54 PROJECT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT AND CPM

them are shown schematically in Figure 4.6. The integration and robustness of these component models
collectively determine the effectiveness of the overall project planning and management. For example, a
sophisticated scheduling model would be rendered ineffective if the time estimates used are unreliable.
Similarly, no matter how sophisticated the time and cost management procedures for a project are, they
would be ineffective if the scheduling model cannot capture the project in sufficient detail free of unrealistic
simplifications. As another example, the change order management model depends directly or indirectly on
all other component models. This relationship and inter-dependence of component models highlight the
need for all the models to be reliable and robust. To summarize, effective project planning and management
requires the following two conditions to be satisfied: (1) robustness and accuracy of the component models
and (2) integration and interoperability of the component models.
The component models shown in Figure 4.6 are described briefly in the following paragraphs.

Time and Cost Estimation

Time and cost estimates are the building blocks of project planning and management. Estimates are used to
ascertain project feasibility and to develop and maintain detailed schedules and plans. In current industry
practice, time and cost estimates are determined somewhat arbitrarily by schedulers based on their
understanding of the conditions. In this book, we present a new model for cost estimation based on historical
data. This is described in Chapter 10.

Scheduling
The process of creating and maintaining a plan of work that documents the sequence and timetable of
execution is called scheduling. As such, scheduling considers only the time attribute of the project and not
the cost. However, as explained in the previous section, time and cost are not independent of each other.
Current commercial scheduling software systems ignore the construction cost during scheduling. This can
lead to poor planning and management. Further, the scheduling model should be general and flexible in
order to capture the actual execution conditions on site. In this book, we present a new integrated scheduling
and cost management model for project management, starting with Chapter 5.

Cost Management
Project cost management ensures that the project is completed within budget. As such, issues such as work
crew and equipment sequencing, allocation, and distribution have to be considered. These issues should be
considered together with the time and schedule of the project as both are of utmost importance to the project
participants. Further, the project participants desire a plan that has the minimum cost. For these reasons we
incorporate cost optimization in our scheduling model to produce reliable minimum cost schedules. The use
of the neural dynamics optimization algorithm for construction minimization is described in Chapter 6.

Progress Monitoring
Progress monitoring is an integral part of any project control and management problem. In project
management, progress monitoring essentially involves two tasks: (1) determining the current state of the
project and (2) determining the deviation of the current state from the as-planned state of the project at a
given time. This information can then be used to plan and control the future progress in such a way that the