SOMA Tools · QSRA Validator
Schedule-risk readiness, before the Monte Carlo runs.
A purpose-built input validator for Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis on UK major infrastructure. It catches the schedule and risk-register issues that would otherwise compromise a QSRA — before the simulation runs, not after the P80 looks wrong.
The problem
The Monte Carlo ran. The P80 makes no sense.
Every QSRA practitioner has seen it: the schedule loads into Safran, the simulation runs, and the output does not add up. Drivers are missing. Variance is suppressed. The P80 looks suspiciously close to the deterministic finish.
The cause is almost always upstream — a schedule that was not ready to be risk-loaded, or a risk register with missing mandatory fields that defaulted silently on import. Mainstream schedule-audit frameworks (DCMA 14-point, CIOB PP21, Acumen Fuse SQI) catch structural issues, but they answer a different question: does this schedule pass a generic quality audit?
The question that matters
Is this schedule ready to be risk-loaded for a QSRA?
SOMA QSRA Validator answers exactly that question. It runs the flagship SOMA QSRA Readiness methodology — 25 weighted checks across five domains — alongside DCMA, CIOB and Acumen Fuse if you want to benchmark, and produces a signed, defensible report you can put in front of a client, the ONR or the NAO without further explanation.
It also validates the risk register (Riskhive, Xactium or SOMA consolidated formats) and the risk-to-activity mapping — so the whole QSRA input set gets cleared in one pass before anything loads into Safran.
What it does
Four input validators, one tool.
Every validator is accessible from a single Input Validator pane. Run them individually or run the full validation and get one consolidated report.
Schedule Check
FlagshipDCMA 14-point, CIOB PP21, Acumen Fuse SQI, or the SOMA QSRA Readiness framework. Upload an XER from Primavera P6, pick the framework, get a RAG-banded scorecard with failing-activity IDs traceable to source rows.
Risk Register Validator
Any risk register in Excel (.xlsx) — Riskhive, Xactium, ActiveRisk, Predict!, or a plain SOMA-consolidated workbook — as long as the required input fields are present. Runs the RR-* rule set: mandatory fields, three-point-estimate sanity, probability bounds, distribution types.
Risk-to-Activity Mapping Validator
Cross-checks every risk against the XER: orphan risks, missing split-impact weights, activities flagged as non-schedule. Catches the mapping gaps that suppress variance in the simulation.
Full Validation
XER plus risk register in one upload, all three checks running in parallel, one consolidated report at the end. The option most QSRA practitioners run by default.
The framework
The SOMA QSRA Readiness framework.
25 checks across five weighted domains. Each check asks will this cause us grief in the Monte Carlo? — not does this pass a generic schedule audit?.
Score 85+ is GREEN, 70–85 AMBER, below 70 RED. Every failing activity is traceable to a source row in the XER.
Logic Integrity
Missing logic, dangling ends, relationship-type mix, merge hotspots, logic density, relationship direction. Six checks that set the foundation — if the logic is soft, the Monte Carlo will find it.
Duration Health
High-duration activities, zero-duration non-milestones, duration distribution, invalid dates, date consistency. Five checks on whether the activities can carry risk sensibly.
Constraints & Calendars
Hard-constraint coverage, calendar assignments, milestone integrity. Three checks on the silent levers that distort the critical path.
Float & Critical Path
Critical-path length, negative float, high float, float distribution, ERMHDR integrity. Five checks on whether the critical path is credible and whether float is honest.
QSRA Readiness
In-scope definition, lag hygiene, status consistency, data-date alignment, activity-ID uniqueness, WBS depth, LOE discipline, TRA / TBP hygiene, procurement-lag exemption. Six checks — the SOMA differentiator.
GREEN · 85 and above
Ready to load into Safran.
AMBER · 70–85
Fix the flagged items first.
RED · below 70
Schedule not ready — rework required.
Why we built it
The mainstream frameworks solve a different problem.
