Once a baseline schedule is approved, the real work begins: updating it to reflect actual progress while keeping the original baseline intact for comparison and claims.
The Role of the Baseline
The baseline is the agreed plan at a point in time (often contract award or notice to proceed). It’s the reference for measuring progress, delays, and impacts. Changing the baseline after the fact undermines delay analysis and can weaken your position in a dispute.
Best practice is to keep the baseline frozen and build update schedules that record actuals and revise remaining work. Logic and activity codes should stay consistent so you can compare baseline vs. update and see what drove changes.
What a Good Update Includes
Each update should:
- Record actual start and finish dates for completed activities.
- Revise remaining duration for in-progress work based on current information.
- Add new activities only when they represent real scope or logic changes (with proper documentation).
- Preserve the baseline so baseline vs. update reports remain valid.
Updates are typically done monthly or at major milestones, depending on contract and project size.
Float and Critical Path
As work progresses, the critical path can shift. Activities that had float can become critical; former critical activities may gain float. Regular updates keep the critical path and float reports current so the team knows where to focus.
Zeconic prepares baseline and updated CPM schedules and delivers clear reports so you can manage the project and support any future delay or impact analysis.