Construction Lookahead and Constraint Board

Construction Lookahead and Constraint Board is a PlanMagnet concept for construction and engineering teams that plan site work three weeks at a time. It gives project managers and superintendents a lookahead in which every activity appears as a bar on the calendar with its open constraints beside it, so the question for each task is not only when it happens but what still stands in its way.

On a construction project, activities rarely slip because nobody scheduled them. They slip because an RFI is still unanswered, a submittal has not been approved in time to hold a fabrication slot, a crew is not confirmed, a pump or crane is not booked, or material has not arrived. Those constraints are usually tracked in separate logs and pulled into a spreadsheet the night before the weekly subcontractor coordination meeting, and the lookahead is out of date by the time it is printed.

The illustrated page sits under Planning in the Projects area. A Three-Week Lookahead heading with a project selector and three week tabs sits above tiles counting activities, activities ready to start, open constraints and milestones at risk. The grid lists activities such as deck forming, rebar placement, embed plates, a deck pour, a drywall hang and a curtain wall with their dates and, for most, a trade contractor; the activities starting first carry a status of ready, constrained or at risk. Constraint chips sit under the bars: a crew from CrewFoundry, rebar on site from MoveTheWheels, an RFI open for several days, a pump from AssetHandler, a wait on the embed plates, framing progress, a level not yet dried in, a submittal approval deadline tied to a fabrication slot and crane slots. On the right, an At-risk sweep labeled AI-assisted shows when it last ran and notes that flags are suggestions with a stated reason. Its card explains why a building dry-in milestone is at risk, citing the pending submittal, the open RFI and the days of float left, and offers Raise as risk and a link to open the RFI.

The concept carries PlanMagnet's milestones and at-risk sweeps onto the job site, and it is designed to draw on other Burdenoff products. RFIs, submittals and inspections are designed to be entered by the project team, while crew readiness is designed to come from CrewFoundry, equipment from AssetHandler and material deliveries from MoveTheWheels. The sweep is designed to run daily and only proposes; a person decides whether a flag becomes a risk. The result is designed to give the weekly coordination meeting one shared view. Contractors, activities and dates shown are sample data.