Float (Schedule)
The amount of time an activity in a schedule can be delayed without pushing back the project's overall finish date. Activities on the [[concept-critical-path|critical path]] have zero float, while everything else has some cushion before it becomes a problem.
Why it matters
Float is what tells a project team which delays actually matter right now and which ones can wait. Treating every slipping task with the same urgency wastes attention on problems that have plenty of room to resolve themselves.
On a real project
A landscaping task has six weeks of float because it can happen anytime before final [[concept-closeout|closeout]]. A two-week delay to landscaping eats into that float but doesn't change the project's finish date at all, unlike the same delay hitting a critical-path activity like framing.
Who this matters most to
A Scheduler calculates float for every activity in the schedule as part of the critical path method, and flags when a normally-safe task's float has shrunk to zero. A Superintendent uses float day to day to decide which trades genuinely need to be pushed and which can wait a few days without consequence.
Where this goes wrong
A superintendent assumes an activity still has float because it did when the schedule was last updated, without checking that other delays have since eaten into it. The crew treats it as low-priority, and it quietly becomes critical, with zero float left, right as it starts running late, catching the team off guard.