The DCMA 14-Point schedule check
A plain-English reference to the 14 checks the US Defense Contract Management Agency uses to test schedule quality — what each one looks for, and the standard target.
A schedule that passes these is structurally sound. It says nothing about whether the plan is realistic — that is judgement — but failures here are where most weak programmes give themselves away. Run them before you trust a programme you have been handed.
| # | Check | What it looks for | DCMA target |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logic | Incomplete tasks missing a predecessor and/or successor | ≤ 5% |
| 2 | Leads | Negative lag on relationships | 0 |
| 3 | Lags | Relationships carrying a lag | ≤ 5% |
| 4 | Relationship types | Share of relationships that are Finish-to-Start | ≥ 90% |
| 5 | Hard constraints | Tasks with a hard constraint: Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start No Later Than or Finish No Later Than | ≤ 5% |
| 6 | High float | Incomplete tasks with total float > 44 working days | ≤ 5% |
| 7 | Negative float | Incomplete tasks with total float below zero | 0 |
| 8 | High duration | Incomplete tasks with an original duration > 44 working days | ≤ 5% |
| 9 | Invalid dates | Forecast dates before, or actual dates after, the data date | 0 |
| 10 | Resources | Tasks with duration but no resource/cost (if resource-loaded) | No set threshold |
| 11 | Missed tasks | Of the tasks with a baseline finish on or before the data date, the share that finished, or are forecast to finish, later than that baseline | ≤ 5% |
| 12 | Critical path test | Slipping a critical activity moves the project finish by the same amount | Pass |
| 13 | CPLI Critical Path Length Index | Realism of the critical path to the finish | ≥ 0.95 |
| 14 | BEI Baseline Execution Index | Tasks completed versus the baseline plan | ≥ 0.95 |
Targets are the conventional DCMA thresholds. The “44 working days” limits on float and duration map to a two-month planning horizon.
Working through these by hand on a 5,000-activity programme takes a while. ScheduleLens runs them automatically on a Primavera P6, Asta Powerproject, or MS Project file and scores every check the file can support. Check 10 (Resources) is reported but never scored, because DCMA sets no threshold for it. Checks 11 and 14 are scored only when the file carries baseline finish dates.
Our check 12 is narrower than DCMA’s: it tests that the file flags a critical path. Whether that path runs unbroken to the project finish is reported separately, under open ends. The checklist stands on its own, so keep it.
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