DCMA 14-point assessment

What is the DCMA 14-point assessment?

The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) uses 14 metrics to find weak spots in a contractor's integrated master schedule. They are defined in DCMA's EVMS Program Analysis Pamphlet, DCMA-EA PAM 200.1 (July 2012), section 4.0. Schedule-check tools such as Deltek Acumen and ScheduleReader run them on any CPM schedule, as a quick first pass over an update.

The pamphlet says a metric over its threshold "is not in and of itself synonymous with failure" but a reason to dig deeper. This page marks those metrics as a flag, not a failure.

The 14 checks

1. Logic: incomplete tasks missing a predecessor or a successor. At most 5%.
2. Leads: links with a negative lag. 0%.
3. Lags: links with a positive lag. At most 5%.
4. Relationship types: finish-to-start links. At least 90%.
5. Hard constraints: incomplete tasks with Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start No Later Than or Finish No Later Than. At most 5%.
6. High float: incomplete tasks with more than 44 working days of total float. At most 5%.
7. Negative float: incomplete tasks with total float below zero. Ideally none.
8. High duration: incomplete tasks longer than 44 working days. At most 5%.
9. Invalid dates: forecast dates before the data date, or actual dates after it. None.
10. Resources: tasks with a duration but no hours or cost, when the schedule is resource loaded.
11. Missed tasks: tasks due by the data date that finished, or will finish, after their baseline finish. At most 5%.
12. Critical path test: a delay added to the critical path must move the project finish by the same amount.
13. Critical path length index (CPLI): (critical path length + total float) / critical path length. Below 0.95 is a flag.
14. Baseline execution index (BEI): tasks completed / tasks due by the data date. Below 0.95 is a flag.

How this page reads your file

• WBS summaries and level-of-effort activities are not counted as tasks.
• Float and duration are in working days of each activity's own calendar.
• Each activity is measured against its own project's data date.
• P6's Start On, Finish On and Mandatory Start / Finish count as Must Start / Finish On.
• Missed tasks and BEI need baseline dates. MS Project files carry them (baseline 0); baselines inside an XER are not read yet.
• Not checked yet: resources (assignments are not read), the critical path test and CPLI (both need the schedule's dates to be recalculated).

Is my schedule uploaded?

No. The page reads the file on your computer, in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server. You can also just view an XER file.