How does Primavera P6 summarize data in the Summary / Grouping Band

When working with layouts in Primavera P6, it’s important to understand how the software calculates and displays summary information for various data types such as costs, quantities, dates, durations, float, progress, and user-defined fields (UDFs). This article explains how these summaries are derived and what factors influence them.

All summary calculations in P6 are based on the currently visible activities in the layout. If activities are hidden due to filters, they are excluded from the summary calculations.

💰 Costs and Quantities

• Summary values for fields like Budgeted Cost and Budgeted Quantity are calculated by summing the values of all visible activities.

📅 Dates

• Start: Earliest Start Date. Calculated on the fly as the early start unless there is an actual. Then the actual is used.
• Finish: Latest Finish Date. Calculated on the fly as the early finish unless there is an actual. Then the actual is used.

🧩 User Defined Fields (UDFs)

• Date UDFs: Summarized using the earliest start or latest finish.
• Numeric UDFs: Summed across all visible activities.
• Text UDFs: Not summarized—they remain blank.

⏳ Durations

• Original and Remaining Durations:
  • For activities without progress:
    • Original Duration = Earliest Start → Latest Finish
    • Remaining Duration = Earliest Remaining Start → Latest Remaining Finish
  • For activities with actual start:
    • Original Duration = Actual Start → Latest Finish
    • Remaining Duration = Earliest Remaining Start → Latest Remaining Finish
  • For activities 100% complete:
    • Original Duration = Actual Start → Actual Finish
    • Remaining Duration = 0

Calendar Considerations

• P6 Version 7.0 and later:

  • If all activities use the same calendar, that calendar is used.
  • If activities use different calendars, the Project Default Calendar is used.
  • In multi-project layouts with different default calendars, the Global Default Calendar is used.

• P6 Version 6.2.1 and earlier:

  • Summary duration is calculated using the Global Default Calendar, based on the time span from the earliest start to the latest finish.

Actual Duration

When displaying the actual duration, it is calculated as follows:

• If no actual finish:
  • Actual Duration = Data Date – Earliest Actual Start
• If all activities have actual finish:
  • Actual Duration = Latest Actual Finish – Earliest Actual Start

📉 Float

• Controlled via Advanced Scheduling Options:
  • Base float on Start dates: Earliest Late Start – Earliest Early Start
  • Base float on Finish dates: Latest Late Finish – Latest Early Finish
  • Most Critical: Lowest float value among all activities in the group

In P6 6.2.1 and earlier, float is calculated using the Global Default Calendar.

📊 Progress (% Complete)

Duration % Complete = x 100

Activity Percent (%) Completes: These do not roll up to summary level bands

For more detail kindly refer to following file:

Download : Primavera P6 Column_Summaries