Answer to What is S Curve in Construction Planning?
S shaped curve definition
It is defined as curve of cumulative project cost plotted against time, which typically follows the shape of the letter "S": the beginning represents a slow, but accelerating start, while the end represents a deceleration as the project approaches to an end. The S curve can be considered as an indicator of goals achieved, baseline, cost, time etc.
At first there are less opportunities for spending money as the project is in its earlier stage, when the time passes by, more and more activities are started in the project which require more resources and thus the cost increases sharply with time. In the third phase when the project is about to complete and the activities are closing up (many activities are already finished) so the increase in cost becomes less likely and graph moves until it becomes constant.
In order to be able to generate a S Curve, a Baseline (contain information about Actual Start date and finish date, labors, Hours and costs) and Production Schedule (contains information about the actual percentage complete) are necessary.
USES of S curve in Construction Planning
- Used for performance tracking
- S Curves are an important project management tool. They allow the progress of a project to be tracked visually over time.
- A historical record of what has happened to date.
- Analysis of S Curves allow project managers to quickly identify project growth, slippage, and potential problems.