| Course | MT381 Construction Planning and Scheduling |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 9 |
| Paper type | Three-week look-ahead schedule |
| Length | About 890 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT381 Unit 9
Fifteen Working Days on One Sheet: An MT381 Unit 9 Three-Week Look-Ahead for a Medical Office Building
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT381: Construction Planning and Scheduling
Unit 9 Three-Week Look-Ahead Schedule
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The tasks, crews and constraints are composite; the look-ahead is drawn from the Unit 8 update, and the sources cited are real.
The Sheet
The look-ahead is printed for the Tuesday foremen's meeting. Page one is a bar chart of the fifteen working days from September 1 to September 22, with Labor Day, September 6, left blank. Tasks are grouped by level and zone, and each bar carries its crew size, so the drywall contractor can see at a glance that eight hangers are needed on the same days. The two anticipated weather days on the exterior calendar in this window, September 13 and September 22, are shaded on the curtain wall and brick rows only, since interior work does not stop for rain.
Working From the Update
The look-ahead works from the Unit 8 update, not the baseline, because the trades need dates the job will actually meet. Curtain wall is now due to finish on September 15, a week later than first planned, and the first board goes up on level 1 on September 16. Brick veneer, moved by telehandler leveling, starts on September 8. Nothing in the look-ahead changes logic or durations; if zone detail reveals a conflict, it goes back to the master schedule at the next update.
The Twenty-Three Tasks
Curtain wall's remaining nine days split into four tasks: the last south-face bays, September 1 to 3; the east face, September 7 to 9; the final north-face bays, September 10 to 15; and the water test and perimeter sealant, September 14 and 15. Elevator installation's remaining six days split into car 1 adjustment, September 1 to 3, and car 2, September 7 to 9. The level 3 cover inspection becomes two tasks: the inspector's visit on September 1 and a correction day on September 2.
Brick veneer begins on the south face on September 8 and runs through September 17, with the scaffold relocated on September 20 and the east face started on September 21. Board is stocked on level 1 on September 13 and on levels 2 and 3 on September 14. A framing punch walk on level 1 happens on September 13, and fire caulking preparation on September 14. The dry-in walk and sign-off is on September 15, with temporary heat started the same day for drywall.
Level 1 drywall hang runs by zone: east, September 16 to 20, then core, September 21 to 24, with the west zone beyond the window. Taping chases hang four days behind, starting in the east zone on September 22. Interior perimeter sealing at the curtain wall on level 1 is on September 16. For permanent power, the switchgear ship date is confirmed on September 3, and the switchgear pad and conduit are checked on September 20 and 21.
Each task is traced on page two to its master-schedule activity code, so the detail can be rolled up again at the next update. Level 1 drywall hang, for example, appears as three zone tasks that all roll up to activity L15.
A task with an open constraint stays on the chart, shaded, so everyone can see what is waiting and on whom.
The Constraint Log
Constraints are screened before tasks are committed. Five are open. Board for levels 2 and 3 must be stocked before the last curtain wall bay closes on September 15, or it will have to come up the stairs; owner, drywall contractor, due September 14. The level 3 cover inspection request was submitted on August 27; owner, the electrical and mechanical contractors, due September 1. The state elevator inspection must be booked once car 2 is adjusted; owner, elevator installer, due September 10. Scaffold must be relocated from the south face for brick on the east face; owner, masonry contractor, due September 20. And written confirmation of the switchgear ship date is due from the manufacturer by September 3; owner, electrical contractor. Ballard and Howell (1998) argue that work should be released to crews only when its constraints have been removed, which shields production from the disruption of starting work that cannot be finished.
Last Week's Plan
The look-ahead ends with a record of last week's commitments. Twenty-two tasks were planned and seventeen were completed, a reliability of 77 percent. The five misses each have a cause: one wind day stopped a curtain wall lift, the inspector moved the level 2 visit, a board delivery arrived a day late, the masonry crew was one person short, and one task started before its predecessor had finished and had to stop. Hinze (2012) stresses that a schedule improves only when the reasons for missed work are recorded and acted on, and two of the five causes, the board delivery and the crew shortage, are already addressed in this week's constraint log.
