Construction glossary · Process and Contract Terms

What is a look-ahead schedule in construction?

A look-ahead schedule is a short-range schedule of the work due in the next few weeks, most often three, pulled from the master schedule and reviewed every week with the foremen. On this page: a table comparing it with the master schedule, a worked 3-week example, our view, and a free schedule template with a look-ahead tab.

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Updated November 2026 · Reviewed by the Ruh construction team

The definition

Look-Ahead Schedule, Explained.

A look-ahead exists to find what each activity needs to start on time, while there is still time to get it.

The master schedule says what should happen. The look-ahead asks whether it can. For each activity in the window, the superintendent and the foremen check the crew, the material, the inspection and the work before it, and fix what is missing before the start date arrives.

In the Last Planner System, developed by Glenn Ballard and Greg Howell and taught by the Lean Construction Institute, this step is called look-ahead planning, and it looks several weeks ahead.

To pull a 3-week window from a full schedule, use the free construction schedule template. It has a look-ahead tab that marks every activity in the window.

How it is measured

A look-ahead is measured by how much of the planned work actually happens. Lean teams track percent plan complete: the activities finished as planned in a week divided by the activities planned for that week.

Look-Ahead Schedule vs Master Schedule

Dates flow from the master schedule into the look-ahead, and what the look-ahead finds, such as a late delivery, flows back.

The master schedule is usually built with the critical path method, and open RFIs and submittals are frequent constraints a look-ahead turns up.

	Master schedule	Look-ahead schedule
Covers	The whole job	The next few weeks, often three
Changes	Rarely, at formal updates	Every week
Owned by	Project manager or scheduler	Superintendent with the foremen
Used for	Contract dates and the critical path	Clearing what each activity needs to start

Typical practice. Ownership and update cadence vary by firm.

Our View

The look-ahead meeting is only worth holding if every constraint leaves the room with a name and a date against it.

Worked example

A Worked Look-Ahead Example.

Illustrative example. The week starting November 30, 2026 on an office build-out. The 3-week window runs to December 20, and four activities fall in it.

Window of November 30 to December 20: four activities, and drywall finishing depends on the in-wall inspection passing on December 10. Planned 10, finished 8 as planned: 8 / 10 = 80 percent plan complete.

Activity	Dates	What it needs to start
Overhead MEP rough-in	Nov 17 to Dec 4	Running. Ceiling inspection booked for Dec 4
Wall framing	Nov 17 to Dec 2	Running. Finishing on the 2nd
In-wall rough-in and inspection	Dec 3 to Dec 10	Inspector booked for Dec 10
Drywall hang, tape and finish	Dec 11 to Dec 30	In-wall inspection passed Dec 10, board delivered by Dec 9, crew of six

The main risk sits in the last row: drywall finishing cannot start until the in-wall inspection passes on December 10. If the inspection slips a day, so does finishing, and it is on the critical path.

If the team planned 10 activities last week and finished 8 as planned, its percent plan complete is 8 / 10 = 80 percent.

How Ruh handles it

How Ruh Handles Look-Ahead Schedule.

Scheduling sits outside Ruh. What Ruh produces upstream, quantities measured off the drawings by Ruh AI's Takeoff Agent and priced from your rate book by Ruh AI's Estimating Agent, is what crew sizes and material orders in a look-ahead come from. A person on your team approves each line first.

On this page: A Worked Look-Ahead Example.

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Look-Ahead Schedule: Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 3-week look-ahead schedule?+

It is the version of the plan the field works from: only the activities starting or running in the coming three weeks, with the constraints on each one listed and cleared.

Who prepares the look-ahead schedule?+

The general contractor's superintendent, usually with the project manager, and the foremen of each trade review and commit to it at the weekly meeting.

How far ahead should a look-ahead schedule go?+

Three weeks is the most common window on building jobs. Last Planner teams often use three to six weeks, longer when long-lead material is involved.

What is percent plan complete?+

Percent plan complete (PPC) is the share of activities planned for a week that were finished as planned. 8 finished of 10 planned is 80 percent.

How is a look-ahead different from a master schedule?+

The master schedule covers the whole job and changes rarely. The look-ahead covers the next few weeks, changes every week, and focuses on what each activity needs to start.

Still measuring by hand? Your next takeoff can run while you review this one.

See it on your plans

Keep going: A Worked Look-Ahead Example., the free construction schedule template or explore General Contractor Software.

The Construction Estimating Cheat Sheet

Every unit, waste factor, and conversion on one page. Free PDF.

Figures on this page are illustrative. Construction estimates depend on project-specific conditions, source documents, market pricing, and professional judgment. Ruh's AI assists the estimator and does not replace professional review: your team reviews, validates, and approves every estimate, bid, and pricing decision.

Now run it on your job

Knowing what Look-Ahead Schedule means is the easy half.

The number you actually need is the one from your own drawings. These two are free, take no signup, and give you something you can put straight into a bid.

Construction Schedule TemplateWorking-day schedule with a look-ahead, free RFI TemplateOne-question RFI form and log, free

Try Ruh on a Bid You Are Pricing Now.

Put us on real work rather than a canned demo. Ruh reads your drawing set, measures the scope, and prices the quantities against your own rates, with every line traceable back to the sheet it came from.

1Tell us about a bid you are working on and the trade you are pricing
2Ruh measures that scope from your drawings and prices it on your own rates, not generic cost data
3Every quantity traces back to the sheet it was measured from, so your estimator can check the work