SOMA QSRA Readiness was calibrated on 40+ production QSRAs across National Highways, Network Rail and nuclear AGR programmes. It was not ported from a generic IMS template, and it does not try to blend schedule quality with process maturity.
It asks one question, and it asks it properly: is this schedule ready to be risk-loaded?
DCMA 14-point
2005US DoD contract-auditing checklist
Tests schedule at activity level but has no concept of risk-load readiness.
CIOB PP21
2017UK construction-specific, process-maturity focus
Blends schedule quality with process maturity — scores are hard to trace back to the schedule itself.
Acumen Fuse SQI
Closed-sourceCalibrated to Deltek's defaults
Treats every schedule as if it were a QSRA-ready baseline. Doesn't distinguish between a schedule that's structurally sound and one that's prepared for probabilistic analysis.
What makes it different
Seven things you will not get from a generic schedule checker.
Risk-load readiness first
Every check maps to a specific QSRA failure mode — orphan activities can't be risk-driven, sclerotic logic suppresses variance, padding lags hide float that risk needs to travel through.
25 checks, 5 domains, each weighted
You get a 0–100 score, a headline RAG band, and a per-domain score — so you know where the schedule is weak, not just how weak.
Scope discipline is explicit
LOE activities, hammocks, milestones, WBS summaries and TRA / TBP activities are consistently excluded from the relevant tests. Other frameworks silently mix them in, which inflates or deflates scores depending on the schedule author's conventions.
Designed for Safran + Primavera P6
Thresholds calibrated on real production QSRAs across National Highways, Network Rail and nuclear AGR programmes — not ported from a generic IMS template.
Defensible under scrutiny
Every finding traces to a source row. The output includes a signed methodology document (V2.3) so the report stands up under client, ONR or NAO review without further explanation.
Open and version-pinned
The rules engine is inspectable. The methodology version is stamped into every output so differences between releases are traceable.
Fully customisable to client conventions
Thresholds, domain weights, banding cutoffs, scope-exclusion rules and the Excel output can all be tuned to match a specific programme or standards environment. Deploy SOMA's calibrated defaults on day one, then add client-branded reports and programme-specific checks over a short configuration cycle.
Safran-ready outputs
Reports you can put in front of a steering group — or a regulator.
RAG scorecard
0–100 score, per-domain breakdown, headline band.
SOMA-branded Excel report
Scorecard, full detail sheets, methodology sign-off.
RFC-5322 .eml email
Three-section RAG-grouped summary, ready to send to the planner.
Safran flat-file exports
Iteration Data + Percentiles, ready for round-tripping.
How it works
From install to first report in under ten minutes.
No setup day, no bespoke configuration, no IT ticket. The tool runs on your laptop, reads your XER and risk register, and produces the reports in seconds.
For programmes with multiple schemes (portfolio view, per-scheme status, period snapshots), create a client, then schemes, then save each validator run. Scales from a one-off health-check to a full portfolio dashboard.
- 01
Install
One double-click for Mac or Windows. Per-user install, no admin rights needed. No cloud dependency — your data stays on your machine.
- 02
Open the Input Validator
Upload your XER and / or risk register. Pick a framework. Run. Reports generate in seconds.
- 03
Review and save
Download the Excel report, email the early-view summary, or save it to a scheme so you can track period-over-period.
Who it is for
Built for practitioners who already know what a QSRA should look like.
Programme managers
at UK infrastructure owners who need to know their QSRA inputs are defensible before the simulation runs.
QSRA practitioners
on rail, highways, nuclear, defence or utilities programmes.
Schedule quality leads
who want a consistent, calibrated methodology instead of each analyst running their own DCMA spreadsheet.
Client-side assurance teams
reviewing schedule and risk submissions from Tier 1 contractors.
Deployment
Local-first, by design.
