Quick answer: Evaluate a CPM scheduling or delay-claims consultant on demonstrated Primavera P6 or MS Project proficiency, direct experience with the specific public-agency or contract format involved, forensic methodology competence if a claim is at issue, clear narrative communication, and independence appropriate to the engagement.
Why the Choice Matters
A CPM scheduling or forensic delay-claims consultant produces work that other people — owners, agencies, opposing counsel, judges, or arbitrators — will scrutinize closely. A capable scheduler who understands the software but cannot explain a critical path in a narrative a non-scheduler can follow is only half the value. The following factors are what owners, general contractors, and legal teams should weigh before engaging one.
Software Proficiency
Primavera P6 is the standard platform on most public-agency and large private construction contracts; Microsoft Project is more common on smaller private work. Confirm the consultant's day-to-day proficiency with whichever platform your contract actually requires — not just general familiarity. Ask to see a sample schedule or a sample schedule-quality review output, not just a resume listing the software.
Public-Agency Format Experience
Federal (USACE, NAVFAC), state DOT, and large municipal or port authority contracts each carry their own scheduling specification conventions, activity coding requirements, and submission systems. A consultant with direct experience in the specific agency format your project uses — for example, USACE's QCS and RMS systems, or a particular state DOT's scheduling specification — will avoid mistakes that someone without that background would only discover after a rejected submission. Ask specifically which agencies and specification types the consultant has worked under, not just how many years of general scheduling experience they have.
Forensic Methodology Competence
If the engagement involves a delay claim or extension of time request rather than routine scheduling, confirm the consultant can explain — in their own words, not from a script — when Time Impact Analysis, Windows Analysis, Collapsed As-Built, or Impacted As-Planned is the appropriate methodology for a given fact pattern, and why. A consultant who defaults to one method regardless of the record available is a warning sign. See our comparison of TIA vs. Windows Analysis vs. Collapsed As-Built for the kind of judgment this requires.
Communication and Narrative Quality
A schedule or delay analysis is only as useful as the narrative that explains it to someone who did not build it. Ask for a writing sample — a schedule narrative, a delay analysis report, or an EOT claim narrative — and evaluate whether it explains the reasoning clearly enough for a non-scheduler (a judge, an owner's representative, a claims reviewer) to follow the logic without having to take the conclusion on faith.
Independence
For an owner-side schedule review or an independent forensic analysis, confirm the consultant has no financial or reporting relationship to the contractor whose schedule is being reviewed, and ask directly how they handle a finding that is unfavorable to whichever party retained them. Independence matters most precisely in the engagements where a biased analysis would be most convenient — which is also where it would be most damaging if discovered.
Responsiveness
Scheduling and claims work runs on deadlines set by contract specifications and litigation schedules, not by the consultant's own pace. Ask about typical response times for update reviews, baseline turnarounds, and urgent requests, and confirm those commitments before the engagement starts rather than after the first missed deadline.
Questions Worth Asking Directly
- Can you show me a schedule-quality review or delay analysis you produced for a project similar in size and contract type to mine?
- What public-agency scheduling specifications have you worked under, and how recently?
- How do you decide which forensic methodology applies to a given delay claim?
- What is your typical turnaround for a monthly schedule update review or a baseline review?
- If you are retained by me, how do you handle a finding in the schedule record that does not support my position?
Once a consultant is retained, the cost of the engagement becomes the next practical question — see what drives the cost of a CPM scheduling consultant in the US for the factors that determine scope and fee, independent of any specific number.