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EDWartens UK

Free course · Project management

Primavera P6 Planning and Scheduling for Engineers

Plan, schedule and control EPC and construction work in Oracle Primavera P6 Professional: CPM by hand, EPS and WBS, calendars, activities, relationships and lags, constraints, the critical path and float, layouts and printing, resources and levelling, cost loading and cash flow, baselines and progress updates, earned value, DCMA 14-point checks, XER exchange and the basics of delay analysis.

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Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Beginner
Modules
14
Video
17 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Calculate a critical path by hand; set up an EPS, OBS, calendars and a WBS in P6; build activities with the right types, durations and codes; link them with relationships, lags and only the constraints that are needed; read total float, free float and the longest path; produce layouts, filters and printed programmes; load resources and costs, level resources and produce an S-curve; baseline and update a schedule at a data date; calculate earned value from schedule data; run the DCMA 14-point checks and exchange XER files; and explain fragnets, time impact analysis and extension of time claims at the level planning interviews expect.

  • Calculate the critical path, total float and free float by hand with a forward and backward pass
  • Set up an EPS, OBS, calendars and a deliverable-based WBS in Primavera P6
  • Build activities, relationships and lags, and use constraints only where a real date demands one
  • Read the critical path, the longest path and float paths, and explain negative float
  • Load resources and costs, level resources, and produce a histogram and an S-curve
  • Baseline a schedule, update it at a data date, and calculate earned value and earned schedule
  • Run the DCMA 14-point schedule check and exchange schedules as XER files
  • Model a delay as a fragnet and explain time impact analysis and extension of time

Software

Oracle Primavera P6 Professional if your employer or college licenses it. Oracle has no free edition, and its standard trial terms allow evaluation only and exclude using a trial to attend third-party training, so every exercise can also be done in ProjectLibre, which is free and open source, or by hand in a spreadsheet.

Hardware

A Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) PC for P6 Professional; Oracle's stated minimum is 4 GB of memory and 5 GB of disk. ProjectLibre also runs on macOS and Linux.

Syllabus

14 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1The planner's job and CPM by hand4 lessons
  2. 2Getting P6: licences, the workspace, EPS and OBS5 lessons
  3. 3Project set-up: calendars and the WBS5 lessons
  4. 4Activities: types, durations, codes and steps5 lessons
  5. 5Relationships, lags and constraints5 lessons
  6. 6Scheduling: the critical path, float and the longest path4 lessons
  7. 7Layouts, filters, grouping and printing2 lessons
  8. 8Resources and roles: loading, histograms and levelling5 lessons
  9. 9Costs: budgets, expenses, cost loading and cash flow5 lessons
  10. 10Baselines and progress updates4 lessons
  11. 11Earned value from a P6 schedule3 lessons
  12. 12Schedule quality and XER handover: the DCMA 14 points4 lessons
  13. 13Delay analysis basics: fragnets, TIA and extension of time3 lessons
  14. 14Final assessment1 lesson

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  5. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Primavera P6 Planning and Scheduling for Engineers

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

  • TechnoCivil

    the 25 lessons of the Primavera P6 series used across the course: EPS and OBS, admin categories and preferences, new projects, calendars, the WBS, activities and their settings, duration types, activity codes, relationships and constraints, printing, roles and resources, resource histograms, expenses and cost accounts, baselines, progress updating, earned value, and XER export and import

  • Phil Hirst

    the beginner and intermediate P6 tutorials on the workspace, the EPS and a new project, calendars, the WBS and activities, schedule logic and layouts, filters, grouping and baselines, and importing and resources

  • Plan Academy Inc.

    CPM scheduling in P6 (also the recap in the final module), how calendars affect durations, the four relationship types, finding loops, defining critical activities, the longest path, float paths, cost-loading a fixed bid, indirects and overheads, an earned value layout, and earned schedule

  • Global Project Control

    near-critical activities, resource levelling, the activity usage spreadsheet and profile, financial periods, baseline settings, out-of-sequence progress, and the schedule log

  • Engineer4Free

    the forward and backward pass, the critical path, and total and free float worked by hand

  • Obalim | Ciel Consulting

    the DCMA 14-point schedule check in P6, and fragnets and time impact analysis step by step

  • Claims Village

    the introduction to the Society of Construction Law Delay and Disruption Protocol

  • Learn with EngrWaqas

    delay analysis and claims management with a windows analysis in Primavera P6

Questions

About this course

Who is this Primavera P6 course for?
Civil, mechanical and electrical engineers moving into planning and project controls, site engineers asked to update the programme, and graduates who want a planning engineer role on construction, oil and gas, water or power projects. No planning experience is needed; basic arithmetic and a spreadsheet are enough.
Is this an Oracle Primavera certification?
No. It is not an Oracle certification and does not lead to any Oracle credential. It uses lessons that TechnoCivil, Phil Hirst, Plan Academy Inc. and other educators publish free on YouTube, credited on each module. Oracle, Primavera and P6 are trademarks of Oracle, which is not affiliated with EDWartens.
Do I need a Primavera P6 licence?
No. P6 Professional has no free edition, so use it if your employer or college gives you a licence. Oracle's trial is for evaluation only and its standard terms exclude using it to attend third-party training, so do not install it for this course. Every exercise also works in ProjectLibre, which is free and open source, or by hand in a spreadsheet.
Is the course free to learn?
Yes. Every module, the notes, the worked problems, the project and the final assessment are free to learn. The certificate is optional.
Does it cover delay analysis and extension of time claims?
Yes, at the level planning interviews and site work expect: fragnets, time impact analysis, windows analysis, the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol and the FIDIC 2017 notice rules. A live claim still needs the contract in force and, when the stakes are high, an experienced delay analyst.
Will it help me get a planning engineer job?
P6 is the scheduling tool most planning job adverts name, especially on large building, infrastructure, oil and gas and power projects in the Middle East and elsewhere. Employers test the method as much as the software: the course drills CPM by hand, float, updating, earned value and the DCMA checks that interviews ask about, and the project gives you a sample planning pack to discuss.
How long does the course take?
About 17 hours of video, notes and practice at your own pace, of which about 10.5 hours is video. The optional project takes about 10 hours more.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens certificate of completion, issued when you finish the modules and pass the 15-question final at 60 percent, with a number anyone can verify on our site. It is not an Oracle certification.
What is the project?
You are the contractor's planning engineer for a booster pump station near Sohar, Oman: a planning basis, a baseline programme proved by hand and checked against the DCMA points, a cost-loaded S-curve, a schedule risk register, a time impact analysis of an employer's change and a period 3 progress report with earned value. A complete sample pack shows each document.

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module