What is the DCMA 14-Point Assessment?
The DCMA 14-Point Assessment is a set of 14 checks that test how sound a project schedule is. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) in the United States developed it from 2005, when integrated master schedules became a requirement on large defence contracts. The definitive published version is Section 4 of the DCMA Earned Value Management System (EVMS) Program Analysis Pamphlet, DCMA-EA PAM 200.1, issued in 2012.
Since then it has spread well beyond defence. Owners, contractors and project controls teams in construction, infrastructure and energy use it as a common yardstick, and scheduling software such as Primavera P6 and Deltek Acumen supports it in one form or another.
Each check looks at one property of the schedule, for example how many activities lack logic or how many have unusually large float, and compares the result with a threshold.
A health check, not a pass or fail mark
DCMA is explicit that a metric outside its threshold is not proof that a schedule is bad. It is a reason to look closer and understand why. A schedule can be within every limit and still be unrealistic, and a schedule outside a limit can have a good explanation, so the numbers are best read together with the reviewer's judgement.
The same applies in reverse: pushing a number into the green by adding a constraint or deleting a relationship makes the metric look better and the schedule worse.
Which activities are counted
Most checks are expressed as a percentage of a base count. In the 2012 pamphlet the base is incomplete detail activities: completed activities, level-of-effort activities, summary activities and milestones are left out. Earlier versions of the guidance counted differently, and software tools do not all follow the same rules, so the same schedule can give slightly different results in different tools.
When you compare results with a contract requirement or an earlier assessment, make sure both use the same counting rules.
The 14 checks and their standard thresholds
| # | Check | What it looks at | Common threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logic | Incomplete activities missing a predecessor or successor | ≤ 5% |
| 2 | Leads | Relationships with a negative lag | 0% |
| 3 | Lags | Relationships with a positive lag | ≤ 5% |
| 4 | Relationship types | Share of finish-to-start relationships | ≥ 90% FS |
| 5 | Hard constraints | Activities with hard date constraints | ≤ 5% |
| 6 | High float | Total float over 44 working days | ≤ 5% |
| 7 | Negative float | Total float below zero | 0% |
| 8 | High duration | Remaining or baseline duration over 44 working days | ≤ 5% |
| 9 | Invalid dates | Forecasts before, or actuals after, the data date | 0% |
| 10 | Resources | Activities with duration but no resources or cost | Reported |
| 11 | Missed tasks | Activities that finished later than their baseline | ≤ 5% |
| 12 | Critical path test | Whether a delay on the critical path moves the finish | Pass / fail |
| 13 | CPLI | Critical Path Length Index | ≥ 0.95 |
| 14 | BEI | Baseline Execution Index | ≥ 0.95 |
These are the limits most often quoted from the DCMA guidance. A contract or company scheduling specification may set different ones, and your reviewer or client has the final say.
Each check in detail
What each check measures, why it matters, and what to change when it is out of range.
1. Logic — Missing predecessors and successors
What is measured: Incomplete activities that have no predecessor or no successor, as a share of all counted activities.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. An activity with no predecessor can start whenever the software allows, and one with no successor can slip without moving anything. Either way the network is not really connected, so float and the critical path cannot be trusted.
How to fix it. Link each open activity to the work that really drives it and the work that really depends on it. Only the first and last activities in the project should be open at one end.
2. Leads — Relationships with negative lag
What is measured: Relationships with a negative lag (a lead), as a share of all relationships.
Common threshold: 0%
Why it matters. A lead lets a successor start before its predecessor is done. It hides overlap inside the logic, distorts float and can make the critical path look shorter than it is.
How to fix it. Split the predecessor into two activities so the overlap is visible, or use a start-to-start relationship with a positive lag.
3. Lags — Relationships with positive lag
What is measured: Relationships with a positive lag, as a share of all relationships.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. A lag is time with no owner: it has no description, no resources and no progress. Too many lags leave the critical path resting on waiting time that nobody manages.
How to fix it. Replace real waiting periods, such as concrete curing or a review period, with a named activity that can be tracked and updated.
4. Relationship types — Finish-to-start share
What is measured: Finish-to-start relationships as a share of all relationships. The mirror image is a limit of 10% on start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish relationships combined.
