CVE 434 - CONSTRUCTION PLANNING

Lecture Notes on Resource Allocation and Leveling

Once the earliest and the latest start and finish times are determined, the next step is to schedule
these activities according to their resource situation. However, so far, in all the calculations, it has
been assumed that TIME is the most important factor and no consideration has been exercised to
other resources, needed equally with time, for the execution of the job.
In BS 4335:1987 a resource is defined as "Any variable capable of definition that is required for
the execution of an activity and may constrain the project."
Resources could be considered in two broad categories:
a) Non-storable: a resource whose availability has to be renewed for each time period (It does
not remain available for use in the next time period even if has not been utilized in the
current period.) Labor and machinery are examples to this category.
b) Storable (pool resource): a resource that remains available if not used and is only depleted
by usage. Cash is an example for such storable resources.
Resources are not therefore only M's. "MEN, MACHINES, MONEY, and MATERIAL (4M)" but
also include some other variables which can be regarded as abstract, such as space.
In carrying out any form of an activity scheduling, which involves constraints on time and/or
resources, a number of alternative approaches are available.
These are:
1) ALLOCATION
2) LEVELING
RESOURCE ALLOCATION: requires that either a time limit or resource limits have been
defined. After the determination of time and resource limits for a project, activities should be
scheduled so that the defined resource and/or time limits are not exceeded. Resource allocation
practice requires the assignment of resources to activities in accordance with the predetermined
resource and time constraints. No particular importance is given to the shapes of resulting resource
usage profiles.
RESOURCE LEVELING: is a procedure, which attempts to “level out” the peaks and troughs
in the resource usage profiles without changing the duration of the project. It aims to assign
resources to activities in a manner that will improve productivity and efficiency.
EXAMPLE
(10, A) (15,B) (8)
2 5
8 9 8

(5) (4,A)
1 4 7
4 14
(3)
6
(8) (6,B) (7)
3 6
5 7 3

The numbers and letters in parenthesis indicate resource requirements. For instance, activity 2-5
needs 15 men and equipment B.
Critical activities cannot be scheduled since they have no float. They have to start at a specified
time and finish at a predetermined date. However, non-critical activities can be scheduled in a
variety of ways.
One obvious schedule is to begin all activities at their earliest Start time.

8 8 17 17

2 5
8 9 8

4 11

0 0 1 4 7 25 25
4 14

3 6
5 7 3
5 15 12 22
Resource aggregation for this case is shown in the first table. It can be seen that no float has been
assigned to any activity. This means that, floats become a safety margin at the end of each chain.
ACTIVITY M/E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1-2 M 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
1-2 E A A A A A A A A
2-5 M 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
2-5 E B B B B B B B B B
5-7 M 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1-4 M 5 5 5 5
4-7 M 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4-7 E A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
4-6 M 3 3 3 3 3 3
1-3 M 8 8 8 8 8
3-6 M 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
3-6 E B B B B B B B
6-7 M 7 7 7
TOTAL MEN 23 23 23 23 25 23 23 23 28 28 25 25 26 26 26 19 19 12 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
TOTAL A 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - -
TOTAL B - - - - - 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - - -
CUMULATIVE MEN 23 46 69 92 117 140 163 186 214 242 267 292 318 344 370 389 408 420 428 436 444 452 460 468 476
CUMULATIVE A 1 2 3 4 6 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22
CUMULATIVE B - - - - - 1 2 3 5 7 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16

Another schedule is to start each activity as late as possible. Resource aggregation for this case is
shown in the second table. It can be seen that total floats at the start of each activity have been
used. That means; with this schedule, a delay in one activity delays the completion date of the
whole project.
ACTIVITY M/E 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1-2 M 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
1-2 E A A A A A A A A
2-5 M 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
2-5 E B B B B B B B B B
5-7 M 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
1-4 M 5 5 5 5
4-7 M 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
4-7 E A A A A A A A A A A A A A A
4-6 M 3 3 3 3 3 3
1-3 M 8 8 8 8 8
3-6 M 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
3-6 E B B B B B B B
6-7 M 7 7 7
TOTAL MEN 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 15 20 20 28 27 27 27 27 25 28 21 21 21 21 21 19 19 19
TOTAL A 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
TOTAL B - - - - - - - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 - - -
CUMULATIVE MEN 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 85 105 125 153 180 207 234 261 286 314 335 356 377 398 419 438 457 476
CUMULATIVE A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 8 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
CUMULATIVE B - - - - - - - - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 16 16 16

