Original Baseline Schedule Review

What the baseline review is

This is the bookend to the update review you met in Lesson 16. That one is recurring — checking each periodic update. This one is the initial acceptance review: a more thorough, one-off examination done when the baseline is first submitted, because everything downstream depends on it being sound.

Why this review is worth the effort

A weak baseline is a problem that compounds. If the accepted baseline has missing scope, broken logic, or buried float, every measurement against it is distorted — and the errors only surface later, usually in the middle of a dispute when they're hardest to fix.

The review checklist

A thorough baseline review works through several layers. Many owners apply a DCMA-style metrics check alongside professional judgment:

• Completeness — All contract scope represented; WBS covers the full project; milestones and contractual dates present.
• Logic health — No open ends (dangling activities), minimal/justified lags, no improper SS/FF chains, sensible relationships.
• Constraints — Few hard constraints; each justified. Constraints shouldn't override network logic or hide the true critical path.
• Durations & granularity — Activity durations reasonable (not too long to track); no excessive high-duration activities.
• Critical path & float — A continuous, sensible critical path; float values realistic, not artificially inflated or negative at start.
• Resources & calendars — Calendars realistic (weather, holidays); any resource/cost loading reasonable and not front-loaded.
• Contract compliance — Meets specification requirements: milestones, level of detail, reporting, software, and submission format.

Accept, reject, or accept with comment

The review ends in a decision, documented in a review report. The outcome isn't binary — the realistic options are accept, reject and resubmit, or accept with noted comments to be corrected in the next update. Whatever the call, it should be written down, with findings and the basis for acceptance.

Ten things to remember

1. The baseline review is the one-time acceptance check before the schedule becomes the yardstick.
2. It's the reviewer's bookend to building the baseline — owner/CM checking the contractor's submission.
3. Distinct from the update review (Lesson 16) — that one recurs; this one happens at acceptance.
4. A flawed baseline contaminates every later measurement — updates, delay analysis, claims.
5. Check completeness, logic health, constraints, durations, critical path, calendars, compliance.
6. Open ends and excess constraints are the most common — and most damaging — defects.
7. DCMA-style metrics are screens, not verdicts — they flag what to investigate.
8. Apply judgment over the numbers — a schedule can pass metrics and still be unrealistic.
9. Document the decision — accept, reject and resubmit, or accept with comments.
10. Don't accept a schedule you have unresolved concerns about — acceptance carries weight.