How to Build the SARC 321 Gantt Chart: Critical Path, Float and a Site Logistics Plan That Matches
A strong SARC 321 Gantt chart for Assignment 3 covers the whole tall building (structure and core, envelope, services and base-build interiors), shows a clearly marked critical path with float on the activities that are not critical, and overlaps trades on different floors. It is backed by a two-sheet assumptions report and a 1:200 or 1:500 site logistics plan keyed to the same programme weeks.
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You opened the Assignment 3 brief, saw “Envelope” in the title and assumed the architects would carry it. Then you reached section 1.3. If you took the Building Science Project Management option, you now own the programme for the entire building, not just the facade, and the deadline is 8 pm on Friday 16 October 2026.
What the SARC 321 Assignment 3 brief actually asks for
The Project Management option has four sheets, combined into one PDF and uploaded to Nuku. Assignment 3 is worth 35% of the course, which is more than Assignment 1, so this is not the place to recycle last term’s chart with a few rows added.
| Sheet | Scale | What it must show |
|---|---|---|
| Cover | nts | Shared team cover, 3D visualisation of the whole building, drawing/document schedule with authors, Generative AI statement |
| Project Plan | nts | Gantt chart for every element of the whole building, starting from your corrected Assignment 1 chart |
| Assumptions Report | nts, 2 sheets max | Key points and calculations on timescales, sequences, processes and materials, with diagrams |
| Site Logistics Plan | 1:200 or 1:500 | Safety measures, deliveries, storage, crane location(s), contractor accommodation, linked to the programme with notes and a key |
Read the full wording on our SARC 321 Assignment 3 Envelope brief page. Note the scope line in the notes: interior works are for base build, not fitout. Students lose time programming tenant partitions and kitchens that nobody asked for.
Step by step: building the SARC 321 Gantt chart
Work from the building, not from the software. The tool you used in Assignment 1 (the brief says to keep it) is only drawing what your logic tells it.
- Fix your Assignment 1 chart first. Apply every piece of feedback and list the changes in a short log.
- Write a work breakdown: site establishment, substructure, core, frame, roof, envelope by zone, services, lifts, base-build interiors, commissioning.
- Split repetitive work by floor or by group of floors, so the core, slabs and facade can run in a staggered pattern.
- Calculate durations from quantities and crew rates, and keep every calculation for the assumptions report.
- Link with real relationships. Use start-to-start with lag for following trades, not only finish-to-start.
- Set milestones: watertight, lifts available, practical completion.
- Turn on critical path formatting and total float, then check the result makes construction sense.
- Produce a summary sheet and detailed period sheets that are readable when printed.
Step 5 is where most marks are won or lost. Cooke and Williams (2009) treat logic, not bar length, as the heart of a construction programme, and markers read your links before they read your dates.
Critical path and float: how to show them without breaking the programme
The critical path is the longest chain of linked activities from start to completion; any delay on it delays the whole project. Float is the time a non-critical activity can slip without moving completion. The SARC 321 brief warns you to make sure not every activity sits on the critical path.
If your software turns everything red, that is a symptom, not a result. It usually means you chained every task finish-to-start, or you put “must start on” constraints on bars. Remove hard constraints, then rebuild the overlap: frame follows core a couple of floors behind, envelope starts once the frame is several floors up, services follow the frame, base-build interiors follow enclosure.
| Typical activity on a tall building | Usually critical? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Piling, foundations, basement | Yes | Nothing above ground can start until they finish |
| Core and floor slabs | Yes | The structure cycle sets the pace for every following trade |
| Envelope to the top floors and roof | Often | Watertightness gates the upper interiors |
| Services rough-in | Often has float | Can run with more crews or shift between floors |
| Lift installation | Depends | Critical if the lift is needed for commissioning early |
| Commissioning | Yes | Last activity before practical completion |
A useful habit from professional schedulers is to look at the “nearly critical” path too, meaning activities with only a week or two of float. Mention them in your assumptions report; it shows you understand risk, not just software. The PMBOK Guide (Project Management Institute, 2021) frames schedule management around exactly this kind of judgement.
Writing a two-sheet assumptions report that proves your durations
The assumptions report is your evidence. Without it, a 2-weeks-per-floor frame cycle is just a number. With a short calculation (slab area, concrete volume, pour time, stressing, formwork cycle), it becomes a defensible decision.
Keep it tight. Two sheets fill quickly, so use tables for the numbers and diagrams for the processes, such as a floor cycle or a facade installation sequence. Include the working calendar (5-day weeks, statutory holidays, the Christmas shutdown) because a Wellington project starting in winter will meet weather delays. Say how you allowed for them.
Our illustrative SARC 321 programme and logistics sample (for reference only) shows how one table can carry the assumption, the calculation and the result, so a marker can follow it in seconds.