When the cumulative figures for Labor, Machinery A, and Machinery B are plotted against time
for comparison, it is realized that;
  The earliest start schedule, for all resources require a heavy initial rate of investment which
decreases considerably later in the project.
It is therefore apparent that the available float is purchased in the form of a safety margin,
at the cost of a heavy initial rate of investment.

 The latest start schedule, on the other hand, permits a small initial rate of investment but
requires a considerable increase later.
The low initial rate of expenditures in this case is obtained at the cost of consuming all
floats and accepting the risk of a completely critical network.
Following graph demonstrates the resource utilization curves for early and late dates. In the
literature, these curves are known as S-Curves. The name is coming from the ‘S’ shape of the
graph, which is typical in many project. An S-Curve simply shows cumulative values, including
resource usage hours and cost, plotted against the time.

S Curve
Minimum
Total Usage Slope Line
CUMULATIVE USAGE OF RESOURCE "R"

Activities at early start

Activities at late start

Project Duration
PROJECT TIME

A comprise is possible between these two extremes, which results in a fairly constant work force
and hence a fairly constant rate of investment over the whole project duration and a more efficient
usage of equipment A and B. The development of this compromise schedule is known as Resource
Leveling.
Resource leveling is an attempt to assign resources to project activities in a manner that will
improve productivity and efficiency. We will deal with labor, called the work force, but the same
approach can be used for allocating other resources such as equipment and money.
Why should we level the work force?

 Allocate within the crew size available

 Try for a level mid-project crew size
 Try for a gradual build-up of crew size at the start of the project
 Try for a gradual drop-off of crew size at the end of the project

What assumptions should we make?

 Any worker can do any activity.

(Ordinary worker - not for craftsmanship. While this is not usually the case, the allocation
techniques are still useful. They can be applied to activities of a certain trade where the
assumption is probably true.)
 The number of worker-days (resource-days) needed to complete an activity is fixed.
Example:
o For an activity, planner estimates a normal duration of 5 days, a normal crew size
of 4 and minimum crew size of 1.
o Then the activity will take 20 worker-days
o The planner can assign a crew size of 4 workers in 3 days plus 2 workers for 4 days
OR
o The planner can assign a crew size of 3 workers in 6 days plus 1 worker for 2 days
 An activity once started will continue. (While this is not a necessary constraint in a real
project, it is usually the most efficient way to proceed. Also, this assumption makes the
discussion of the allocation techniques somewhat easier.)
o A=10days
|-2 days-| stop for 5 days |-8 days-| → not permitted!
There are several methods used for resource leveling of the work force, none of which is much
used manually; however, we will look at a trial-and-error method to get a feel for the tasks
involved.

Rules in Resource Leveling:

1) CPM logic must be maintained.
(This means that a preceding activity must be finished, not just in progress, before a
succeeding activity can start.)

A, B, and C must be %100 complete before D and E can start!

 2) Activities on the critical path(s) must use a normal crew size. This is necessary so that the
project will be completed on time.
(In order not to increase the total project duration, critical activities should be assigned
normal crew size (resources) whereas activities that have floats can be assigned crew size
(resource levels) less than the normal.)
3) The planned crew size must be between, and including, the minimum and normal crew
sizes.
Basic principle of resource leveling is that we should schedule the non-critical activities between
their early start and late finish times no matter if their durations are increased.
CLASS EXAMPLE (Adapted from the book entitled as Techniques for Construction
Network Scheduling, James D. Stevens, 1990):
Allocate the daily work force for the network schedule shown in figure for a maximum crew size
of 13 workers per day.
5 11

A D
4
5 5

1 B E 5 16 16
0 0 3
3 5
3 11

C F
2
6 10
6 6

Crew Size
Normal
Activity Normal Minimum
Duration
A 5 5 1
B 3 4 2
C 6 8 8
D 5 6 3
E 5 4 2
F 10 4 2

Trial-and-error resource leveling - 13 workers/day example solution.

