Chapter Two: scope and work breakdown structure (WBS)

Introduction
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
The WBS is described as a hierarchical structure which is designed to logically subdivide all the work-
elements of the project into a graphical presentation. The full scope of work for the project is placed at
the top of the diagram, and then sub-divided smaller elements of work at each lower level of the
breakdown. At the lowest level of the WBS the elements of work is called a work package. A list of
project’s activities is developed from the work packages. Effective use of the WBS will outline the
scope of the project and the responsibility for each work package. There is not necessarily a right or
wrong structure because what may be an excellent fit for one discipline may be an awkward burden for
another.
WBS and organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
The WBS elements at various levels can be related to the contractor’s organizational breakdown
structure (OBS), which defines the different responsibility levels and their appropriate reporting needs.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS is described as a hierarchical structure which is designed to logically subdivide all the work-
elements of the project into a graphical presentation. The full scope of work for the project is placed at
the top of the diagram, and then sub-divided smaller elements of work at each lower level of the
breakdown. At the lowest level of the WBS the elements of work is called a work package. A list of
project’s activities is developed from the work packages. Effective use of the WBS will outline the
scope of the project and the responsibility for each work package.

There is not necessarily a right or wrong structure because what may be an excellent fit for one
discipline may be an awkward burden for another.
WBS and organizational breakdown structure (OBS)

The WBS elements at various levels can be related to the contractor’s organizational breakdown
structure (OBS), which defines the different responsibility levels and their appropriate reporting need.

The unified code of accounts allows cataloging, sorting, and summarizing of all information. As such,
the activity of installing columns formwork of area 2, for example, which is the responsibility of the
general contractor’s formwork foreman, has a unique code that represents all its data.

The Master format is divided into 16 divisions as follows:

1) General Requirements.
2) Site work.
3) Concrete.
4) Masonry.
5) Metals.
6) Woods & Plastics.
7) Thermal & Moisture Protection.
8) Doors & Windows.
9) Finishes.
2.1 PLANNING MATRIX
Responsibility matrix

 A document that explicitly calls out the individual team members who are tasked with executing,
reviewing, and approving work packages within a project.

A planning matrix is a diagram that shows specific tasks needed to complete an activity, the persons or
groups responsible for completing the tasks, and the schedule by which the tasks must be completed.
When to use it:
Because a planning matrix links activity to responsibility and schedule, it is useful in many quality
planning. and quality-improvement steps. It can be especially useful in steps such as planning the
project, testing theories, designing remedies, and developing implementation plans.

How to use it:

Begin with a tree diagram. Use the right-hand branches to identify all the tasks required to complete a
specific activity.
Add two columns to the right of the activities. Label the columns Whoand When.
Assign responsibility. Discuss and identify the most appropriate person(s) or group to complete the
task. Write names on adhesive notes and attach them next to the proper activity.
Determine schedule. Agree on necessary completion dates for each task. Write dates on adhesive
notes and post them in the When column next to the appropriate activity.
Finalize the matrix. Make sure the team is in agreement on both the assignment of responsibility and
the scheduled completion date for each task. Transfer the matrix to standard paper.
Agree on a process to track progress. Determine whether the team leader or the team as a
Whole is responsible for monitoring work completion. Establish a reporting mechanism to ensure
timely and accurate accounting of work performed.
2.2 scheduling
Relevance of Construction Schedules
In addition to assigning dates to project activities, project scheduling is intended to match the
resources of equipment, materials and labor with project work tasks over time. Goodscheduling can
eliminate problems due to production bottlenecks, facilitate the timely procurement of necessary
materials, and otherwise insure the completion of a project as soon as possible. In contrast, poor
scheduling can result in considerable waste as laborers and equipment wait for the availability of
needed resources or the completion of preceding tasks. Delays in the completion of an entire project
due to poor scheduling can also create havoc for owners who are eager to start using the constructed
facilities. Attitudes toward the formal scheduling of projects are often extreme. Many owners require
detailed construction schedules to be submitted by contractors as a means of monitoring the work
progress. The actual work performed is commonly compared to the schedule to determine if
construction is proceeding satisfactorily. After the completion of construction, similar comparisons
between the planned schedule and the actual accomplishments may be performed to allocate the
liability for project delays due to changes requested by the owner, worker strikes or other unforeseen
circumstances. In contrast to these instances of reliance upon formal schedules, many field supervisors
disdain and dislike formal scheduling procedures. In particular, thecritical path method of scheduling is
commonly required by owners and has been taught in universities for over two decades, but is often
regarded in the field as irrelevant to actual operations and a time consuming distraction. The result is
"seat-of the- pants" scheduling that can be good or that can result in grossly inefficient schedules and
poor productivity. Progressive construction firms use formal scheduling procedures whenever the
complexity of work tasks is high and the coordination of different workers is required. Formal
scheduling procedures have become much more common with the advent of personal computers on
construction sites and easy-to-use software programs. Sharing schedule information via the Internet
has also provided a greater incentive to use formal scheduling methods. Savvy construction supervisors
often carry schedule and budget information around with wearable or handheld computers. As a
result, the continued development of easy to use computer programs and improved methods of
presenting schedules .But problems with the use of scheduling techniques will continue until managers
understand their proper use and limitations. A basic distinction exists between resource oriented and
time oriented schedulingtechniques. For resource oriented scheduling, the focus is on using and
scheduling particular resources in an effective fashion. For example, the project manager's main
concern on a high-rise building site might be to insure that cranes are used effectively for moving
materials; without effective scheduling in this case, delivery trucks might queue on the ground and
workers wait for deliveries on upper floors. For time oriented scheduling, the emphasis is on
determining the completion time of the project given the necessary precedence relationships among
activities. Hybrid techniques for resource leveling or resource constrained scheduling in the presence
of precedence relationships also exist. Most scheduling software is time-oriented, although virtually all
of the programs have the capability to introduce resource constraints.

Scheduling Methods
Most computer-based project management systems have a scheduling facility. These endeavour to create
schedules automatically, and are constructed around a system of rules (similar to that mention in Section to permit
a best schedule to be identified. These automatic schedulers can be used to great effect, but they need proficiency
and understanding from the user – that is, they have to be used with care.

It is often much more important that the project manager and planner create a schedule which they have
developed from a study of the construction work itself, and to which they are personally committed, rather than
produce a theoretical optimum mathematically derived schedule. Schedules must be reasonable and practical to
those who have to make them work.

Usually, manual analysis will lead to the production of such schedules, but the use of computers to produce a new
total quickly and effortlessly, after each activity is rescheduled by the planner, is advantageous and promotes
experimentation. In numerous cases, using computers in this way may be more effective than using the automatic
scheduler from computer software.
Planning for Effective Scheduling
From the forgoing it is obvious that when initially drawing up a network diagram that it is best to assume that
the availability of required resources is infinite. If you impose resource limitations as constraints at the start of
the process and these dependencies are included in the original network diagram, the resource analysis
becomes mixed-up between rescheduling the activity times and also having to alter the resource basic logic. It is
much more effective to draw the network to express only physical constraints and engineering decisions, whilst
assuming infinite resources. The introduction of resource

Constraints being left until you are actually analysing the resources. To look at another way; you will consider
the use of resources as an output from the planning process, not as an input.

It should be obvious that if major sparse resources are to be used, it would be unwise to assume infinite
availability, and therefore the work would need to be planned around the availability of the resources.
Notwithstanding this, for much of your work that uses generally available resources, the initial assumption of
infinite availability should produce superior resource schedules.

It should be noted that very complex and tightly planned projects will give a good deal less scope for the
scheduler than a loosely planned project with a number of activities running at the same time, and this should
be remembered when drawing up the initial network.

 Project Planning

o A function of coordinating in a logical order all the activities, persons, machines and materials
necessary to complete the project;

 Scheduling

o Placing of the plan on a calendar and showing the allocation of the equipment and manpower
that will put the plan into effect;

o Methods of Planning:

o Bar / Gantt Chart

o Critical Path Method