Linking the site logistics plan to the programme
A site logistics plan is not a pretty site drawing. The brief asks you to link it to the project plan with notes and a graphical key, so every item needs a programme window. When does the tower crane go up and come down? When does the hoist replace crane lifts for small materials? Where do facade panels land if the laydown area is full of formwork?
- Crane position and radius, with no loads over neighbours or the public footpath.
- One controlled vehicle entry, a loading zone and a delivery booking approach.
- Storage and laydown inside the crane radius, with “just in time” deliveries for facade units.
- Site accommodation, and where it moves once the ground floor is enclosed.
- Separated pedestrian and vehicle routes, hoarding and overhead protection.
- Exclusion zones under lifts and envelope installation.
New Zealand Building Code clause F5 covers protecting people and property from construction hazards, including falling objects and public access (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, n.d.). The Approved Code of Practice for Cranes (Department of Labour, 2009) is worth citing for crane siting and lift planning. Using a real NZ standard is a small effort that markers notice.
Where SARC 321 students lose marks
| Where marks are lost | What markers want instead |
|---|---|
| One giant chart on one sheet | Summary sheet plus detailed period sheets, readable on A3 |
| Envelope programmed as one bar | Envelope by floor or zone, overlapping the frame |
| Unchanged Assignment 1 errors | Feedback applied and listed |
| Fitout included | Base-build interiors only |
| Logistics plan with no dates | Every item keyed to programme weeks or phases |
| Programme for a different building | Same building as the architects’ drawings and the carbon analysis |
That last row is the quiet killer. Section 1.5 makes coordination part of the job. If the architects switch from precast to unitised curtain wall in week three and you never hear about it, your envelope durations are wrong. Book a short weekly check-in with your team and record the agreed envelope systems on the drawing schedule.
A quick pre-submission checklist
- [ ] Whole building covered: core, frame, envelope, services, base-build interiors
- [ ] Critical path visible, with float shown on non-critical work
- [ ] Parallel work on different floors or zones
- [ ] Assumptions report two sheets or fewer, with calculations
- [ ] Logistics plan at 1:200 or 1:500 on the Assignment 2 site plan underlay
- [ ] Cover with 3D visualisation, document schedule with authors and Generative AI statement
- [ ] One PDF named StudentIDNumber_Surname_Firstname_SARC321_Assign3.pdf
If you are also working on BILD 361 Project Management or later planning papers such as SARC 362 scheduling and WBS work, the same logic habits carry straight across.
FAQs
Does my whole SARC 321 Gantt chart have to be on one page?
No. The brief suggests a summary sheet giving an overview, followed by sheets showing periods of the plan in more detail. That is usually easier to read and mark than a single dense sheet. Keep the same activity IDs on every sheet so the marker can move between them.
Why does MS Project show every task as critical?
Usually because every task is linked finish-to-start in one chain, or because hard date constraints are fixed on bars. Remove the constraints, use start-to-start links with lags for following trades, and check that activities such as services and lifts now show float.
Should I include tenant fitout in the programme?
No. The brief limits interior works to base build, not fitout. Programme the core walls, common areas, ceilings and services needed to hand over the base building, and state in the assumptions report that tenant fitout is excluded.
How detailed should the assumptions report be?
Detailed enough to justify every major duration in two sheets or fewer. Show the calculation behind the frame cycle, envelope rate and services crews, the working calendar and any weather allowance. Tables and simple process diagrams fit far more evidence into the page limit than paragraphs.
What scale should the SARC 321 site logistics plan be?
The brief asks for 1:200 or 1:500, using an Assignment 2 site plan from an architecture student in your team as the underlay. Choose the scale that keeps crane radius, delivery routes and labels readable on the sheet.
Can I use ChatGPT for SARC 321 Assignment 3?
The cover sheet must include a Generative AI statement, so check the course rules on Nuku and declare any use honestly. AI tools cannot see your team’s building, so durations and logic still need your own calculations and judgement.
Getting help with your SARC 321 Gantt chart
We provide guidance, model examples and feedback; you build and submit your own programme under VUW’s rules on academic integrity and Generative AI. Your files and identity stay confidential. If the critical path still looks wrong two days before the deadline, do not keep re-colouring bars. Send it to a specialist who can find the broken link.
References
Cooke, B., & Williams, P. (2009). Construction planning, programming and control (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Department of Labour. (2009). Approved code of practice for cranes (3rd ed.). https://registers.worksafe.govt.nz/dmsdocument/410-approved-code-of-practice-for-cranes
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. (n.d.). F5 Construction and demolition hazards. https://www.building.govt.nz/building-code-compliance/f-safety-of-users/f5-construction-and-demolition-hazards
Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) and the standard for project management (7th ed.). Project Management Institute.
