysis of the project activities and
corrected for holidays and weekends.

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RA 9184 IRR
(Annex A Part 3 item j)
Likewise, the agency shall make an estimate of
the number of rainy/unworkable days considered
unfavorable for the prosecution of the works at
the site, based on the records of the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (PAGASA), and
incorporate the same in the corrected actual
number of working days determined above,
which shall be made the basis of the total
contract time.
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FIDIC Conditions of Contract
Contract Sub clause 14.1
The Contractor shall, within the time stated in
Part II of these Conditions after the date of the
Letter of Acceptance, submit to the Engineer for
his consent a program, in such form and detail as
the Engineer shall reasonably prescribed for
the execution of the Works. The Contractor
shall, whenever required by the Engineer, also
provide in writing for his information and general
description on the arrangements and methods
which the Contractor proposes to adopt for the
execution of the Works.”
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DPWH DO 133 S.2015

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 PROJECT
SCHEDULING

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IMPORTANCE OF SCHEDULING

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Managers often cite delivering projects on time
as one of their biggest challenges

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Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts
on projects, especially during the second half of
projects

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IMPORTANCE OF SCHEDULING

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PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTION
SCHEDULING
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A management tool in determining the proposed
contract duration for an Infrastructure Projects.

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A management tool in the monitoring and control
of the progress of activities of the project during
its implementation to ensure completion on time

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PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTION
SCHEDULING
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A management reference in the evaluation of any
future claims of the contractor that may arise
during its implementation, etc.

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A management reference in the computation of
Liquidated Damages to be imposed for delayed
project, issuance of contract termination, etc.

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PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTION
SCHEDULING
Precedence Diagramming Method shows
activity relationships. Hence, it is an
important communication tool for
stakeholders

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PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT
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This is the most valuable resource in a project and
wasting it can be fatal to the success of the project

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Every delivery that you are supposed to make is
time-bound. Therefore, without proper time
management, a project can head towards a disaster.

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When it comes to project time management, it is not
just the time of the project manager, but it is the time
management of the project team.
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PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT

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Scheduling is the easiest way of managing
project time. In this approach, the activities of the
project are estimated and the durations are
determined based on the resource utilization for
each activity.

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In addition to the estimate and resource
allocation, cost always plays a vital role in time
management. This is due to the fact that
schedule over-runs are quite expensive.
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PROJECT TIME MANAGEMENT
PROCESS
The following are the main steps in the project time
management process. Each addresses a distinct
area of time management in a project.
1) Defining Activities
2) Sequencing Activities
3) Resource Estimating for Activities
4) Duration and Effort Estimation
5) Development of the Schedule
6) Schedule Control
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DEFINING ACTIVITIES

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An activity or task is an element of work normally
found on the work breakdown structure (WBS)
that has an expected duration, a cost, and
resource requirements

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An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be
included on a project schedule that includes
Activity attributes

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DEFINING ACTIVITIES

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A milestone is a significant event that normally
has no duration Examples include obtaining
customer sign-off on key documents or
completion of specific products

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SEQUENCING ACTIVITIES

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Involves reviewing activities and determining
dependencies
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A dependency or relationship is the sequencing
of project activities or tasks
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You must determine dependencies in order to
use critical path analysis

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RESOURCE ESTIMATING FOR
ACTIVITIES
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The estimation of amount and the types of
resources required for activities is done in this
step.
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Depending on the number of resources allocated
for an activity, its duration varies.
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A resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical
structure that identifies the project’s resources by
category and type

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RESOURCE ESTIMATING FOR
ACTIVITIES
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In resource estimating the following important
issues in estimating Resources will be
considered
– How difficult will it be to do specific activities on this
project?
– What is the organization’s history in doing similar
activities?
– Are the required resources available?

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DURATION AND EFFORT
ESTIMATION
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People doing the work should help create
estimates, and an expert should review them
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Instead of providing activity estimates as a
discrete number, such as four weeks, it’s often
helpful to create a three-point estimate

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DEVELOP THE SCHEDULE

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In order to create an accurate schedule, a few
parameters from the previous steps are required.
– Activity sequence
– Duration of each activity and the resource
requirements/allocation for each activity
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This step is time consuming. In order to simplify
this step, software packages, such as Microsoft
Project, Primavera and ProjectLibre can be of
use develop reliable and accurate project
schedule.
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SCHEDULE CONTROL /
MONITORING
●
In order to create an accurate schedule, a few
parameters from the previous steps are required.
– Activity sequence
– Duration of each activity and the resource
requirements/allocation for each activity
●
This step is time consuming. In order to simplify
this step, software packages, such as Microsoft
Project, Primavera and ProjectLibre can be of
use develop reliable and accurate project
schedule.
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SCHEDULE CONTROL /
MONITORING
●
The following are suggested in order to ensure
that the schedule that were developed are
successful:
– Perform reality checks on schedules
– Allow for contingencies
– Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100% capacity all
the time
– Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be
clear and honest in communicating schedule issues

