Free Schedule Health Check

The checks and their targets

The DCMA 14-point checks are 14 standard checks schedulers use to see how well a schedule is built. This tool runs the 10 that one file can answer.

A few words used below. A task is an activity that is not a milestone, a level of effort or a WBS summary. Unfinished means not complete yet. A relationship is a link between two activities.

Durations and float are turned into days using each activity's own calendar hours per day, as saved in the file.

• Logic: unfinished tasks with no predecessor or no successor. Target: 5% or less.
• Leads: relationships into unfinished activities with a negative lag. Target: none.
• Lags: relationships into unfinished activities with a positive lag. Target: 5% or less.
• Relationship types: relationships into unfinished activities that are Finish to Start. Target: 90% or more.
• Hard constraints: unfinished tasks with Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start On or Before, Finish On or Before, Mandatory Start or Mandatory Finish. Primary and secondary constraints both count. Target: 5% or less.
• High float: unfinished tasks with total float over 44 working days. Target: 5% or less.
• Negative float: unfinished tasks with total float below zero. Target: none.
• High duration: unfinished tasks with an original duration over 44 working days. Target: 5% or less.
• Invalid dates: actual dates after the data date, or forecast dates before it. Target: none.
• Resources: unfinished tasks with a resource assigned. Target: 95% or more. Checked only when the file has resources.

How the band works

The band is a letter from A to E. It is based on the share of checks your file passed.

Some checks cannot be run on some files, such as Resources on a schedule with no resources. Those checks are left out of the share. If no check can be run, there is no band.

• A: 90% or more passed
• B: 75% or more passed
• C: 60% or more passed
• D: 40% or more passed
• E: below 40%

What stays on your computer

• This browser tab opens your file. It is never uploaded.
• Nothing is saved, and no project is created.
• The page sends Pathizer a short note at three steps: when the tool opens, when a file loads and when a result shows.
• Each note says only the step and the tool's name. It has nothing from your file: no file name, no content and no counts.
• Ad tags do not load on this page.
• You do not need an account.

Step by step

1. Export the schedule update from your scheduling software as a .XER file. It can be up to 20 MB.
2. Drop it in the box, or click the button to choose it.
3. Read the band and how many checks passed. Then read each check's target and what your file showed.
4. Open a check's list to see the activities or relationships it counted. The list shows up to the first 200.
5. Fix them in your scheduling software. Export again, and drop the new file to check it.

What it does not do

This is a first check of one file, for guidance only. Pathizer Enterprise runs all 14 DCMA checks, including the 4 this tool leaves out, each time an update is analyzed.

• It does not recalculate the schedule.
• It does not compare against a baseline.
• It does not decide whether the schedule meets your contract.
• It keeps no record.

Questions

Is the Health Check free?

Yes. It costs nothing. You do not need an account or a card.

Which files can I check?

One .XER file, up to 20 MB. If the file has more than one project in it, the check tells you which one it read.

Why are four of the fourteen checks missing?

Missed Tasks and BEI compare against a baseline or an earlier update, and one file has nothing to compare against. The Critical Path Test adds a delay on the critical path and recalculates the schedule. That needs a scheduling engine, and this tool does not run one, on purpose. CPLI is measured along the critical path, and this tool does not trace it.

Is the band a certification?

No. It is the share of checks that passed, for guidance only. It is not evidence, and it does not approve the schedule.

What if my schedule has no resources?

Then the Resources check is marked not assessed and left out of the band. That check only applies to schedules with resources assigned.