Project Work-Breakdown Levels

The project work-breakdown process involves breaking down of the project work into manageable parts arranged in a hierarchical order till the desired level is reached. The work-breakdown levels are broadly categorized into five levels. These levels, arranged in a descending hierarchical order are given here

Sub-project level

Task level

Work-package level

Activity level

Operations level

Each level has certain features associated with it. However, it may be noted that level categorization is a broad concept and at times their overlapping may become unavoidable.

Work breakdown of the 2000 Housing Units Project is outlined in fig. The project work included construction of 2000 residential apartments, educational buildings, public buildings, a civic centre, connected external utility services and landscaping. The total value of contracted works was approximately US $160 million and the project was contracted for completion in 36 months. This project scope of work is described in fig.

The work-breakdown structure of a project forms the basis for listing of activities, modification of systems, sorting data by hierarchy levels, structuring of work organization and managing similar-scope multi-projects.

Sub-projects Level

Sub-projects are derived by dividing the project work into independent large-volume mini projects or task groups. For instance, in a housing project, each group of major works which can progress in a systematic manner, without interference from other works can be termed as a sub-project.

The number of sub-projects in a project varies with the nature of the project. Each sub-project comprises one or more substantial work tasks. The sub-project level aids in identifying tasks. In the 2000 Housing Units

Project, each type of residential, educational and public building can be taken as a sub-project.

Typical Housing Project Work-breakdown Levels Salient Features Generally Associated with Levels

SI. NO.	Features	Sub-project	Task	Work Package	Activity	Operations
1.	Level designation	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
2.	Work-breakdown hierarchy	Project to sub-project	Sub-project to tasks, project to tasks (directly)	Tasks to work packages	Work packages to activities	Activities to operations
3.	Management responsibility	Project team	Task-responsibility unit	Work centers	Work centers	Site foreman
4.	Planning level	Corporate plan	Project-summary plan, Design preparation plan,Contract-finalsiastion plan	Project master plan Constructed works mile-stone plan, Project budget	Project detailed plan Contracted works-control plan, Task/work package plan. Short-term work programmes, Resources mobilisation plan	Foreman-work programmes
5.	Plan Duration unit	Months	Months/weeks	Weeks	Weeks/days	Days/hours
6.	Project control basis	Corporate control	Management control	Cost control	Time control, Productivity control, Sales control	Productivity control
7.	Work inter-dependency with other jobs	Independent, can proceed without interference	Generally independent	Mostly inter-dependence	Interdependent	Interdependent

Tasks Level

The project or sub-project work can be split up into various tasks. A task is an identifiable and deliverable major work. It is an entity in itself and can be performed without much interference from other tasks. A task is supported by its design package. Each task is assigned time and cost objectives and is provided with planned resources for accomplishing the task objectives. The task execution is entrusted to a task responsibility unit, headed by a manager or a senior engineer.

Task level is used in the project-summary plan, the design-preparation plan and the contract tendering plan. In the 2000 Housing Units Project, the construction works in each residential building can be grouped under three main tasks, i.e. foundation, superstructure and finishes.

Work-packages Level

A project task can be further subdivided into one or more work packages. Each work package contains a sizeable, identifiable, measurable, costable and controllable package of work. Fig. shows the work packages for the construction of a residential building of the Housing Unit Project.

In the project master plan or the contracted works-control plan, each work package is assigned its performance objectives. These are generally stated in terms of its completion period, standard cost, resource-productivity standards and the standard sale price. The measure of performance thus, gets closely linked with the execution of its work packages.

Work packages form a common base for linking the key functions in project management. The work-package concept leads to the simple-management theory of managing, designing, estimating, planning, organizing, directing, communicating and controlling, using these work packages as the base lines. In the 2000 Housing Units Project, foundation work of a residential building can be broken down into four work packages-base, raft, plinth wall, ground floor slab.

Activity Level

A work package can further be broken down into various identifiable jobs, operations and processes, which consume time and possibly, other resources and are necessary for its completion. Each one of this is called an activity. As an example, the various activities involved in the construction of foundation of residential building are listed in fig.

The breaking down of a work package into its constituent activities requires a study of the methodology of execution of the work package. This methodology, generally known by the term method statement, is evolved by the concerned planning engineer using his construction experience and through his discussions with the respective project engineers.

Operations Level

An activity comprises one or more operations. Each operation contains a part of the work content of the activity. It generally has particular type or a fixed group of resources associated with it. It is performed during the scheduled time duration of the activity. Some operations may start with the commencement of the activity, while others may take place during its time duration. In some situations, performance periods of operations may overlap.

Operations are not considered during the network modeling and analysis stage except that the sum of the costs of operations equals the activity cost. They form the basis for allocation and scheduling of resources of each activity. In the 2000 Housing Units Project operation involved in activity ‘concreting raft’ of foundation work include

·        Cleaning and preparing inner side of the raft for concreting

·        Pumping concrete

·        Spreading and vibrating concrete

·        Finishing of top concrete surface

The construction projects are best controlled by the work packages, and best programmed for day work by using operational level best planned and monitored by the activities. A project planner uses activity as the common data base for project planning. The activity duration forms the basis for time planning and scheduling of project work. Detailed information about resources such as men, materials and machinery needed for execution of each activity enables the preparation of resource forecasts. The activity sale price is used to determine the income and cash-flow forecasts. The activity base is vital for monitoring the progress of the project work. In the 2000 Housing Units Project foundation construction task can be broken down into 27 activities shown in fig.