CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
A construction project is underway. The project manager receives a report that the concrete supplier will deliver late, causing a two-week delay. The project has no schedule reserve. What is the best course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
CAPM often tests the reflex to escalate or compress immediately when a delay is reported, but the PMBOK-aligned answer is always to analyze impact first before selecting a response.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Analyze the impact on the critical path and evaluate options
When a delay occurs and there is no schedule reserve, the project manager must first understand the actual impact before taking action. Analyzing the critical path reveals whether the two-week delay directly extends the project finish date or whether float exists elsewhere. Only after this analysis can the PM evaluate recovery options such as crashing, fast-tracking, or negotiating scope. Jumping straight to escalation or compression without impact analysis is premature and may waste resources.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Inform the sponsor and request a schedule extension
Why it's wrong here
Escalating for an extension transfers the decision without first analysing alternatives, and the sponsor cannot create float. It is right when the delay exceeds any recovery option and scope or date must formally change, but here compression techniques remain available for evaluation.
- ✗
Immediately crash the schedule by adding resources to critical path activities
Why it's wrong here
Crashing adds resources to critical path activities, but concrete curing and inspection cannot be compressed by labour, and added crews often reduce productivity. Crashing suits resource-driven tasks with available, qualified staff and low coordination overhead.
- ✗
Fast-track the remaining activities to recover the delay
Why it's wrong here
Fast-tracking overlaps activities that were sequenced for a reason, and on construction tasks such as concrete curing this rework risk is severe. It suits activities with discretionary dependencies, not those with mandatory physical or regulatory sequencing.
- ✓
Analyze the impact on the critical path and evaluate options
Why this is correct
Analysing the critical path determines whether the two-week concrete delay genuinely extends project completion, since only critical activities drive the finish date. With no schedule reserve available, the project manager must then evaluate recovery options such as crashing, fast-tracking or resequencing. This satisfies the stem's constraint by quantifying impact before committing to corrective action.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PMI exam blueprint
This CAPM practice question is part of Courseiva's free PMI certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CAPM exam.