The Baseline That Came Back Rejected (Twice)
A contractor lands a public job: a fire station, a school addition, a stretch of road for a county. The spec has a whole section on the project schedule, and it says Primavera P6, native .xer file, cost loaded, within so many days of notice to proceed.
The PM builds it as best they can between everything else on their plate. It goes in, and three weeks later it comes back rejected. Too many open ends. Activities over the maximum duration. Hard constraints holding up the finish. No submittal activities. The second try fixes half of that and gets rejected again.
Meanwhile, many contracts tie progress payments to an approved schedule. So this isn't paperwork. It's cash flow.
That's where our Primavera P6 scheduling services come in. We read the schedule spec first, set up the P6 project to match it, and build the logic from your actual scope and quantities. Then we check it the way a reviewer will before it ever leaves our desk.
What Our Primavera P6 Scheduling Covers
Need one baseline to get through approval, or a scheduler on call for the whole job? Either way works.
Baseline CPM Schedules
The full P6 build: EPS and WBS, activity codes, and calendars, then preconstruction, submittals, procurement, permits, every trade, inspections, and closeout. Tied together with logic, checked, and baselined to the reviewer's spec.
Monthly Schedule Updates
Each month we set the data date, enter actual starts and finishes, update remaining durations, and recalculate. You get a new .xer file, comparison layouts against the baseline, and a narrative ready for your pay application.
Cost & Resource-Loaded Schedules
Many public owners want the schedule of values spread across activities for earned value. Because we work from your estimate, the dollars and crew hours land on the right activities and add up to your contract amount.
Time Impact Analysis Support
When a change order or owner delay hits, we build a fragnet, insert it into the current update, and show the effect on the completion date, so your time extension request has something solid to stand on.
Recovery Schedules
Behind and getting letters from the owner? We re-sequence the remaining work, find where activities can overlap, and test added crews or shifts in P6 to show a realistic path back to the contract date.
Schedule Review & Repair
Got a rejected submittal, or a subcontractor schedule you don't trust? Send us the .xer. We'll find the open ends, out-of-sequence progress, and constraint problems, then fix them or give you a clear list of what to change.
How We Build a P6 Schedule Reviewers Approve
Most rejections come from the same handful of issues. Our process is built to catch them early.
Read the Spec First
Before opening P6, we pull every requirement from the schedule section: maximum activity length, required codes, cost loading, submission timing, and what the narrative must cover.
Structure the Project
We build the WBS by area and phase, add activity codes for responsibility, CSI division, and location, and set calendars with holidays and expected weather days.
Build Logic From Quantities
Durations come from takeoff quantities and realistic crew output, and long-lead items get their own submit, approve, fabricate, and deliver chain.
Check Like a Reviewer
A quality check modeled on common industry tests, like the DCMA 14-point assessment: missing logic, leads, lags, hard constraints, high float, and long durations.
Ready To Get Started?
Send your drawings, the schedule spec, and your contract dates today.
The Long-Lead Item Nobody Scheduled
Picture a two-story elementary school addition in Ohio. The original draft schedule showed electrical rough-in, then "Install Switchgear," then energize. It looked fine on paper.
What it didn't show was the switchgear shop drawing submittal, the engineer's review, the release for fabrication, and the manufacturer's lead time. Once we added that chain, switchgear delivery, not framing or roofing, turned out to drive permanent power. Permanent power drives HVAC startup, testing and balancing, and the final inspection.
Finding that in the baseline means the electrical sub pushes the submittal in week two instead of week ten. Finding it in month six means a generator rental, a delayed occupancy, and an uncomfortable meeting with the school district.
Projects We Schedule in Primavera P6
Most of our P6 work comes from jobs where the owner sets the rules: K-12 schools and university buildings, municipal facilities like fire stations and water plants, healthcare additions, and federal and military work. Each one has its own mix of phasing limits, occupied-building rules, and inspection hold points.
We also schedule heavy civil and site packages for state DOT and county projects. On those jobs, weather days, traffic control phases, and utility relocations usually drive the critical path more than the building trades do. The approach stays the same: read the spec, model the real sequence, and make the logic easy for a reviewer to follow.
