Reading the Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart in BuildChart uses a two-panel layout that gives you both detail and visual context at the same time. The left side is the task list and the right side is the timeline. Together they form a complete picture of your construction schedule.

The Left Panel — Task List

The left panel displays your tasks in a structured table. Each row shows the row number, activity name, person assigned, start date, end date, working days, and current status. Tasks are grouped by section — Planning, Execution, and Closeout — and can be nested under parent tasks to create a hierarchy. Assignee names appear as colored initial bubbles so you can quickly see who is responsible for each task.

The Right Panel — Timeline

The right panel draws horizontal bars across a time grid. Each column represents one day, one week, or one month depending on which view you select. The column headers show month names and week numbers (or day letters in daily view) and remain sticky as you scroll down through a long task list.

Bar Colors and Meaning

Every task bar has two layers. The bar color reflects the task status: Not Started is blue-gray (#4A90A4), In Progress is amber (#D4A017), Blocked is orange (#C8621A), Complete is teal (#3D8A80), and Pending Review is gold (#C8A820). On top of that, a progress overlay fills from left to right in a darker shade (#3A8A80) to show how much of the task is complete. Blocked tasks use a striped overlay in#D4682A. If a task is overdue — its end date is in the past but it is not 100% complete — a red border appears on the bar. Task names appear inside bars in white text when the bar is wide enough to display them.

If a task is completing today, a gentle glow effect highlights it on the chart.

View Toggle and the Today Line

Use the Daily / Weekly / Monthly toggle in the top right of the project header to change the timeline zoom level. Daily view shows individual working days, weekly view shows one column per week, and monthly view compresses the timeline to one column per month.

The red dashed vertical line marks today’s date so you can instantly see where you are relative to the schedule. The current week (or day) column also gets a subtle background highlight.

Parent Tasks

Parent tasks — tasks that have children nested beneath them — display as thin 4px summary bars in a muted slate color (#6B8A96) with bracket ends on the left and right. They span from the earliest child start date to the latest child end date, summarizing the group at a glance without cluttering the chart.

Dragging Bars

You can interact with Gantt bars directly. Click and drag a bar to move the task to new dates. Drag the right edge of a bar to resize and change the end date. Tasks snap to Monday boundaries when you release, keeping the schedule aligned to full work weeks.