Schedule Health Check

How it works

1. 1Drop in a schedule file — CSV, Excel, Microsoft Project XML or Primavera XER.
2. 2Each of the fourteen DCMA checks runs against the network: the logic, the lags, the constraints, the float, the durations, the dates, the resources and the baseline.
3. 3Every check reports pass, fail, or not assessable — the last one when the file simply does not carry the data the check needs. Nothing is quietly passed on missing data.
4. 4Open any check to see the tasks behind the number and what to do about them.

Common questions

What is the DCMA 14-point assessment?

A set of fourteen checks published by the US Defense Contract Management Agency for judging whether a schedule is built soundly. It has become the closest thing the industry has to a standard, and it is used well beyond defence work.

Does passing mean my project is healthy?

No, and this matters. The checks test construction, not performance. A schedule can pass all fourteen and describe a project that is months late. It can also fail several and be perfectly fine — a short, simple plan will trip the logic and resource checks without anything being wrong.

Why are some checks "not assessable"?

Because the file does not contain what they need. Hard constraints need a constraint column, which plain CSV exports rarely have. The baseline checks need baseline dates. The date check needs a data date. Rather than passing those silently or failing you for a missing column, the tool says what is absent and how to get it.

Check 13 is never assessable. Why?

The critical path length index compares the remaining critical path against the committed finish date. That committed date is a contractual commitment, not a field in a schedule file, so it cannot be read from an export.

Where does total float come from?

From the file when the export includes it, which Primavera and Microsoft Project both do. When it is missing, the float is calculated here from durations and predecessor links. If the file has neither, the float-based checks are reported as not assessable.

Is my schedule uploaded anywhere permanent?

No. The file is parsed in memory to produce the assessment and is never written to disk or to a database.