Progress entry
After receiving on-site progress input the construction progress can be entered into the BEXEL Manager. The process of entering construction progress can be done in various ways, as described in the following sections.
Entering progress manually
For entering the progress directly at the construction site into the BEXEL Manager there is no need for creating selection sets.
Activate Schedule Editor and choose a certain schedule in the drop-down menu next to the New Schedule command and make a duplicate. This is done to keep the initial schedule as a Baseline for progress assessment (Planned vs Actual analysis) → Click on the Progress command on the right side of the Schedule Editor tab → Within the Schedule Progress Editor click the New button → Progress Entry Editor window opens → Define the Name and the Range period for monitoring → Click on the arrow next to the Add button and in the drop-down menu choose the option Planned to review all planned activities in this specific period → Click on an activity and then on the command Mark As → Choose option Planned to define that the activity was executed according to schedule → Click on the OK button → In the Schedule Progress Editor window enter the last day of the monitoring period in the Status Date box and click on the green icon next to the box → Close the window.
The Status Date is a very important command because it defines when the information from certain Progress entries will be actually imported into the schedule and initiate schedule re-calculation based on real progress data. For example, suppose there are multiple contractors on site or different supervisors tracking progress for different disciplines in the same period of time. In that case, all progress entries from all participants should be entered for a certain control period (most likely a week or month). After all progress data for that period is updated, Status Date should be confirmed and schedule re-calculated.
After the update, the Status Date becomes the date from which the progress will be monitored in the next period without the possibility of changing already entered progress information. In this way, progress information is kept relevant for all stakeholders.
Once progress data for a specific control period, such as a month or week, has been entered, it is crucial to establish the Status Date. This date marks the point from which future progress will be monitored and enables the system to shift any incomplete tasks to the subsequent period.
Failing to set the Status Date accurately after progress entry will result in incomplete tasks failing to move beyond the Status Date, leading to inaccuracies in Payment Certificate prices and S curve projections. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the Status Date is properly configured to allow accurate schedule re-calculation.
After Status Date is updated, no progress data can be entered for any period before that date. So it is important to update the Status Date only after all progress data for a certain control period from all participants is updated in the Schedule Progress Editor tab.
Entering progress with selection sets
After receiving the on-site input information about the actual construction progress, BCF files can be imported into BEXEL Manager and selection set for the defined progress period can be created.
Without progress inputs in the form of BCF files selection sets with completed elements can be created in various ways. A selection set can be created by finding elements linked to a certain task and isolating them in the viewport. Elements that were constructed in the last period must be manually selected. A selection set created in that way can be used to enter progress. This process is described below:
Choose a certain task in the schedule within the Gantt view → Click on the Selection command and choose the option Select elements → Click with the right click in the viewport and in the drop-down menu choose the option Isolate and then Selected elements → Use a Selection Regime tool to select elements finished in the defined period → Activate the Selection Sets tab and click the New Selection Set button → In the Create New Selection Set window define the name of the selection set.
Either the progress inputs are received in the form of BCF files and selection sets, or the selection sets are created, the process of entering progress using selection sets into BEXEL Manager is the same:
Activate Schedule Editor and choose a schedule in the drop-down menu next to the New Schedule command → Click on the Progress command on the right side of the Schedule Editor tab → Within the Schedule Progress Editor click the New button → Progress Entry Editor window opens → Define the Name and the Range period for monitoring → Click on the arrow next to the Add button and in the drop-down menu choose the option From Selection Set → In the Elements completed percentage box within the Selection Sets and folders window enter a number that defines the percentage of the executed elements in the selection set and choose a certain selection set → Click the OK button → The progress of chosen activities will be displayed in the Progress Entry Editor → In the Schedule Progress Editor window enter the last day of the monitoring period in the Status Date box and click on the green icon next to the box → Close the window.
An example of a progress entry log and Progress Tracking selection sets could be seen in the BEXEL Manager Sample model in Schedule Progress Editor (Progress log) and Progress Tracking – Actual progress selection set folder where all entries are sorted by week and month and contain elements executed during the control period. This sample progress entry was executed by selection sets entering the progress process described above.
The selection set for entering progress can contain all elements of one task or only those executed in a certain period. The Elements completed percentage within the Selection sets and folders window depends on whether you selected all elements from a certain task or only those completed.
In the Selection Set and Folders window next to the Elements completed percentage, there is an Add all Activities box, enabling you to check which activities will be shown in the Progress Entry Editor.
Entering progress with actual percentage
The tasks not linked to elements of the BIM model progress can be entered by following the next steps:
In the Progress Entry Editor tab click on the Default Activity of the Task with no geometrical appearance → Click the Marked Ass command and in the drop-down menu click on the Set Completed Percentage option. Within the Set Actual Percentage window enter a number for the Actual Percentage, for example, 10 → This means that 10 % of the task was finished in the defined period → Finish entering progress for this task by clicking the OK button.
Entering progress with selection sets for activities that were not planned in the certain period
During the construction period, it often occurs that tasks are not executed according to schedule. Some tasks are running late and some are executed sooner than planned. To enter progress for those activities that are not planned for a certain period, but are still performed follow the steps below:
Activate Schedule Editor and choose a schedule in the drop-down menu next to the New Schedule command → Click on the Progress command on the right side of the Schedule Editor tab → Within the Schedule Progress Editor click the New button → Progress Entry Editor window opens → Define the Name and the Range period for monitoring → Click on the arrow next to the Add button and in the drop-down menu choose the option From Selection Set → In the Elements completed percentage box within the Selection Sets and folders window enter a number that defines the percentage of the executed elements in the selection set and choose a selection set → Click the OK button → The Initialize not planned activities window will open → Click on the Yes button to initialize working hours for those activities during the whole progress entry period or click on the No button and all listed activities not planned for the selected period will be listed with the value 0 in the Working Hours column → In the Progress Entry Editor click individually on each activity and change the value in the Working hours column (the proper duration for each initialized activity needs to be defined) → Choose the option Working Hours and then Edit command → In the Edit Working Hours window define the duration for each activity and then click on the OK button → In the Progress Entry Editor click on the Mark As command and Set Actual from Selection sets → In the Selection Sets and Folders window select the selection set and finish the process by clicking the OK button → In the Progress Entry Editor, the progress of chosen activities will be displayed → In the Schedule Progress Editor window enter the last day of the monitoring period in the Status Date box and click the green tick icon next to the box → Close the window.
If you click the arrow next to the Set Working Hours command in the Edit Working Hours Window, an option Initialize Based On Calendar will appear. This command will set the working hours according to the calendar defined for this project.
Some of the activities in the schedule are not related to model elements. Such activities are called the Default Activity. The works related to such activities are entered manually.
For each progress entry and each progress activity the time spent for execution can be changed by editing Working Hours. Resources used for the execution of certain activities in a specific period can also be edited.
Changing the Resources quantities system will recalculate actual cost and all respective information such as earned value, cost variance, cost and schedule performance index, etc.
When progress is entered, the changes are displayed in the schedule. The software shows the progress for each entered task with a dotted line.
