Estimation and Construction
Management
Work Breakdown Structures and Bar Charts
Project Estimating and Planning–
prepare a Work Breakdown Structure
(WBS)
In order to prepare a good WBS,
you need to have a good
knowledge of construction practices
What Activities do I consider?
A WBS should be comprehensive.
There should be no gaps in the job-logic
WBS
Preconstructio Project
Engineerin Materials Mobilizatio Closeout
g n Procureme n Inspection
Activities Activities nt Equipment Housekeepin
Permits Labor
Shop Drawings Sampling g
Bonds Resources,
Construction of Testing Documentati
Insurance Formwork
Elements Order time on
Site Investigation
Another Perspective
WBS
Procurement
Production Activities
Management
Activities Decisions
Material Procurement
Lead times
Excavation
Labor procurement Vacations
Forming
Equipment Procurement Induced delays
Pouring
Financing (Strategic)
Painting etc
Permits, Licenses
Planning
A Planner’s Profile at the WBS
stage
1. Should not be biased towards a
particular method
2. Should have good construction
methods knowledge
3. Planners often need to interact with
field personnel to prepare a WBS
Life after WBS?
• Project Planning Step 1 – Define the
WBS
• Project Planning Step 2 – Obtain
Durations for each activity
• Project Planning Step 3 – Obtain the
relationships between activities
How Do you Estimate Activity
Time?
• Intuition/Experience
• Random Guessing
• Historical Data and Statistical Methods
• Use Estimating Guides
Adding Contingencies
• Why do you add contingencies?
– Weather
– Strikes
– Holidays
– Political/Economic issues
• How do you add contingencies?
– To all Activities
– To affected activities
– As a separate activity?
What a WBS might look like
ID Description Duration Depends
(days) Upon
10 Secure permits 5 -
150 Prepare shop drawings 5 130
160 Fabricate Ducts 30 150
290 Procure Controls 15 -
300 Assemble Samples 3 290, 150
420 Set up office trailer 10 10
… … … …
Tool 1 – GANTT Charts
Invented by Henry L. Gantt in 1910
and used in WW-I, Hoover Dam etc
Also called Bar Charts
Components of a Bar Chart
• Task with a Short
Descriptive title “Compact Base Course”
(Obtained from WBS)
Jan Jan
• Time-Scaled Bars 10 15
Preparing a Gantt Chart
• Obtain Activities and Durations
• List activities in increasing order of start date
• Bars should be time-scaled
• Usually represent earliest start and finish dates
• More than 100 activities makes it hard to see
– Bar charts can show partial project views but entire
schedule should be drawn up at the very beginning
• Activities can overlap
Non-Continuous Activities
Weeks
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Concrete
3 Phases in one row?
Weeks
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Concrete
Discrete Representation
Weeks
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Foundation and Slab
on Grade
Lightweight roof deck
Sidewalks
Gantt Chart with more
information
Percentage Complete
Planned Vs. Actual
Milestones Chart
Disadvantages of a Gantt
Chart
• Can be very complex to prepare for
large projects
• Scheduler is often tempted to work
“backwards” to make things fit
– Need additional tools such as CPM
• “Early front loading” is often done
• Construction logic is not easily obtained
as relationships are lacking
What is the relationship
between ActivityWeeks
B and C?
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Activity A
Activity B
Activity C
C depends on A, not B
Weeks
Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Set reinforcement for
Grade Beam
Set reinforcement for
Columns
Set forms for Grade
Beam
Advantages of a Gantt Chart
• Very easy to understand – especially for
unskilled workers and laymen
• Can be used as a good summary tool -
especially at review meetings
• Can be easily changed
• Good for repetitive projects
• Ideal for projects that simple,
sequential, with low quality personnel
Using a Gantt Chart for Project
Control
Activity Description Duration Cost (Rs)
(days)
1 A 3 3000
2 B 3 6000
3 C 4 4000
4 D 5 2000
15000
Step 1 - Create Chart
Days
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A
D
Step 2 - Enter Cost Data
Days
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A
Cost of Work Done 1 3 3 2 1 1.4 1.4 1.4 0.4 0.4
(000’s)
Cumulative Cost 1 4 7 9 10 11.4 12.8 14.2 14.6 15
(000’s)
Percentage (%) 6.6 26 45 60 67 77 86 95 97.5 100
Step 3 - Draw
Cost-Completion Curve
Percentage Complete Days
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
75-100% A
50-75% B
25-50% C
0-25% D
Cost of Work Done (000’s) 1 3 3 2 1 1.4 1.4 1.4 0.4 0.4
Cumulative Cost (000’s) 1 4 7 9 10 11.4 12.8 14.2 14.6 15
Percentage (%) 6.6 26 45 60 67 77 86 95 97.5 100
Thank You
