On a county paving package, the team has earned more value than the planned value for work scheduled to date. What does positive schedule variance indicate?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Ahead of the paving plan is like finishing more lane-miles than the weekly map called for. Positive schedule variance just means earned progress beat planned progress—not that money or quality automatically went sideways.
Full Explanation
On a county paving package where earned value exceeds planned value for work scheduled to date, positive schedule variance indicates more work has been earned than planned, so the package is ahead of schedule. Progress performance is favorable relative to the time-phased baseline. That reading helps public-works leaders decide whether to protect the gain or reallocate crews.
Positive SV does not by itself mean the package is over budget; cost performance requires comparing earned value to actual cost. Faster paving does not automatically void acceptance tests or prove quality failure. Positive variance also does not invalidate the baseline or require deleting it; variance is information for control, not proof the plan was worthless.
Exam caveat: CAPM associates should interpret positive SV as schedule advance versus plan without smuggling in cost or quality conclusions. Each variance answers one question.
Operational check: report SV = EV − PV as ahead-of-schedule, confirm measurement methods for earned paving quantities, review CV separately, and decide whether to maintain pace or adjust resources. Protect measurement integrity: ahead-of-schedule claims require consistent earning rules for paving quantities. Inflated EV creates false positive SV and misleads county leadership.