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3 Week Look Ahead Schedule In Construction: Free Excel Template!

Every construction project has a schedule to keep. Even in the early stages of a construction project, Clients and Contractors alike must create a master schedule to determine a feasible, realistic completion date along with the steps it will take to get there. While master completion schedules are important, they don’t really provide enough data to determine the fine details of what’s happening today vs. tomorrow. Ironically, Contractors must get the short-term, “this week”-type of tasks nailed down solidly in order to ever actually keep up with the master schedule! In order to plan out the near future, Contractors rely on a specific technique. Today, we’re talking about the 3-week look ahead schedule in construction. We’re also giving away a FREE 3-week look ahead Excel template, too!

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What Is A Look Ahead Schedule?

A look ahead schedule in construction outlines what will be happening in the near future on a day-to-day basis. Unlike a master schedule that spans months or even years, the look ahead schedule is specifically meant to outline what’s happening in the next one, two or three weeks.

Nearly everyone involved with a construction project and appreciate and utilize a well-coordinated look ahead schedule:

  • Clients enjoy knowing exactly what will be happening today, tomorrow and the next day on their project. They can visit the site for themselves!
  • Upper management likes to see that the overall schedule is being hit, and the look ahead schedule provides an in-depth look of how time is actually being spent onsite.
  • Project Managers need to know what’s happening day-to-day onsite in order to coordinate the next steps. The look ahead allows Project Managers to plan accordingly.
  • Superintendents & Foremen must know what needs to be completed every day, along with who will actually be doing it. The look ahead schedule is vital to their daily operations.

Frequently updating the look ahead schedule and tracking its’ progress every day is a vital and necessary part of the construction process!

What To Include In A Look Ahead Schedule?

The purpose of a look ahead schedule is to outline as much specific detail as possible. In construction, this can include several different variables. Because of this, we’ve created a few different versions.

First, be sure to download your FREE 3 Week Look Ahead Excel Template below!

In order to access this free template, you must first enter your email in the form above. A button will then be visible upon entry, which will allow you to download this template instantly. Occasionally, some readers are not able to see this form. If an email form is not displaying above this section, please try the following steps:

  1. Clear browser cookies for our site and hit refresh.
  2. Visit this page in an ‘incognito’ window.
  3. Visit this page in another browser type.
  4. Email me at pat@solvepmproblems.com.

3 Week Look Ahead Template For Labor Forecasting

Use this template for forecasting labor usage by work task. This template functions based on man-days (MDs).

The template will automatically total the man-days by task, by day and the total man-days expected in the 3-week forecast.

Below is a sample screenshot:

3 Week Look Ahead Schedule Template - Labor & Man Days

3 Week Look Ahead Template – Color Coded By Trade

This look ahead template allows you to color-code all man-days by trade. Assign colors for up to 7 15 different trades / contractors in the worksheet [Updated 7/1/21]. Feel free to name them whatever you choose, rather than ‘trade 1’ that’s automatically entered.

3 Week Look Ahead Schedule Template - Color Coded By Trade
As Of 7/1/21, Template Allows For As Many As 15 Trades To Be Listed

Once you’ve assigned a color to each trade and contractor, you can select them in the dropdown menu for every task. As you forecast man-days for each work task, they’ll automatically highlight in the color assigned.

3 Week Look Ahead Schedule Template - Labor Color Coded By Trade

This sheet also totals the man-days by task, by day and during the entire three-week period.

2 Week Look Ahead Template For Equipment & Material Forecasting

Lastly, we’ve included a template for a two week equipment and material forecast. You can note the materials and equipment that’ll be in use for each task throughout the forecast.

We kept this one to two weeks, because any larger of a sheet doesn’t look right when printing.

3 Week Look Ahead Schedule In Construction: In Summary

Construction projects succeed or fail based on how well-prepared the contractors are when performing the work. The 3 week look ahead schedule in construction is essential to contractors when figuring out the next steps for their project. Using the free Excel look ahead template in this article, you’ll be able to know exactly what’ll be happening on your project in the near future. Thanks for reading!

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Pat Finnegan

Hello! I'm Patrick, the creator of PM Problems. I have an educational background in Civil Engineering and I've worked in the construction industry since 2008, working on many types of projects in that time. I love talking about project management as well as helping others learn and grow!
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4 thoughts on “3 Week Look Ahead Schedule In Construction: Free Excel Template!”

    1. Hello,

      Our apologies on the download issue. We’re trying to reproduce this issue but the download/email form is displaying correctly on our end. Several people have had this issue recently. We just cleared the cache on our site which hopefully fixed it, but if not you can try clearing your browser’s cookies for our site, too. At that point an email signup form should display and the download button will appear immediately after signing up.

      If the problem still persists please let me know!

      Reply

  2. I love this software and use it often, but I need to add more trades to it. Once I add more trades, I can’t add them to the lines with colors attached. I need at least 15 trades total, not just 7. Can you send me one that allows 15 trades or tell me how to add them without messing up the sheet? Please, I am begging you for your help

    Reply

    1. Hello Cody,

      Awesome! Glad to hear you’re finding this template useful. No problem, we’ve just updated this spreadsheet to include 15 color-coded trades – we’d include more if we could but some of the colors start looking alike after a certain point! Ha.

      The new template can be downloaded through the same form above (by entering email) but if you enter the same address you used for the first download, you’ll only be on our list once. Hope this helps, and please let us know if you have any issue downloading the new version.

      Best,
      PM Problems

      Reply

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