Why P6 Schedules Get Rejected (and How We Prevent It)
Reviewer comments vary by owner, but these come up on almost every job.
| Reviewer Comment | What It Means | How We Handle It |
|---|---|---|
| "Open ends / missing logic" | Activities lack a predecessor or successor, so delays don't flow through the schedule. | Every activity is tied in. Only the project start and finish milestones are open. |
| "Excessive constraints" | Hard dates override logic and can hide real delays. | Constraints are used only for contract milestones, and the reason is stated in the narrative. |
| "Durations exceed maximum" | Many specs cap activity length, often around 15 to 20 working days. | We split work by area, floor, or system to stay within the limit in your spec. |
| "Excessive lags" | Long lags hide real work, like curing or fabrication, that should be its own activity. | We model real work as activities and keep lags short and justified. |
| "Cost loading doesn't match" | The loaded total differs from the contract or the schedule of values. | We reconcile line by line against your SOV before submitting. |
| "Out-of-sequence progress" | In updates, work started before its predecessors were done, so the logic no longer reflects the field. | We correct the logic to match how the work actually happened and note it in the narrative. |
Do You Really Need Primavera P6?
Not always. We'll tell you straight, because the right tool depends on who's asking for the schedule.
Use Primavera P6 When…
- The spec names P6 or requires a native .xer file
- It's a federal, DOT, municipal, school, or healthcare project
- The owner wants cost loading or earned value tracking
- The project is large, multi-phase, or likely to involve delay claims
A Simpler Tool May Be Enough When…
- It's private commercial, retail, TI, or multifamily work
- The contract only asks for "a CPM schedule"
- Your team needs to edit the file without P6 licenses
- The job is short with a small number of trades
For those jobs, ask us about Microsoft Project schedules, or see our project scheduling services.
What to Send Us and What You Get Back
Send Us
- Drawings (PDF or DWG) and the project manual
- The schedule spec section and any owner scheduling guidelines
- Notice to proceed, contract completion, and milestone dates
- Your estimate or schedule of values, if the schedule is cost loaded
- For updates: the current .xer file plus progress notes or dailies
You Get
- Native Primavera P6 file (.xer), with an XML export on request
- PDF Gantt layouts: full schedule, critical path, and look-ahead
- Schedule narrative covering assumptions, the critical path, and risks
- Baseline comparison and variance layouts with every update
- Cost and resource reports if the schedule is loaded
One Set of Numbers for the Bid and the Schedule
Cost-loaded P6 schedules are only as good as the estimate behind them, so many clients pair scheduling with our estimating, and link activities to a 3D model for 4D phasing.
Calendars Built for Your Location
Calendars and inspection lead times change by location. A school job in Texas doesn't plan for the same weather days as one in New York or Florida, and our calendars reflect that.
Construction Scheduling Guides
Start with our complete guide, then go deeper on the topics contractors ask about most.
Primavera P6 Scheduling: Common Questions
Answers to the questions contractors ask before sending us their first schedule.
Are P6 Schedules Prepared by AI or Human Schedulers?
Our Primavera P6 schedules are prepared and reviewed by experienced human schedulers. We use professional scheduling software to build and update schedules efficiently, while our schedulers review drawings, specifications, activity logic, durations, and project requirements before finalizing the schedule.
Do I need my own Primavera P6 license?
No. We build and maintain the schedule in our P6 environment and send you the .xer file and PDF layouts. You submit the .xer to the owner and review the PDFs. If your team does have P6, you can import the file and work in it directly.
How fast can you turn around a baseline?
It depends on project size and how many activities the spec expects. Contract deadlines for baseline submittals are often tight, so tell us your due date up front. We'll confirm a delivery date with the quote and build the plan around it.
Can you fix a P6 schedule the owner already rejected?
Yes. Send the .xer file and the reviewer's comments. We'll work through each comment, fix the file, and write a response letter so the resubmittal clearly shows what changed.
Can you convert our MS Project schedule to Primavera P6?
Usually, yes. We import the file, then rebuild the calendars, WBS, codes, and relationships to P6 standards. An imported file almost always needs cleanup before it will pass a public owner's review.
Do you work with subcontractors too, or only general contractors?
Both. Subs on public jobs are often asked for their own P6 fragnet or trade schedule to roll into the GC's master schedule. We build those to match the GC's coding so they import cleanly.
Have a P6 Baseline Due Soon?
Send your drawings, the schedule spec, and your contract dates. We'll come back with a scope, a price, and a delivery date that fits your submittal deadline.