The DCMA 14-Point schedule check

A plain-English reference to the 14 checks the US Defense Contract Management Agency uses to test schedule quality — what each one looks for, and the standard target.

A schedule that passes these is structurally sound. It says nothing about whether the plan is realistic — that is judgement — but failures here are where most weak programmes give themselves away. Run all 14 before you trust a programme you have been handed.

#	Check	What it looks for	DCMA target
1	Logic	Incomplete tasks missing a predecessor and/or successor	< 5%
2	Leads	Negative lag on relationships	0
3	Lags	Relationships carrying a lag	< 5%
4	Relationship types	Share of relationships that are Finish-to-Start	≥ 90%
5	Hard constraints	Tasks with a hard (date) constraint	< 5%
6	High float	Incomplete tasks with total float > 44 working days	< 5%
7	Negative float	Tasks with total float below zero	0
8	High duration	Incomplete tasks with a baseline duration > 44 working days	< 5%
9	Invalid dates	Forecast dates before, or actual dates after, the data date	0
10	Resources	Tasks with duration but no resource/cost (if resource-loaded)	0
11	Missed tasks	Tasks that should have finished by the data date but haven't	< 5%
12	Critical path test	A continuous, intact critical path exists	Pass
13	CPLI Critical Path Length Index	Realism of the critical path to the finish	≥ 0.95
14	BEI Baseline Execution Index	Tasks completed versus the baseline plan	≥ 0.95

Targets are the conventional DCMA thresholds. The “44 working days” limits on float and duration map to a two-month planning horizon.

Working through all 14 by hand on a 5,000-activity programme takes a while. ScheduleLens scores them automatically from a Primavera P6, Asta Powerproject, or MS Project file — but the checklist stands on its own, so keep it.

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