The DCMA 14-point assessment is a set of checks that tests whether a schedule is built well enough to be trusted. It does not tell you the project will finish on time. It tells you whether the dates are the result of sound logic, or of something else.
The 14 checks and their usual thresholds
- Logic: no more than 5% of incomplete activities missing a predecessor or successor.
- Leads: none. Negative lag hides overlapping work.
- Lags: no more than 5% of relationships.
- Relationship types: at least 90% finish-to-start.
- Hard constraints: no more than 5% of incomplete activities.
- High float: no more than 5% of activities above 44 working days.
- Negative float: none.
- High duration: no more than 5% of activities above 44 working days.
- Invalid dates: none. No actual dates after the data date, no forecast dates before it.
- Resources: activities should carry resources or cost.
- Missed tasks: no more than 5% finishing later than planned.
- Critical path test: the path must connect the data date to the project finish.
- Critical Path Length Index (CPLI): at least 0.95.
- Baseline Execution Index (BEI): at least 0.95.
How to read the results
A failed check is a question, not a verdict. Twenty hard constraints may be contract milestones you must keep, or they may be someone forcing dates to make a report look right. The number starts the conversation, and the activity list finishes it.
Read logic and constraints first. If those fail, float means very little, so float checks, the critical path and CPLI can all mislead you until the logic is fixed. Fix the structure, then read the results again.
A note on XER files
An XER export carries a project's own planned dates, not a separate baseline project. Missed tasks and BEI are therefore measured against those planned dates, so make sure they hold the baseline you agreed before you rely on them.
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