The persistent challenge of late project completion in construction underscores the need for a rigorous, standardized approach to baseline validation. This research develops and empirically tests a Baseline Validation Model (BVM) using Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM), addressing the global trend of projects overrunning by up to 45% in duration. Recognizing the industry’s historical focus on financial models over the robustness of schedule baselines, the BVM synthesizes and operationalizes leading assessment frameworks—the PMI Conformance Index, DCMA 14-Point Assessment, GAO Schedule Assessment Guide, and NASA Schedule Management Handbook—into a unified, quantitative model. The BVM is designed for integration as an automated, objective plugin for commercial scheduling tools, enabling users to evaluate compliance across scheduling essentials such as logic, constraints, float, durations, resources, and critical path integrity.

Empirical application of the BVM to three complex project schedules demonstrates the model’s effectiveness in identifying compliance gaps and recommending targeted improvements, strengthening adherence to industry standards and methodologies. Iterative testing validates that employment of the BVM improves the accuracy of critical path identification, enhances delay and disruption analysis, and enables more reliable project tracking and defensible claims analysis. Findings confirm that baseline validation fosters greater project robustness, schedule quality, and overall risk reduction, with scalability across diverse project types.

This model contributes substantively to project management best practices and proposes future research to further automate the BVM for deeper integration with emerging digital project management platforms and to empirically test the model across broader project typologies.