Physical Percent Complete
EVM Terms
Reviewed by forProject Technology - updated Sep 2026
Quick definition: Physical Percent Complete is the assessed progress of actual work accomplished on a task, independent of the passage of time against its schedule.
It's judged on the real, physical progress of the work itself — so a task can be assessed as 50% physically complete even if only a quarter of its scheduled Duration has passed, or the reverse. The assessment is made by a person, but the goal is to ground it in objective criteria or Quantifiable Backup Data (QBD) so that it is not purely subjective. That grounding is what separates it from Duration Percent Complete, which is purely time-based, and from the Percent Complete (EV Method), which rests on a manager's judgment.
Why it matters
Physical Percent Complete is closer to what stakeholders actually care about: real progress. A mismatch between it and Duration Percent Complete is often an early sign that a task is running ahead of or behind plan.
Also known as
Assessed Percent Complete
Used in
Percent Complete
See also
FAQ
How is Physical Percent Complete different from Duration Percent Complete?
Physical Percent Complete reflects actual work accomplished; Duration Percent Complete simply reflects how much of the scheduled Duration has passed — the two can tell very different stories.
Can a task be ahead on Physical Percent Complete but behind on Duration Percent Complete?
Yes — for example, a task assessed as 50% physically complete after only a quarter of its planned Duration has passed.
Definition maintained by forProject Technology.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
© 2026 forProject Technology, Inc.