Defence and nuclear clients cannot host schedule data in a third-party cloud. SOMA QSRA Validator was built around that constraint from day one — not retrofitted with a "local mode" later.
Local-only
Runs on your laptop at localhost:8000. No cloud, no telemetry, no third-party data processing.
Single-user install
Mac .app bundle (code-signed) or Windows per-user installer (Inno Setup). No admin rights required.
Multi-tenant
Supports multiple clients and schemes within a single install — useful for consultancy teams running several programmes.
Period snapshots
Track a scheme's validation score period-over-period so you can see whether schedule quality is trending up or down.
Part of the SOMA toolkit
One of three products.
SOMA QSRA Validator sits alongside SOMA QCRA for cost-risk work and, soon, a SOMA-built Monte Carlo engine for in-house QSRA modelling.
This tool
SOMA QSRA Validator
Schedule-risk input validation and readiness assessment. Desktop, local-first.
Also available
SOMA QCRA
Quantitative Cost Risk Analysis delivered as an Excel add-in that runs inside the estimator's live workbook.
Tools overview →Coming
QSRA Modelling
Internal Monte Carlo engine for S-curves, tornado analysis and driver attribution — closing the Safran round-trip for in-house work.
Frequently asked
Questions we get before a demo.
- What file formats does SOMA QSRA Validator accept?
- Primavera P6 XER exports for schedules. For risk registers, any Excel (.xlsx) export — Riskhive, Xactium, ActiveRisk Manager, Predict!, or a SOMA-consolidated workbook all work. What matters is that the required input fields are present (risk ID, description, probability, three-point cost and schedule impacts, ownership, status); the Validator auto-detects the layout and maps the columns. Safran Risk Monte Carlo exports are supported on the output side for flat-file round-tripping.
- Is SOMA QSRA Validator a cloud tool or SaaS?
- No. It is a desktop application that runs locally on your laptop — a code-signed Mac .app bundle or a per-user Windows installer. It serves a local web interface at localhost:8000 but your data never leaves the machine. This is a deliberate design choice for defence, nuclear and client-sensitive infrastructure work.
- Does it replace Safran Risk or @Risk?
- No — today it validates the inputs for Safran Risk. A separate SOMA product, QSRA Modelling, is on the roadmap and will provide an internal Monte Carlo engine. SOMA QSRA Validator makes sure the XER and risk register are ready before they load into whichever simulation tool you use.
- How is the SOMA QSRA Readiness framework different from DCMA 14-point?
- DCMA 14-point (2005) is a US DoD contract-auditing checklist. It tests generic schedule quality but has no concept of risk-load readiness. SOMA QSRA Readiness asks a different question: is this schedule prepared for probabilistic analysis? Every check maps to a specific QSRA failure mode, and the framework was calibrated on 40+ production QSRAs across National Highways, Network Rail and nuclear AGR programmes — not ported from a generic IMS template.
- Can I get the methodology document?
- Yes — the full V2.3 signed methodology is shared with clients under NDA. Every threshold, every rationale, every calibration decision is documented. Contact SOMA to request it.
- Can SOMA QSRA Validator be customised for our programme or standards?
- Yes — fully. Every threshold, domain weight, RAG banding cutoff and scope-exclusion rule is configurable. For major programmes we also produce client-branded Excel reports, add programme-specific checks (for example contractor-mandated lag-hygiene rules or client-defined TRA / TBP conventions) and can run the Validator under a client's existing schedule-quality regime while keeping the SOMA defaults available for benchmarking. Customisation is scoped during the first deployment conversation — typical turnaround is two to three weeks.
The full V2.3 methodology document is available under NDA. Ask on the contact page. For the reasoning behind the framework, read QSRA Readiness — what a schedule needs before the Monte Carlo runs.
See SOMA QSRA Validator on your own XER.
Thirty-minute demo, live, on a screen-share. We'll run the validator on a sanitised version of one of your schedules and walk through the findings in plain English.