Master construction programme
The master construction programme shows the entire construction process on a single schedule: all essential tasks from award to handover, with the milestones of the realisation phase. It is the schedule that client, design team and contractors all refer to.
The three levels of scheduling
In practice three complementary instruments are used, differing in time horizon and level of detail:
- The project programme: the overarching frame across all project phases.
- The master construction programme: the whole construction process with the realisation milestones.
- The weekly programme: short-term control on site, day by day.
The levels do not replace one another. A weekly programme without a master programme steers blind; a master programme without a weekly programme has no effect on site.
Structure
A master programme is usually structured by stages – structural works, building envelope, fit-out, external works – preceded by the client milestones: award, start of works, completion of structure, scaffold removal, pre-acceptance and handover. The time axis runs in calendar weeks; winter and summer shutdowns belong in it as periods of their own.
The schedule does not end at handover, but usually about a week later – the final tasks should remain fully legible. Between completion of the works and handover, a separate period is also planned; around five weeks is a common guide value for pre-acceptance, defect rectification and cleaning.
In Menira this structure can be represented with sections and milestones and exported print-ready for the meeting and the site.