Deborah Waitzman asked 8 years ago CPM according PMI Scheduling Standard
Hi Edward I sent you an email, a while back; it was a so long, I don’t blame you for not replying.. I’ll keep this short. P. 12 of the above referenced standard (cited in PMBOK® Guide 5, at the beginning of Chapter 6) indicates in Paragraph 2.2.2 – “The end result is that the Critical Path, for most projects, is no longer a zero float path, as was present in early CPM.” That is a direct quote.
99% of the people I speak with say the critical path has zero float. When I took a study class with PMI NYC, still did not pass, I was told that the Critical Path may have float. Do you have any take on this? Thank you. Hope this was a little more concise!
Edward Chung Staff answered 8 years ago Hi Deborah,
Yes, by definition, the critical path must has zero float at the planning stage. However, there may be numerous reasons during the running of the project that would affect the total float of the project (e.g. some tasks proceed much faster than expected while others much slower). The float may change and even the critical path itself may change some time.
It is the responsibility of the Project Management to bring the project schedule on track by adjusting the critical path and the float.