Common threshold: At least 90% finish-to-start
Why it matters. Finish-to-start logic is the easiest to read and audit. Start-to-start and especially start-to-finish links make float harder to interpret and can move the critical path in unexpected ways.
How to fix it. Break long activities into phases so that a plain finish-to-start link can express the dependency.
5. Hard constraints — Constraints that override logic
What is measured: Incomplete activities with a hard date constraint, as a share of all counted activities. Hard constraints are those that force a date whatever the logic says, such as a mandatory start or finish; some checkers also count start-no-later-than and finish-no-later-than.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. A hard constraint pins an activity to a date, so the schedule stops responding to delays upstream. Float can look healthy while the logic behind it is being overridden.
How to fix it. Remove the constraint and let the logic drive the date. Where a date is genuinely fixed, for example a contractual milestone, keep it on that milestone only.
6. High float — Total float above 44 working days
What is measured: Incomplete activities with total float greater than 44 working days (about two months), as a share of all counted activities.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. Very large float usually means an activity is not tied to what follows it, or the end of the network is not properly linked. It is one of the quickest signs of missing logic.
How to fix it. Look for activities with no successor or a link to a distant milestone, and tie them to the work that actually depends on them.
7. Negative float — Activities forecast to finish too late
What is measured: Incomplete activities with total float below zero, as a share of all counted activities.
Common threshold: 0 activities
Why it matters. Negative float means the current plan finishes later than a required date. It is a delay warning, not a scheduling error.
How to fix it. Decide how to recover: resequence, overlap work through logic rather than leads, add resources or agree a new date, and record the mitigation.
8. High duration — Activities longer than 44 working days
What is measured: Incomplete activities with a remaining or baseline duration over 44 working days, as a share of all counted activities.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. Very long activities hide progress. A task that is 20% done after six weeks gives the reviewer little to act on, and problems inside it stay invisible until late.
How to fix it. Break long activities into steps of a few weeks so that progress and slippage show up in each update.
9. Invalid dates — Dates on the wrong side of the data date
What is measured: Activities with a forecast start or finish before the data date, or an actual start or finish after it.
Common threshold: 0 activities
Why it matters. The data date separates the past from the future. Work not yet done cannot be planned in the past, and work cannot have been done in the future, so either case means the schedule was not statused correctly.
How to fix it. Update progress to the data date, then move unfinished work forward and correct any actual dates entered by mistake.
10. Resources — Activities without resources or cost
What is measured: Activities that have a duration but no resource or cost assigned, usually shown as a percentage.
Common threshold: Reported, not a fixed limit
Why it matters. A resource-loaded schedule lets you check that the plan is achievable and ties it to the cost baseline. DCMA treats this metric as information for the reviewer rather than a pass or fail limit.
How to fix it. Assign resources or cost to all working activities. Milestones and level-of-effort items do not need them.
11. Missed tasks — Late finishes against the baseline
What is measured: Activities that finished later than their baseline finish, divided by the activities that were baselined to finish by the data date.
Common threshold: No more than 5%
Why it matters. This is a direct record of how often the plan has been met. A high value means the baseline was optimistic or the work is running behind.
How to fix it. Find out whether the misses share a cause, such as a supplier, a discipline or an unrealistic duration, and reflect it in the forecast.
12. Critical path test — A deliberate what-if on the critical path
What is measured: A test rather than a percentage. Add a large delay to an activity on the critical path and check that the project finish date moves by the same amount.
Common threshold: Pass or fail
Why it matters. If the finish date does not respond, the critical path is not really connected to the end of the project, and every float and critical-path result is unreliable.
How to fix it. Trace the path forward from the delayed activity, find where the chain breaks, and fix the missing or wrong link. Remove the test delay afterwards.
13. CPLI — Critical Path Length Index
What is measured: (Critical path length + total float) ÷ critical path length. The critical path length is the working time from the data date to the end of the project along the critical path.
Common threshold: At least 0.95, with 1.0 as the target
Why it matters. CPLI shows whether the time left is enough for the work on the critical path. A value of 1.0 means there is exactly enough time, above 1.0 means spare time, and below 1.0 means the plan needs more time than the schedule allows.
How to fix it. If CPLI is low, look at the critical path for durations that can be shortened, work that can run in parallel, or a required date that needs to be discussed.
14. BEI — Baseline Execution Index
What is measured: Activities actually completed ÷ activities that were baselined to be completed by the data date.
