Response time of modern automation systems is not constant but is featured by a distribution of values; finding the upper and lower bounds of this distribution is a crucial issue when designing critical systems. This paper shows how to obtain these bounds by proving timed properties on a formal model of the system, in the form of communicating timed automata. In this approach, bounds are obtained by iterative proofs of properties which are expressed by means of a parametric observer. Comparison of analysis results of formal models to measures on real automation systems shows the accuracy and interest of this approach.