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General Contractor Schedule Template
Create a construction schedule using a template for Excel and Google Sheets in just minutes.
As part of our mission at Housecall Pro to help the Home Builder industry build better, we created this pre-built Gantt schedule template as a free alternative to using construction scheduling software
Make and Share Your Contractor Schedule in just minutes
This general contractor scheduling template has been designed as a quick and easy-to-use way to make a schedule for your construction or remodeling projects and share it with your team in minutes! It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. Personalize
Customize the project schedule to make it your own for each project and client you use it for.
2. Schedule
List your project tasks along with their start and end dates and the template will do the rest.
3. Share
Download your completed project schedule in your preferred format to easily share.
What is a construction schedule?
A construction schedule is a timeline of each step of a construction project listed in the order they need to be completed before the next step is taken.
Working from a good construction scheduling template or project management software will help shape a construction project in terms of the time involved, skill and trades needed, overall scope, and project budget. A completed construction schedule will help general contractors estimate the length of time it will take to complete the project and provide the client a solid blueprint for what to expect along the way.
A good general contractor schedule will help alleviate stress and ensure projects run smoothly.
General contractor schedule example
Whether you’re using project management software or a general contractor schedule template in Excel, the most important part is that it needs to be easy to understand and contain all of the information needed to keep everyone informed and on track.
Using a Gantt chart for construction project scheduling makes it incredibly easy to quickly see a timeline with progression and overlapping steps that may or may not be dependent on each other.
The example below is from our free general contractor scheduling template (link to download is above).
What is a Gantt chart in construction?
A Gantt chart is a visual project scheduling tool that displays every task in a construction project as a horizontal bar across a timeline. Each bar represents one task — its length shows how long the task takes, and its position on the timeline shows when it starts and ends. This makes it easy to see at a glance which tasks are running in parallel, which ones depend on others being finished first, and where the overall project stands against the original schedule. In construction, a Gantt chart is the most widely used format for sharing project timelines with clients, subcontractors, and site teams.
What should be included in a construction schedule?
A complete construction schedule should include all the information needed to keep your team, subcontractors, and client aligned from project start to completion. As shown in the template, every schedule should contain:
- Project details — the project name, client name, start date, and total project duration so everyone is working from the same baseline
- Task names — every phase of work listed in the order it needs to be completed, such as Kickoff, Tearout, Prepping, Sheetrock, Flooring, Finishing, Final Punch List, and Walk-thru
- Start date and end date — the planned start and finish date for every individual task
- Duration in working days — how many working days each task requires, calculated automatically from the start and end dates
- Gantt bars — a visual timeline that plots each task across a weekly calendar so you can instantly see what is happening, when, and how tasks overlap
- Weekly columns broken into work days — the chart displays each week starting Monday through Saturday so daily progress can be tracked at a glance
Once all task names, start dates, and end dates are entered, the template automatically calculates durations and generates the Gantt bars — no manual formatting needed.
What is the difference between a construction schedule and a construction timeline?
A construction timeline is a high-level overview of the major phases of a project — typically what you share with a client during the proposal stage to give them a general sense of how long the project will take. A construction schedule is a detailed, working document that lists every individual task, its duration, dependencies, and assigned trade. The schedule is what the contractor and site team manage from day to day. This template produces a schedule detailed enough for site management but clean enough to share directly with clients.
Construction Schedule Template FAQs
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Who should use a construction schedule template?
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This template is designed for general contractors, custom home builders, remodelers, and specialty contractors who need a fast, free, and easy way to create and share project schedules without investing in expensive scheduling software. It works for projects of any size — from a simple bathroom remodel to a full custom home build.
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Can I use this construction schedule template in both Excel and Google Sheets?
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Yes. The free construction schedule template works in both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets with no reformatting or conversion needed.
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How can I download and use the general contractor schedule template?
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Click the “DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE” button above and fill out the short form with your name, email, and company details, then hit “Download Now.” You’ll receive the template directly to your email as a Google Sheet formatted file. Make a copy of the sheet, enter your project deatils, and use it freely anytime.
Hear from contractors already using our template
Some reviews mention Buildbook, a company acquired by Housecall Pro.
