AACE PRMP study guide
AACE PRMP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Planning and Scheduling Professional (PRMP) is a professional credential offered by AACE International, the association behind a family of project-controls certifications. On AACE's certification menu, PRMP appears under the Professional Certifications heading alongside the CCP, CEP, EVP and PSP, which places it at the same practitioner tier as those credentials rather than among AACE's technician or expertise certifications. The AACE PRMP study guide has 5 sections and about 1,329 words.
01Schedule Planning
Schedule planning defines what the schedule must do before any activity is entered into software. Key concepts: the basis of schedule (scope, deliverables, assumptions, constraints, exclusions), scope and WBS decomposition, schedule level of detail from summary through execution level, activity coding dictionaries, calendar strategy, resource and cost loading decisions, and contract or schedule-specification requirements.
280 words, about 1 min02Schedule Development
Schedule development converts the plan into a logic-driven, calculated model. Essential concepts: activity sequencing with finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish relationships plus lags; duration estimating bases; forward and backward pass; early and late dates; total float and free float; critical path as the longest path through the logic; multiple critical paths; constraints; open-ended activities; and schedule quality checks such as a recognized 14-point assessment.
277 words, about 1 min03Schedule Maintenance and Control
Schedule maintenance keeps the model a truthful forecast, and schedule control uses it to detect and respond to deviation. Concepts: baseline schedule versus current schedule; data date; update cycle; actual start and finish dates; remaining duration; physical percent complete versus duration percent complete; out-of-sequence progress; change control and re-baselining criteria; look-ahead schedules; and variance reporting against the baseline.
269 words, about 1 min04Schedule Analysis
Schedule analysis interprets the model to explain performance, entitlement, and risk. Concepts: critical and near-critical path review; float analysis and float ownership; delay analysis methods including as-planned versus as-built, impacted as-planned, collapsed as-built, window analysis, and time impact analysis (TIA); concurrent delay; pacing and mitigation; fragnets; schedule risk analysis using three-point estimates and Monte Carlo simulation; and resource and productivity analysis.
250 words, about 1 min05Schedule Communication and Reporting
Schedule communication converts analysis into information each audience can act on. Concepts: audience and level of detail (executive summary, management, working level); Gantt and milestone charts; S-curves for planned versus earned progress; earned value schedule indicators (SPI, SV); forecast completion dates; dashboards; exception reporting; variance narratives with cause, impact, and recovery; and data integrity across calendars, scales, and units.
253 words, about 1 min