Skip to content
P6 Schedule Analytics

DCMA 14-point assessment

1. Logic

Incomplete activities missing a predecessor, a successor, or both.

Default threshold
No more than 5% of incomplete activities
On the demo programme
Pass0.28% (1 of 362)

Definition

Every activity should have at least one predecessor and one successor, so that a change anywhere moves the work that depends on it. An activity with a missing end is an open end: it floats free of the network.

How the app counts it

  • Measured on incomplete activities. Level-of-effort and WBS summary activities are left out.
  • A start milestone isn't expected to have a predecessor, and a finish milestone isn't expected to have a successor.
  • Each offending activity is listed with which end is missing.

Thresholds, the counting basis and whether the check counts towards the score can all be changed. See settings.

Why it matters

An open end lets float run to the end of the project, so the work looks less critical than it is and a delay to it moves nothing. It also breaks the critical path test and makes float an unreliable guide to priority.

How to fix it in P6

  1. Open the check and download the list of activities with missing logic.
  2. For each one, add the relationship that reflects what really drives or depends on it: Activity Details, Relationships.
  3. Tie terminal work to the completion milestone rather than leaving it hanging.
  4. Reschedule (F9) and export again. P6's schedule log also lists activities without predecessors or successors.

Related