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Schedulingaka: pull schedulingaka: Last Planner pull planning

Pull Planning

In Plain English

A lean scheduling method where trades work backward from a deadline to identify what each needs from the one before them.

Definition

Pull planning is a lean construction scheduling technique in which the project team works backward from a milestone date, with each trade identifying what they need from the preceding trade to do their work, creating a collaboratively developed phase schedule. Unlike traditional push scheduling driven by the GC, pull planning engages subcontractors as active participants and produces more reliable, commitment-based schedules.

Why It Matters in Bidding

Pull planning produces commitment-based phase schedules that are more reliable than top-down GC timelines, which matters to estimators because realistic durations and trade sequencing protect the labor and general-conditions assumptions in the bid. When subcontractors help build the schedule, handoffs are smoother, rework drops, and the contingency carried for schedule risk can be priced with more confidence.

Example

In a pull-planning session for an interior fit-out, the drywall, MEP, and ceiling foremen work backward from the inspection milestone, posting sticky notes that define exactly what each trade needs from the one before it.

Related Terms

Lean ConstructionLook-Ahead ScheduleThree-Week Look-AheadMilestone

Frequently Asked Questions

A traditional critical path schedule is built top-down by the GC and pushes work onto trades. Pull planning is collaborative and built backward from a milestone, with each trade committing to handoffs they actually control. The result is more reliable durations and fewer broken commitments that cause delay and added cost.
The trade foremen and superintendents who will perform the work, alongside the GC's superintendent and project manager. Engaging the people doing the work, rather than just schedulers, surfaces real constraints and sequencing conflicts early. Their buy-in is what makes the resulting phase schedule a genuine commitment rather than an imposed plan.
It can. Knowing a project will use pull planning signals more reliable sequencing and fewer trade-stacking conflicts, which may let you tighten labor productivity and schedule contingency assumptions. Conversely, if your crew commits to specific handoffs, price the coordination time and the risk of dependency on preceding trades realistically.

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