A critical path analysis for a commercial building project reveals that the 'installation of curtain wall' activity is on the critical path and has a remaining duration of 30 days. The project is currently 10 days behind schedule. To bring the project back on track, which of the following actions would be most effective for this specific activity, assuming no other activities can be delayed?

Question: A critical path analysis for a commercial building project reveals that the 'installation of curtain wall' activity is on the critical path and has a remaining duration of 30 days. The project is currently 10 days behind schedule. To bring the project back on track, which of the following actions would be most effective for this specific activity, assuming no other activities can be delayed?

Answer options:

• Delay the start of the 'curtain wall' activity by 10 days. ✅ Crash the 'curtain wall' activity by allocating more resources to reduce its duration.
• Fast track the 'structural steel' activity that precedes the 'curtain wall'.
• Increase the contingency budget for unforeseen delays.

Correct answer: Crash the 'curtain wall' activity by allocating more resources to reduce its duration.

Explanation: Since the project is behind schedule and the 'curtain wall' activity is on the critical path, crashing (expediting via more resources) that specific activity is the most direct way to reduce its duration and potentially bring the project back on schedule without delaying other critical activities. Delaying the activity would worsen the schedule, fast-tracking a preceding activity wouldn't help if that activity is already complete or not the critical bottleneck, and increasing budget doesn't directly solve the time delay.