Float Times

Work in progress. This note is still being written and incomplete.

The slack in an activity’s schedule: how much it can be delayed without consequence. 0 for every activity on the critical path.

Total Float

Total float=LFTendESTstartduration\text{Total float} = \text{LFT}_{\text{end}} - \text{EST}_{\text{start}} - \text{duration}

How much an activity can be delayed without delaying the project’s completion. Delaying it by more than its total float may still delay other activities.

Free Float

Free float=ESTendESTstartduration\text{Free float} = \text{EST}_{\text{end}} - \text{EST}_{\text{start}} - \text{duration}

How much an activity can be delayed without delaying the earliest start of any following activity.

Independent Float

Independent float=ESTendLFTstartduration\text{Independent float} = \text{EST}_{\text{end}} - \text{LFT}_{\text{start}} - \text{duration}

How much an activity can be delayed without affecting any preceding or following activity’s float. Negative values are treated as 0.

Independent floatFree floatTotal float\text{Independent float} \le \text{Free float} \le \text{Total float}
Written by September 16, 2026 1 min read
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