Construction Planning

and Scheduling
Project Management Functions
Project management involves the following four
functions:
- Planning
- Scheduling
- Monitoring
- Controlling
Planning

• There Has to Be a Plan

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” by J.
Hinze

• “what” is going to be done, “how”,

“where”, and by “whom”.
 PROJECT PLANNING
• Establishing objectives
• Defining project
• Creating work breakdown structure (WBS)
• Determining resources
Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
Dividing complex projects to simpler and
manageable tasks is the process identified as
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

A work breakdown structure defines the

hierarchy of project tasks, subtasks, and work
packages
• Usually, the project managers use this method for
simplifying the project execution. In WBS, much
larger tasks are broken-down to manageable chunks
of work. These chunks can be easily supervised and
estimated.
Purpose
• To sub-divide the scope of work into manageable work
packages which can be estimated, planned, and
assigned to a responsible person or department for
completion.
• It is the backbone of project planning and control
 Uses of the WBS
1. Develop the master project plan
- timeline to the major work packages and milestones
- dependencies between work packages
2. Estimate resource requirements (and costs)
3. Develop project organization (assign responsibilities)
4. Facilitate other management
- Quality Management
- Risk Management
5. Provides mechanism for project control
7. Release of resources/funds
8. Enable project progress to be reported at different level
of detail
 Work packages

• Defines work (what)

• Identifies time to complete (how long)
• Identifies a time-phased budget to complete (cost)
• Identifies resources needed to complete (how much)
• Identifies a single person responsible (who)
• Identifies monitoring points for measuring progress
 PROJECT PLANNING
There are four reasons for project planning:
- Eliminating or reducing project risk
- Obtaining a thorough understanding of project
objectives
- Formulating a strategy for achieving project
objectives using available resources
- Developing a framework for monitoring and
controlling the project
 PROJECT PLANNING
Without a plan, there is no way to :
- Schedule the required work
- Track progress
- Decide on corrective action when unexpected
events occur.
 PROJECT PLANNING
There also needs to be a backup plan so that the
project team can evaluate the impact and effect of
random occurrences such as weather on the ability
to meet and carry out the original project plan.
Scheduling
“Its about time” by J. Hinze

• determines “when” the work must be done

• Scheduling can be accomplished by a

variety of methods ranging from a simple
bar chart to a sophisticated network
schedule.
PROJECT SCHEDULING
A construction project should be scheduled in
order to:
- Communicate the construction plan
- Establish Production goals
- Monitor and measure progress
- Manage change
 1. Identify Project Activities

- An activity is a discrete part of a project that can be

identified for planning, scheduling, monitoring, and
controlling the construction project.

- Activities characteristics:
1. Consume time
2. Usually, consume resources
3. Have a definable start and finish
4. Are assignable
5. Are measurable
- Breakdown and analyze the project
- Review of the plans and specifications and the
construction agreement, which includes
general, supplemental, and special conditions.
- The result : identification of all activities that
must be performed in
order to complete the project.
2. Estimate Activity Duration

- Duration of activity can be estimated based on

available resources, including labor, materials,
and equipment.
- These durations should also reflects the
planned resource productivity based on
anticipated site conditions.
Example
A particular building requires the installation of 1500 grid
ceiling-mounted, 2’x4’, 4-lamp, fluorescent fixtures evenly
distributed between five floors for 300 fixtures per floor.
When preparing the bid estimate for this activity, it was
estimated that an electrician could install 10 fixtures per day.
Following award of contract, detailed activity planning
determined that a crew of six electricians would be best for
installing the fluorescent fixtures on each floor. Using the bid
estimate data and the planned crew size, calculate the
estimated duration for the installation of fixtures for the
building.
3. Develop the Project Plan

- The project plan establishes the order in which

activities are to be completed and the planned
sequence of construction.
- Project plan is the basis for scheduling the
project.
4. Schedule Project Activities

- The project schedule assigns a start and finish

date to each activity.
- The basis for monitoring and controlling the
work during construction.
5. Review and Analyze the Schedule

- To determine if it is reasonable and complete.

- If the review and analysis of the schedule
indicates a problem with the schedule, then the
estimated activity duration or project plan must
be revised
6. Implement the Schedule

- Short interval scheduling: planning and

managing of day-to-day construction work at
the site
- Update the construction schedule: reviewing
the schedule at regular intervals or when an
unexpected event occurs that could affect it