CAPM Practice Question: Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts
You are a project manager for a construction project to build a new office wing. The project is in the execution phase. The team reports that the foundation work is behind schedule because of unexpected soil conditions that require additional stabilization. The project plan had a contingency reserve for such issues. The project sponsor is concerned about the delay and asks you to compress the schedule to recover. The project has a fixed completion date and cannot be delayed. After analyzing the schedule, you find that there is float on some non-critical paths, but critical path activities are already resource-loaded. What is the BEST course of action to address the delay while keeping the project on track?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse fast-tracking with crashing, or incorrectly assume that adding resources to any delayed activity will fix the schedule, without recognizing that only critical path activities directly impact the project completion date.
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
✓
Use crashing by adding more resources to the critical path activities, including overtime and additional crews.
Crashing is the correct technique because the critical path activities are already resource-loaded and the schedule must be compressed without changing scope. By adding more resources (e.g., overtime, additional crews) to critical path tasks, you directly reduce their duration, which shortens the overall project timeline. This aligns with the fixed completion date and the need to recover from the delay caused by unexpected soil conditions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use the contingency reserve to hire additional workers for the foundation.
Why it's wrong here
The contingency reserve covers cost, but simply adding workers without a plan may not be effective on the critical path.
- ✗
Apply fast-tracking by overlapping the foundation work with subsequent structural work.
Why it's wrong here
Fast-tracking could introduce rework risk and may not be possible due to dependencies.
- ✗
Reduce the scope of the office wing to shorten the schedule.
Why it's wrong here
Scope reduction is a last resort and requires change control; the sponsor wants to keep the original scope.
- ✓
Use crashing by adding more resources to the critical path activities, including overtime and additional crews.
Why this is correct
Crashing adds resources to critical path activities to reduce duration, which is appropriate when schedule compression is needed.
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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.