Timely completion of school construction projects in Ohio as a function of compliance with contractual schedule development timelines

Public school construction projects in Ohio's Classroom Facilities Assistance Program (CFAP) consistently were completed behind schedule. Research shows that late completion of school construction projects reinforces the negative stereotype of poorly performing public construction projects. Construction management has struggled to identify best practices to model the inexact nature of scheduling construction projects with critical path methodologies while searching for tools to increase probabilities for timely completion. The problem this research addressed was the contractually required focus on baseline schedule development. Construction schedule data from Ohio's CFAP projects funded from 2002–2004 were analyzed using correlation and regression analyses tools. The key outcome of this research was the determination that there was not a statistically significant correlation between time to adoption of a baseline schedule and the timely completion of the project despite extensive contract language provisions surrounding these efforts. Nevertheless, the research also revealed conflicting trends within the data that may lend validity to limited constraint nonlinear programming solutions to construction scheduling. This research also suggests that construction managers should shift their focus from achieving consensus on the baseline schedule or revising contract language regarding schedule performance to the unique aspects of managing the project and project schedule. Improving the timely completion of school construction projects will help school districts pass the continuing series of tax issue renewals required to match inflationary operating cost increases, and complete capital projects which improve the educational environment for students.