Course Overview
Oracle Primavera P6 EPPM is the scheduling standard on government, infrastructure and giga-project programmes across the region. Contracts increasingly specify P6 submissions, baseline approval and monthly updates in XER format, and owners assess every schedule against structured quality checks. Planners who learn P6 by trial and error often produce schedules with open ends, excessive constraints and unreliable critical paths that are rejected at review.
P6 Fundamentals is the Academy's entry-level scheduling course. Over three hands-on days, learners build a complete project schedule from scope to baseline: navigating the EPS and OBS, defining the WBS, creating activities and relationships, applying calendars and constraints, calculating the critical path, assigning basic resources, setting a baseline and performing a progress update. Exercises use a realistic building and infrastructure project and reflect the submission requirements typical of Saudi owners and PMCs.
Target Audience
- Junior planners and schedulers starting a career in project controls
- Engineers, site managers and package managers who build or update schedules
- Contractor staff preparing baseline and monthly update submissions in P6
- Owner and PMC staff who review contractor schedules
- Project managers who need to read and question P6 schedules with confidence
- Cost and document control staff moving into planning roles
Prerequisites
- No previous Primavera P6 experience is required
- Understanding of basic project management concepts (scope, activities, milestones)
- Familiarity with construction or engineering project phases
- A laptop with a modern web browser; Academy P6 EPPM training accounts are provided
Learning Objectives
- Explain the P6 EPPM data structure: EPS, OBS, projects, WBS and activities
- Navigate the P6 web interface, layouts, filters, groupings and the Gantt chart
- Create a project and a WBS that reflects scope and contract packaging
- Add activities, milestones and relationships with correct types and lags
- Apply project and activity calendars and use constraints appropriately
- Schedule the project and interpret total float, the critical path and the longest path
- Organize and analyse the schedule with activity codes and user-defined fields (UDFs)
- Assign basic roles and resources and review resource usage
- Set a baseline, record progress and compare the updated schedule to the baseline
Detailed Course Outline
1Day 1 · Module 1: Planning principles and P6 EPPM
- Planning versus scheduling and the role of the planner
- P6 EPPM components: web client, Team Member and Visualizer
- Contractual expectations for baseline and update submissions
- Logging in, workspace and user preferences
2Day 1 · Module 2: Enterprise structure
- Enterprise project structure (EPS) and project hierarchy
- Organizational breakdown structure (OBS) and responsibility
- Enterprise data versus project data
- Opening projects and understanding project security
3Day 1 · Module 3: Creating a project and WBS
- Project creation, dates and default settings
- Designing a WBS by phase, area, discipline and package
- WBS codes, levels and summarisation
- Good practice for WBS on EPC and design-build contracts
4Day 1 · Module 4: Activities and milestones
- Activity types: task dependent, resource dependent, level of effort, WBS summary and milestones
- Activity IDs, naming conventions and original duration
- Adding steps and notebook topics
- Contract milestones and key dates
5Day 2 · Module 5: Relationships and logic
- Finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish and start-to-finish
- Positive and negative lags and when to avoid them
- Open ends, dangling logic and logic density
- Viewing and editing logic in the Gantt chart and relationships detail
6Day 2 · Module 6: Calendars and constraints
- Global, project and resource calendars
- Work weeks, holidays and Ramadan working hours
- Constraint types and their effect on float
- Why excessive hard constraints lead to schedule rejection
7Day 2 · Module 7: Scheduling and the critical path
- Forward and backward pass: early and late dates
- Total float and free float
- Critical path versus longest path
- Scheduling options and their impact
- Reading the schedule log
8Day 2 · Module 8: Organizing the schedule
- Activity codes at global, EPS and project level
- User-defined fields (UDFs)
- Layouts, filters, grouping and sorting
- Printing and exporting schedule views
9Day 3 · Module 9: Roles, resources and costs
- Roles and resources in the enterprise dictionary
- Assigning resources and units to activities
- Resource usage profiles and spreadsheets
- Cost accounts and simple expenses
10Day 3 · Module 10: Baselines
- Creating and maintaining baselines
- Assigning project and user baselines
- Comparing current schedule to baseline bars and dates
- Baseline submission and approval practice
11Day 3 · Module 11: Progress updating
- Data date and the update cycle
- Actual start, actual finish and remaining duration
- Percent complete types: duration, physical and units
- Progress override versus retained logic
- Identifying slippage against the baseline
12Day 3 · Module 12: Schedule quality and data exchange
- Introduction to the DCMA 14-point schedule assessment
- Schedule health checks before submission
- Exporting and importing XER and XML files
- Preparing a baseline and update submission package
Learning Outcomes
- Build a logically linked project schedule from a scope of work without supervision
- Produce a critical path that is driven by logic rather than constraints
- Structure schedules with a WBS and activity codes that support reporting
- Set a baseline and perform a monthly progress update correctly
- Identify and correct common schedule quality issues before submission
- Exchange schedules with owners and contractors using XER files
Hands-on Workshops & Practical Exercises
Scope to WBS
Translate the scope and contract packages of a mid-rise building project into an EPS position and a multi-level WBS.
