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Types of Completion Percentage in Primavera ( Duration % Complete )

There are various methods to calculate the completion percentage in Primavera for activities. These methods involve using multiple fields and their settings, including the following fields:

1. Duration Completion Percentage
2. Units % Complete
3. Physical % Complete
4. Percent Complete Type
5. Activity % Complete
6. Performance % Complete

There are three types of completion percentages in Primavera, known as Percent Complete Types:

1. Duration Completion Percentage
2. Physical Percent Complete
3. Units % Complete

In the software, you can only select one of these three options. Let’s begin by explaining the Duration % Complete field with an example.

Duration Completion Percentage :

The Duration % Complete is a method to assess the progress of an activity based on the time it has taken to complete compared to the total planned duration. It calculates the percentage of work completed by considering the ratio of the actual duration to the planned duration.

Example: Suppose you have an activity with a planned duration of 10 days. After 5 days, you assess the progress and find that the activity is still ongoing.

The Duration Percent Complete will be calculated as follows:

( Duration Percent Complete ) = ( Actual Duration / Planned Duration ) * 100 ( Duration Percent Complete ) = (5 days / 10 days) * 100 ( Duration Percent Complete ) = 50%

So, in this example, the activity is 50% complete based on the duration % complete method. This method focuses on the time aspect of the activity to determine its progress.
In upcoming parts, we will explore the other types of completion percentages in Primavera, namely Physical % Complete and Units % Complete, and provide additional information and examples.

Calculating Duration Completion Percentage

Duration Completion Percentage is one of the types of completion percentages in Primavera, but it can be somewhat confusing for users due to its unique calculation method. Let’s start by comparing how this field is calculated in Primavera with Microsoft Project.

In Microsoft Project, the field for calculating completion percentage related to time is %Complete, and it is calculated using the following formula:

Completion Percentage = (Actual Duration / Total Duration) * 100

However, in Primavera P6, the formula for calculating time-based progress is different and uses Original Duration rather than Total Duration.

Here’s the formula for Duration % Complete in Primavera:

Duration % Complete = (Original Duration – Remaining Duration) / Original Duration

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Let’s illustrate this with an example:

Suppose you have an activity with a planned duration of 20 days. After 15 days, you assess the progress, and to complete the activity, you estimate it will take an additional 18 days (which is significantly more than the initial planned duration). Original Duration remains constant once the activity has started.

Original Duration = 20 days Actual Duration = 15 days Remaining Duration = 18 days

Now, let’s calculate Duration Completion Percentage using the Primavera formula:

Duration % Complete = (Original Duration – Remaining Duration) / Original Duration Duration % Complete = (20 – 18) / 20 Duration % Complete = 10%

So, in this example, the activity is considered 10% complete according to the Duration % Complete method in Primavera.

Let’s compare this with the method used in Microsoft Project. In Microsoft Project, if the actual duration is 15 days, and the remaining duration is 18 days, the % Complete is calculated as follows:

Completion Percentage = 15 / (15 + 18)

As you can see, there is a difference between the two methods, even though they both aim to measure time-based progress. It’s essential to understand how your project management software calculates completion percentages to ensure accurate tracking and reporting.

Changing Original Duration in Primavera P6

In Primavera ( P6 ), when activities haven’t started yet, the software calculates the Original Duration using the following relationship:

Original Duration = Early Finish – Early Start

However, when an activity starts, Primavera doesn’t automatically calculate this difference, and you can change it manually. The field “At Completion Duration” calculates a new estimated duration for the activity according to the following formula:

Completion Duration = Actual Duration + Remaining Duration

In your example, the At Completion Duration is 33 days. You can enter this value in the Original Duration field. The scheduling of the project remains unchanged, but the value in the Duration % Complete field is recalculated, resulting in 45.45%. If, for any reason, you want the Duration % Complete in P6 to match the calculated value in Microsoft Project (MSP), you can define and execute the following Global Change formula:

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Global Change Formula:

If Activity Status is “In Progress” then Copy At Completion Duration to Original Duration This formula checks if the activity status is “In Progress” and, if it is, copies the value of At Completion Duration to the Original Duration field.

Duration Completion Percentage at the WBS Level The explanations provided so far have focused on calculating Duration % Complete at the activity level. Duration % Complete is also calculated at the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) levels. However, it’s not recommended for tracking project progress. Instead, “Performance % Complete” is a more suitable field for tracking activity and project progress, so it’s strongly recommended to use it for progress tracking purposes.

Author: Arash Beyazian Serkandi & Hamid Hoseinnasab

Eizat Alhayat Project management Services

Topic: Completion Percentage in Primavera ( Duration % Complete )