Primavera P6 Interview Questions

What is the difference between free float, total float, and what is different between Float and Slack?

Float and slack are the two different words for the same meaning.

-Free Float: the amount of time, an activity can be delayed without delaying the successor activity

-Total Float: the amount of time, an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date

What is a constraint in primavera?

Constrains in primavera is to fix the start or finish date as per the following options:

Project Must Finish by

Mandatory Start / Mandatory Finish

Start / Finish On or After

Start / Finish On or Before

Start / Finish On

Expected Finish

How can you define the Critical Path in primavera?

Its the longest path through the project with the least amount of float, Filter the activities with total float equal to or less than 0

What is WBS?

WBS means Work Breakdown Structure. it represents a hierarchical breakdown of a Project into elements and deliverables.

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What is an open-end activity in primavera?

The open end activity is an activity that does not have any successor. Normally open-end activity is not accepted in the schedule because the total float will be calculated from the end of the project and these entire activities late dates gather at the end of the project and can not prepare a logical late start plan.

What is the difference between Retained Logic & Override Logic in progress update?

If a project is generally running according to plan and activities are not progressed out of sequence then there will be virtually no difference between the two methods. BIG differences come when activities are progressed out of sequence. I believe in retained logic. Invariably that will produce the longest critical path but if activities have been progressed out of sequence, there could be some resulting illogical dependencies remaining, in particular resulting from dependencies with durations. Progress override invariably produces a shorter critical path and again there could be some illogical lack of dependencies resulting from activities having been progressed out of sequence.

How do u measure & compare the progress using primavera?

progress can be measured using EVM earned value management as per the following terms: Budget at Completion (BAC)

Planned Value (PV) = budget at Completion (BAC) x Planned % Complete

Earned Value (EV) = budget at Completion (BAC) x Actual% Complete

Actual Cost (AC) = No formula What you’ve actually spent on the project

Schedule Performance Index (SPl) =Earned Value (EV) / Planned Value (PV)

Schedule Variance (SV) =Earned Value (EV) – Planned Value (PV)

Cost Performance Index (CPI) =Earned Value (EV) / Actual Cost (AC)

To Complete Performance Index (TCPI) =(Budget at Completion (BAC) – Earned Value (EV) ) / (Budget at Completion (BAC) -Actual Cost (AC) )

Cost Variance (CV) = Earned Value (EV)  -Actual Cost (AC)

For more information see this article:EVM earned value management

What is resource allocation and resource leveling?

Resource allocation is assigning resources to activities, determine the amount of labor, equipment, and money required for any activity.

Resource leveling is Resource requirements of all scheduled activities are compared to the maximum quantity available at the time of leveling. An activity is delayed if too few resources are available at any time during the activity’s duration. The maximum quantity for a resource is determined through the Max units/time for a particular resource in the Resources Tab.

What is an S – Curve and how to create S Curve in primavera?

An S-curve is the cumulative cost function plotted on a histogram, which can vaguely resemble the letter S. BCWS, BCWP, and ACWP are frequently plotted and compared on a histogram as separate and “shadowing” S-curves. Use the Activity Usage Profile to view cost or unit values for activities in the open project over time according to a timescale you specify. The Activity Usage Profile displays resource allocations for all activities or for the activities you select in the Activity Table, Activity Usage Spreadsheet, Gantt Chart, or the Activity Network.

What is the difference between flag and milestone activity in primavera?

Milestone & flags both are events rather than activities. Some client likes to use flags rather than milestone due to the following differences.

With the use of flags, the logic of the main event can be easily tracked as these can not be created without predecessor as stand-alone allocating the constraint. Whereas milestone can.

Flags can not update manually as Primavera automatically update the status whereas milestone can be updated manually.

Flags can not be constraint only driven by predecessor whereas milestone can.