Logic network build
Create activities and milestones for design, procurement and construction phases, link them with appropriate relationship types and eliminate open ends.
Calendar and constraint clinic
Apply project and Ramadan calendars, then replace unnecessary hard constraints with logic and observe the effect on total float.
Critical path analysis
Schedule the project, compare the critical and longest paths, and explain the drivers of the finish date.
Baseline and first update
Set a baseline, record one month of progress against a data date, and report slippage on key milestones.
Capstone: baseline submission
Build, check and export a complete baseline schedule as an XER file with a short narrative, reviewed against an owner-style schedule quality checklist.
Duration
Delivered as three full days in the classroom, or as six live online sessions of 3.5 hours scheduled across two weeks.
Delivery Methods
Online
Live virtual classroom in six 3.5-hour sessions, with individual P6 EPPM lab accounts and instructor screen-share support during each build exercise.
Classroom
Three-day public course at the Academy in Riyadh and regional venues, with a dedicated P6 EPPM environment per learner.
On-site Corporate Training
Private cohort at your premises, using your own EPS, calendars, activity codes and contractual schedule submission requirements.
Assessment Method
- Continuous practical assessment during the workshops and capstone
- End-of-course online knowledge check (20 questions, 70% pass mark)
- Minimum 80% attendance
Certificate Awarded
Arkan Academy · Foundation
Arkan Certificate of Achievement: Oracle Primavera P6 Fundamentals
Awarded to learners who meet the attendance requirement and pass the knowledge check. Carries a unique verification ID and 21 recorded learning hours.
ID · ARK-P6-101-XXXXXX
Career Benefits
- Qualify for junior planner and scheduler roles on construction and infrastructure projects
- Produce schedules that pass owner and PMC review first time
- Communicate credibly with planners, project managers and PMC reviewers
- Build the foundation for advanced scheduling, resource and earned value work
Recommended Next Course
Professional Competencies Achieved
- Schedule developmentPractitioner
- Critical path analysisWorking
- Schedule updating and progress measurementWorking
- WBS and schedule structuringPractitioner
- Schedule quality assessmentAwareness
Talent Development & Career Opportunities
Distinction graduates of this course are typically considered for assistant planner roles, monthly update support on contractor schedules and schedule data preparation during P6 EPPM rollouts.
Participants who achieve an overall assessment score above 90% graduate with Distinction and may be enrolled in the Arkan Talent Development Program.
Outstanding graduates may receive:
- Internship opportunities
- Exposure to PMIS implementation projects
- Mentorship from senior Arkan consultants
- Recommendation letters
- Career guidance sessions
- Candidate referrals to partner organizations through Arkan Talent
- Opportunities to participate in PMIS deployment, PMO setup and digital transformation projects
Disclaimer: Enrolment in the Talent Development Program and any of the opportunities above are not guaranteed and do not constitute an offer or promise of employment. Exceptional performers may be considered for future project opportunities based on business needs, individual performance, availability of suitable roles and client requirements. Referrals and placements remain subject to the selection processes of Arkan and its partner organizations.