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Time and Resources

DPLE 157

Project Management

RLI Design Professionals is a Registered Provider with The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems. Credit earned on completion of this program will be reported to CES Records for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for non-AIA members are available on request.

This program is registered with the AIA/CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product. Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services will be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.

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© RLI Design Professionals

Course Description

Plan for success!

When working on a project, the most important goal

is to make sure that the project is

successfully completed on time and

within the allotted budget.

Poor planning in early stages is often the reason why

many projects are delayed and cost overruns occur.

This presentation is going to outline

the process of carefully planning your project

for maximum efficiency.

Learning Objectives

Participants will learn how to:

Break down the project into its individual activities

Estimate the resources each activity will need, and how long each activity will last

Sequence the activities using the various activity relationships

Develop a project schedule memorializing the results

The 80/20 Rule

Vilfredo Pareto

Roadmap

Define Activities

Sequence Activities

Develop Schedule

Estimate Activity

Resources

Estimate Activity

Durations

Defining Activities

Learning Objective# 1

Defining Activities

Review Work Breakdown Structure

For each deliverable, create a list of action items that need to be completed

Turn nouns into verbs

Use sufficient detail to be able to estimate the amount of time and resources needed

for completion

Rolling Wave Planning

• Involves progressive elaboration

• Tasks in the near future are planned for at a low level of WBS

• Tasks that are more unclear are planned for at a high level

• Rolling wave planning is not a default planning method

Templates

• Taken from previous

projects that are

substantially similar

• Templates help fast

track the defining

activities process

Expert Judgment

Can come from sources

such as:

key members,

operational or functional

managers,

consultants, or

subject matter experts

Estimate Resources &

Durations

Learning Objective# 2

Maximizing Resources

Items for Negotiation:

• Number of design alternatives to be studied

• Number of submittals

• Number of meetings

• Scope of work

Estimate Activity Durations

Three-Point Estimate:

• Estimate uncertainty and risk through a standard average based on:

• Optimistic (O) – activity duration estimation based on best case scenario

• Pessimistic (P) – activity duration estimation based on worst case scenario

• Most likely (M) – activity duration estimation based on normal case scenario

Formulas:Beta

Distribution Formula: (O +

4M + P) / 6

Triangular Distribution

Formula: (O + M + P) / 3

Estimate Activity Durations

Optimistic(hours)

Pessimistic(hours)

Most Likely(hours)

Estimate(hours)

Project Management

344 500 389 400

Architectural 933 1,087 995 1,000

Civil 344 500 389 400

Structural 933 1,087 995 1,000

Mechanical 445 543 503 500

Electrical 445 543 503 500

Total 3,564 4,260 3,774 3,800

Estimate Activity Resources

• Work broken down into more detail

• Estimate prepared from detailed pieces by project team

• Estimates may be aggregated

• Most accurate & takes most time and money

Bottom-Up Estimating:

Estimate Activity Resources

30% 75% 100% Total (hrs)

Project Management

120 150 130 400

Architectural 350 350 300 1,000

Civil 100 150 150 400

Structural 180 440 380 1,000

Mechanical 110 260 130 500

Electrical 80 190 230 500

Totals 940 1,540 1,320 3,800

* Calculated using in-house rate of $100/hr

Dollars

$380,000

$38,000

$60,000

$22,000

$50,000

$550,000

Contingency

Consultants

Direct Costs

Profit

Total Design Fee

Define Activity Resources

Project Management 10.5%

Architectural 26.3%

Civil 10.5%

Structural 26.3%

Mechanical 13.2%

Electrical 13.2%

Total 100%

Budget as Percentage of Fee

30% 75% 100% Totals

Totals by Phase (Hours)

940 1,540 1,320 3,800

Totals by Phase(Percent

25 40 35 100%

Budget Breakdown per Phase

Estimate Activity Durations

• Using actual cost of previous, similar activity as the basis for estimating the cost of a future activity

• A type of expert judgment

• Used for ROM estimation

• Less accurate, takes less time and money

Top-Down Estimating:

Estimate Activity Resources

Previous Cost Estimated Cost

Project Management $40,000 $42,800

Architectural $100,000 $107,000

Civil $40,000 $42,800

Structural $100,000 $107,000

Mechanical $50,000 $53,500

Electrical $50,000 $53,500

Sequence Activities &

Develop Schedule

Learning Objectives# 3 & 4

Develop Schedule

Objectives:

• Monitor and control project activities

• Determine how to best allocate resources to achieve the project goal

• Assess how time delays will impact the project

• Figure out where excess resources are available to relocate to other projects

• Provide a basis to help track project progress

Milestone List

A list of due dates for critical

or contract-defined

significant activities

Prepared chronologically,

with earlier dates and

milestones listed first

Commonly used by clients in

RFQs

Great for small projects

Starts January 15, 2015

Ends March 30, 2015

Phase 1:

Phase 2: Starts April 15, 2015

Ends September 30, 2015

Phase 3: Starts October 15, 2015

Ends December 30, 2015

Milestone List

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

Contract Milestone

SchematicDesign

DesignDevelopment

Construction Documents

< Time >

< Time >

SD D

ue

DD

Du

e

CD

Du

e

15%Design

50%Design

90%Design

100%Design

15

% D

ue

50

% D

ue

90

% D

ue

10

0%

Du

e

Milestone List

< Time >

ProgramValidation

Survey GeotechnicalReport

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone Contract

Milestone

Sch

em

atic

De

sign

Du

e

Gantt Chart

Also known as a bar chart

Used in small to medium-sized projects

Easy to set up

Intuitive to read and understand by clients and team members

Gantt Chart

< Time >

ProgramValidation

Survey GeotechnicalReport

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone

ContractMilestone

Sch

em

atic

De

sign

Du

e

SchematicDesign

Gantt Chart

< Time >

ProgramValidation

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone

MinorMilestone

ContractMilestone

Sch

em

atic

De

sign

Du

e

Survey

Geotechnical Report

Schematic Design

Critical Path

A process flow diagram

superimposed on a timeline

Shows the flow of work for which there is no float

Shows interdependencies

among tasks

Used for more complicated

projects

Activity Relationships

FS: Finish to Start

SS: Start to Start

FF: Finish to Finish

SF: Start to Finish

A

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

Critical Path

TaskNo.

1

2

3

4

5

6

Task Name Predecessors

Start

Program Validation

Survey

Geotechnical Report

Schematic Design

End

1

1FS + 2 WKs

3SS + 3 WKs

2

3, 4, 5

Time in Weeks

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Critical Path

Calculating Total Float

• Critical Path = Yellow Path;

Project duration = 10 Weeks

• Float on Critical Path activities: 0

• Float on Survey and Geotechnical

Report: Duration of Critical Path

– Duration of Longest Path

Containing Activities

= 10 weeks – 8 weeks = 2 weeks

Formula: (F(task) = CP-L(task))

(Critical Path duration – length of

longest path with the activity on it)

Fast Tracking & Crashing

Fast Tracking – activities are re-planned to be performed in

parallel

Crashing – adding additional resources to the activities to

finish them early

Manage Time Wisely!

This concludes The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems Program

Laurel Tenuto, Client Risk Management Coordinator

Laurel.Tenuto@rlicorp.com

Uche Okoroha, PMP, Senior Risk Management Consultant

Uche.Okoroha@rlicorp.com