Common threshold: At least 0.95, with 1.0 as the target
Why it matters. BEI shows whether the project is finishing work at the rate the baseline planned. It is an early warning: it tends to drop before finish dates start to move.
How to fix it. Check which baselined activities are still open, and whether they are being finished late or are missing progress updates.
Using the results sensibly
The 14 checks measure the structure of the schedule file. They do not tell you whether the durations are realistic, whether the scope is complete, or how likely the finish date is. Three habits keep the assessment useful:
- Read the checks together. High float, missing logic and hard constraints often have the same root cause, so fixing the logic can improve several checks at once.
- Fix the cause, not the number. Adding a constraint to remove negative float, or deleting a relationship to reduce lags, turns the metric green and leaves the problem in place.
- Repeat it every reporting cycle. A single run is a snapshot. Trends in CPLI, BEI and missed tasks tell you more than one value.
Related standards and guides
The DCMA checks are one of several references used to judge schedule quality:
- DCMA EVMS Program Analysis Pamphlet, DCMA-EA PAM 200.1 (2012). The source document for the 14 metrics and their thresholds.
- GAO Schedule Assessment Guide, GAO-16-89G (December 2015). Ten best practices for building and maintaining a reliable schedule, including capturing all activities, sequencing them, a valid critical path, reasonable float, schedule risk analysis and baseline maintenance. It is broader than the DCMA checks and less numeric. GAO-16-89G on gao.gov
- Industry guides on planning and scheduling. For example the NDIA Planning and Scheduling Excellence Guide, which describes good practice for integrated master schedules.
- Your contract or company specification. This is often the deciding document, and it may add or change limits.
Running the checks in PowerPoint with GanttSnap
GanttSnap runs the assessment on a Primavera P6 XER file inside PowerPoint and lays the result out as a dashboard slide, so the schedule health sits next to the Gantt chart in the review deck. A detailed Excel report is produced on every run for the scheduler.
- The default thresholds follow the values above, and every one can be changed to match your contract or company standard.
- Checks 1 to 11 are calculated from the schedule data. The critical path test and CPLI are recorded as pass or fail set by you, because they depend on analysis beyond the file, and the BEI figure is calculated from the schedule.
- The resources check uses a target you can set; the default is a share of activities with resources assigned.
- Your schedule is analysed on your own device and is not uploaded.
The DCMA 14-Point Assessment is part of the Advanced plan. See how it works in PowerPoint, or read about turning a P6 schedule into a Gantt slide and showing baseline against actual.
Frequently asked questions
What is the DCMA 14-point assessment?
It is a set of 14 schedule quality checks developed by the US Defense Contract Management Agency. Each check measures one aspect of schedule health, such as missing logic, high float or long durations, and compares it with a threshold.
Is the DCMA 14-point assessment pass or fail?
No. DCMA describes a red metric as a prompt to look deeper, not as a failure in itself. The thresholds are guidelines that help a reviewer find weak spots in a schedule.
What is a good DCMA score?
Most teams aim for every check to be inside its threshold: at most 5% for logic, lags, hard constraints, high float, high duration and missed tasks; 0% for leads, negative float and invalid dates; at least 90% finish-to-start relationships; and CPLI and BEI of at least 0.95.
Which activities does the DCMA assessment count?
In the 2012 DCMA pamphlet the base of most checks is incomplete detail activities. Completed activities, level-of-effort activities, summary activities and milestones are left out. Different software counts differently, so check how your tool defines the total.
Are the DCMA thresholds mandatory?
Not by themselves. They come from DCMA guidance for defence contracts. Owners and contractors often adopt them as a benchmark, and a contract or company scheduling specification may set stricter or different limits.
What is the difference between the DCMA 14-point assessment and the GAO Schedule Assessment Guide?
The DCMA assessment is a set of 14 numeric checks on the schedule file. The GAO guide (GAO-16-89G, December 2015) describes ten best practices for building and maintaining a reliable schedule, including risk analysis and baseline management, so it is broader and less numeric. Many teams use both.
Can I run the DCMA 14-point assessment in PowerPoint?
Yes. GanttSnap runs the checks on a Primavera P6 XER schedule inside PowerPoint and lays the result out as a scored dashboard slide, with a detailed Excel report on every run. It is part of the Advanced plan.