How the Look-Ahead Feeds the Next Update
Completed zone tasks roll up to their master activities before the next update, so the update's progress figures come from the field. Mubarak (2015) notes that look-ahead schedules are where the master schedule meets the field, and keeping the codes aligned is what lets the two inform each other.
References
Ballard, G., & Howell, G. (1998). Shielding production: Essential step in production control. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 124(1), 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(1998)124:1(11)
Hinze, J. W. (2012). Construction planning and scheduling (4th ed.). Pearson.
Mubarak, S. (2015). Construction project scheduling and control (3rd ed.). Wiley.
Reading the MT 381 Unit 9 instructions
Unit 9 asks students to prepare a short-interval look-ahead schedule, usually three weeks, that crews can use in the field. It should be drawn from the current update, not the baseline, and split master activities into tasks small enough to assign. Instructors expect each task to trace back to its master activity code so progress can be rolled up. Constraints such as materials, inspections, approvals and access should be identified before tasks are committed, with an owner and due date for each. Holidays and weather assumptions should be visible. A measure of how reliably the previous plan was carried out, with the causes of misses, is often required. The format should suit the meeting where it is used.
How the MT 381 Unit 9 example is put together
The sample describes the printed sheet, its grouping by level and zone and the crew size on each bar. A section explains why it works from the update. Twenty-three tasks are described trade by trade: curtain wall by face, elevator cars, the cover inspection, brick on two faces with a scaffold move, board stocking, dry-in, drywall by zone and switchgear checks. Each task's master code is noted. The constraint log lists five items with owners and due dates, under a highlighted line about shading constrained tasks rather than dropping them, citing Ballard and Howell. Last week's record gives the completion rate and five causes, and a closing section explains the roll-up to the next update.
Where the points sit in the MT381 Unit 9 rubric
Look-ahead schedules are typically graded on their connection to the current master schedule, the usefulness of the task breakdown, the rigor of constraint screening and the measurement of plan reliability. Tasks traced to master codes show the two schedules stay one system. Rubrics reward a breakdown that matches how foremen assign crews, by zone or face, without changing logic or durations. A constraint log with owners and dates demonstrates that obstacles will be removed before crews arrive. Measuring last week's completion and recording causes shows a commitment to learning. Visible holidays and weather days show attention to detail. Sources appear in APA 7, and dates must agree with the update.
MT381 Unit 9 help from the desk
Look-aheads often copy three weeks of the master schedule without splitting anything, which gives foremen nothing new. Others split tasks so finely that they cannot be traced back to the master activities, breaking the link to the next update. Constraints are frequently missing, so crews arrive to find materials or inspections not ready. Some look-aheads work from the baseline, showing dates the job has already missed. Completion rates are often reported without causes. Before printing, read each task and ask what must be true for the crew to start it. If anything is not yet true, add it to the log with a name and a date beside it.
Get an MT381 Unit 9 example written to your instructions
Send the current updated schedule or the activities your Unit 9 prompt names, any site constraints it mentions, and the rubric. Your free first look-ahead, ready within 24-48h, splits each activity into crew tasks by zone and day, logs every open constraint, and ties each task back to its master-schedule activity. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT381 Unit 9 questions, answered
How is a look-ahead different from the master schedule?
The master schedule plans the whole job at activity level; a look-ahead covers the next few weeks at the level a foreman assigns work. It breaks activities into zone or daily tasks and screens each for constraints. It should detail the master logic without changing it, and its tasks should roll back up to their parent activities.
What counts as a constraint?
Anything that must be true before a crew can do the task: materials on site, a submittal approved, an inspection booked, prior work finished, equipment available, a question answered. Listing them lets the team clear constraints ahead of time instead of discovering them on the morning the crew arrives.
Why include last week's completion rate?
Because a plan is only useful if it is reliable. Counting how many committed tasks finished, and recording why the others did not, shows whether the look-ahead is realistic. Teams using the Last Planner System call this percent plan complete. Your course may name it differently; the idea is the same.
Where can I find a free MT381 Unit 9 sample paper?
This page holds the complete MT381 Unit 9 three-week look-ahead for a medical office building, with zone tasks and a constraint log.
Why does the MT381 Unit 9 sample keep constrained tasks on the chart?
Shading them instead of dropping them shows everyone what is waiting and on whom, so the constraint gets removed rather than forgotten.