NORMAL WORKER CREW SIZE WORK DAYS
ACTIVITY
DURATION DAYS NORMAL MINIMUM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A 5 25 5 1 ( 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 )
B 3 12 4 2 ( 2 2 2 2 4 )
C 6 48 8 8 (8 8 8 8 8 8)
D 5 30 6 3 5 5 5 5 ( 5 5 )
E 5 20 4 2 ( 4 4 4 4 4 )
F 10 40 4 4 (4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4)
TOTAL: 175 DAILY 8 11 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 9 9 4 4
 Resource Usage Histogram
14
13
12
11
NUMBER OF WORKERS

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
WORK DAYS

Theoretical maximum crew size that would be required if the allocation could be perfectly spread
out over the project duration:
Max crew size = 175 worker-days / 16 days = 10.9 ~ 11 workers per day
This means that it might be possible to accomplish the work with no more than 11 workers per
day. If the theoretical max crew size were 13, no further reduction on the daily allocation would
be possible. Try 12 workers per day and 11 workers per day. No further reduction is possible (than
11 workers/day)
Note: Rarely can a real project approach the theoretical maximum crew size because of work
sequencing and the completion congestion mentioned earlier.

Trial-and-error resource leveling - 12 workers/day example solution.

NORMAL WORKER CREW SIZE WORK DAYS
ACTIVITY
DURATION DAYS NORMAL MINIMUM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A 5 25 5 1 ( 2 2 2 2 2 5 5 5 )
B 3 12 4 2 ( 2 2 2 3 3 )
C 6 48 8 8 (8 8 8 8 8 8)
D 5 30 6 3 (
5 5 4 4 4 4 4)
E 5 20 4 2 ( 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 )
F 10 40 4 4 (4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4)
TOTAL: 175 DAILY 8 10 10 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 11 10 8
 Resource Usage Histogram
13
12
11
10
NUMBER OF WORKERS

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
WORK DAYS

Trial-and-error resource leveling - 11 workers/day example solution.

NORMAL WORKER CREW SIZE WORK DAYS
ACTIVITY
DURATION DAYS NORMAL MINIMUM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
A 5 25 5 1 ( 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 )
B 3 12 4 2 (2 2 2 2 2 2 )
C 6 48 8 8 (8 8 8 8 8 8)
D 5 30 6 3 (
5 5 5 5 5 5)
E 5 20 4 2 (
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2)
F 10 40 4 4 (4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4)
TOTAL: 175 DAILY 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

Resource Usage Histogram

12
NUMBER OF WORKERS

11

10

9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
WORK DAYS
 CLASS EXAMPLE 2:
Level the daily labor requirement to no more than 10 workers per day, and draw the histogram
for your solution.
A C E G
2 4 6

D d1 I
1 7 8

B F H
3 5

Normal Crew Size

Activity
Duration Normal Minimum
A 3 2 1
B 4 2 2
C 6 5 3
D 7 4 2
E 4 3 2
F 10 3 3
G 2 2 1
H 6 3 3
I 2 3 3

3 8 11 14 15 18
A C E G
2 4 6
3 6 4 2

D d1 I
0 0 1 20 20 7 8 22 22
7 2

B F H
3 5
4 10 6
4 4 14 14
 Crew
Normal Duration

Workdays
Size
Worker-days

Minimum
Required
Activity

Normal

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

A 3 6 2 1 (2 2 2 )
B 4 8 2 2 (2 2 2 2)
C 6 30 5 3 (3 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 )
D 7 28 4 2 ( 4 4 4 4 4 4 4)
E 4 12 3 2 ( 3 3 3 3)
F 10 30 3 3 (3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3)
G 2 4 2 1 ( 2 2)
H 6 18 3 3 (3 3 3 3 3 3)
I 2 6 3 3 (3 3)
Total = 142 Daily → 4 4 4 5 8 8 8 10 10 10 10 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 5 3 3

9
Workers / day

1 4 8 12 15 21