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IMPORTANCE OF SCHEDULING

●
The following are suggested in order to ensure
that the schedule that were developed are
successful:
– Perform reality checks on schedules
– Allow for contingencies
– Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100% capacity all
the time
– Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be
clear and honest in communicating schedule issues

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NETWORKING IN
PDM

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NETWORKING

●
Precedence Diagramming Method shows activity
relationships. Hence, it is an important
communication tool for stakeholders.
●
The Precedence Diagramming Method is made
of rectangles, known as nodes. These boxes
show the project activities. An arrow connects
two boxes and shows the relationship.
●
Therefore, these diagrams are also known as
Activity on Node (AON) diagrams.

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ELEMENTS OF A NODE

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TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES IN
PDM
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PDM uses four dependencies:
– Mandatory Dependency
– Discretionary Dependency
– External Dependency
– Internal Dependency

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TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES IN
PDM
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Mandatory dependency is also known as hard
logic. It cannot be avoided. Starting the next
activity will depend on it.
– No excavation can be done without layout and staking
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Discretionary Dependency is also known as
preferential or soft logic, it plays a role in
optimizing resources.
– Walls in a house can be constructed in any sequence.
However, if constructing them in a certain sequence is
beneficial, you build them in that order.
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TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES IN
PDM
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The project management team has no control
over an external dependency.
– For example, you may need government approval
before starting the next activity.
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Internal Dependency are within the control of
your project or organization.
– For example, you cannot get a resource until it is free
from another project.

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TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES IN
PDM

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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
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The Precedence Diagramming Method uses four
relationships:
– Finish to Start (FS)
– Finish to Finish (FF)
– Start to Start (SS)
– Start to Finish (SF)
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While all dependency relations are important in
many projects, Engineers can start with the
Finish to Start and Start to Start
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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
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Finish to Start (FS)
Here, the next activity cannot start until the first is
complete. This is the most common relationship in
PDM.

For example, to paint a wall you first you have to

construct it. In this case, the first activity is building
the wall and the second activity is painting. You
cannot start painting the wall until the wall is ready.
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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
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Finish to Finish (FF)
– Here, you cannot complete the next activity until the first
is finished. Put simply, both activities should be finished
simultaneously.

– For example, let us say that you are coding a program

for a client. The client gives you the features after
completing a milestone. You cannot finish coding until
you get the client’s complete requirements. Here, both
activities should be finished simultaneously.
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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
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Start to Start (SS)
Here, the next activity cannot be started until the first
starts. Both activities should start simultaneously.

Suppose you have to apply a coating on a wall, but

the wall must be cleaned in order to apply it.
Therefore, one team will clean the wall and second
team will coat it. Both activities can start
simultaneously.
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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
●
Start to Finish (SF)
Here, you cannot finish the next activity until the first
starts.

For example, let us say you are moving into a new

home and your old home has to be demolished. In
this case, you cannot move into your new home until
it is ready. Hence, the second activity (construction of
the new home) must be finished before the first
activity starts (moving into a new home).

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DEPENDENCY RELATIONS IN
PDM
●
Start to Finish (SF)
– Although this relationship is rare, you must
understand all the dependencies. It will help you draw
the network diagram and develop the project
schedule.

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NETWORKING PRINCIPLES

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Principle No. 1:
Everything in the Network or Arrow Diagram must
have a meaning.
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Principle No. 2:
That an activity has a single definite starting point and
a single definite ending point.

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NETWORKING PRINCIPLES

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Principle No. 3:
The Network (AON Diagram) does not describe time
relationships but rather dependency relationships.
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Principle No. 4:
That the network (AON Diagram) is hardly ever done
by a single person.

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EXAMPLE

For the footing concreting work, the following

activities are presented below
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION PRECEDENCE
A Layout foundation -
B Excavation A
C Install Formworks B
D Concrete Pouring G,H
E Procure Rebars -
F Rebar Fabrication E
G Rebar Installation C,F
H Procure Concrete -

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EXAMPLE

The network diagram can be drawn as follows:

A B C

E F G

H D

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EXAMPLE

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In the activity on arrow, the diagram would have
looked like this

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EXAMPLE

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Take note that in both diagram, only the finish to
start dependency relationship is utilized.

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SAMPLE
PROJECT

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IMPORTANCE OF SCHEDULING

●
Precedence Diagramming Method shows activity
relationships. Hence, it is an important
communication tool for stakeholders.
●
The Precedence Diagramming Method is made
of rectangles, known as nodes. These boxes
show the project activities. An arrow connects
two boxes and shows the relationship.
●
Therefore, these diagrams are also known as
Activity on Node (AON) diagrams.

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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SAMPLE PROJECT

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