Abstract: Buffer monitoring is the core content of the critical chain project management method. Existing buffer monitoring methods, which ignore the differences in the setting of trigger points for different activities and lack a quantitative study on the buffer area division, result in the efficiency of buffer management. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a dynamic integrated buffer monitoring method based on buffer accounting differential configuration. The proposed method treats the absorption of risks by project buffer as a kind of time investment. According to the risk tiering idea and activity sensitivity information, the number of buffer accounts corresponding to different activities is distinguished and the number of monitoring areas for activities is set differently. On this basis, an optimal allocation decision model for buffer account amounts is constructed with the goal of maximizing the total amount of consumable buffer in the process of buffering dynamic risk absorption, quantitatively dividing the corresponding ranges of different monitoring areas. Finally, a dynamic integrated buffer monitoring system is established to control the project risk. The experimental results show that the proposed method performs better than the existing methods in five indicators, such as monitoring area frequency distribution, probability of construction being completed earlier than planned, average buffer consumption ratio, average buffer monitoring cost and action warning ratio, which improves the efficiency of the buffering management.

Key words: project management, critical chain, buffer monitoring, buffer accounting, risk control