PROJECT MANAGEMENT 101 AT WESTON & SAMPSON

MODULE 2 · WEEK 3

Test the Work Breakdown Structure

THE PROBLEM

The scope of services for Cypress Landing East is negotiated. Before any hours are estimated, the project manager reviews the structure the proposal team drafted for Phase 3, Data Collection and Public Input. A structure that meets the three rules becomes the reference the schedule and the budget are built from.

Is the draft Work Breakdown Structure for Phase 3 ready for the schedule and the budget?

What is given

Phase 3 of our firm’s structure carries these five scope sentences.

P1. Weston & Sampson will perform a topographic and boundary survey of the project corridors, will stake easements and property boundaries, and will map topographic features and above ground utilities.
P2. Weston & Sampson will request a utility markout and will perform Quality Level A subsurface utility locates at 40 test hole locations within the project corridors.
P3. Weston & Sampson will identify the location and likely depth of service laterals within the project corridors.
P4. Weston & Sampson will collect tailwater and storm event data and will build and calibrate a stormwater model of the study area.
P5. Weston & Sampson will prepare the public engagement plan with Town staff.

The draft structure for Phase 3, as the proposal team wrote it

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurvey
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsCivil
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources and Civil
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resources
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager
3.5 Perimeter seawall condition assessmentStructural

The agreement also carries the assumptions and exclusions written in Lesson 2.2. Each step quotes the ones it uses.

Four steps. Each one is a single selection.

Step 1Sorting the three levels

Written Lesson, Section 2.3.2

Weston & Sampson · phase, task, and subtask, from Written Lesson 2.3

Phase. A phase is a major stage of the project that ends at a milestone or a major deliverable. Preliminary design, 60 percent design, and bid support are all phases, and project management runs through every one of them and is itself a phase.

Task. A task is a defined part of a phase that produces a deliverable or a result. Deliverables attach to tasks and not to phases.

Subtask. A subtask is the smallest unit of work the project manager assigns. One discipline performs it, and it has a defined output or end.

The draft structure for Phase 3

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurvey
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsCivil
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources and Civil
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resources
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager
3.5 Perimeter seawall condition assessmentStructural

The element in question is marked.

Read the element Stake easements and property boundaries without its number.

Which level does it belong to?

One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.

Model answer

Subtask. The survey crew performs it alone, the hours can be estimated, and the staked corners are an end somebody can observe. It sits under the task 3.1 Topographic and boundary survey, which produces the deliverable, inside the phase 3 Data Collection and Public Input, which ends at a milestone.

A subtask appears on the schedule and the Project Cost Spreadsheet. A task also appears on the Project Description Form. A phase appears on the form, the schedule, and the project folder.

Step 2Testing the draft against the three rules

Written Lesson, Section 2.3.3

Weston & Sampson · the three rules, from Written Lesson 2.3

All of the scope, and nothing else. Every sentence of the scope of services has a WBS element tied to it, and no element performs work the scope does not contain.

Each element of work appears once. Elements of work appear only once and are grouped under the discipline that performs the work.

Each element has one owner. One discipline owns each task and each subtask. Where two disciplines contribute, the structure splits the element rather than naming two owners.

Millbrook RFP 26-014 · Section B

“Neighborhood perimeter seawall replacement is not included. However, seawall engineering and construction design for individual homes and/or properties are not included in this scope.”

Weston & Sampson · exclusion X3, in the agreement from Lesson 2.2

This scope excludes perimeter seawall replacement and seawall engineering or construction design for individual properties. Should the Town require either, additional compensation will be needed.

The draft structure for Phase 3

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurvey
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsCivil
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources and Civil
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resources
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager
3.5 Perimeter seawall condition assessmentStructural

The element in question is marked.

The draft carries 3.5 Perimeter seawall condition assessment, owned by Structural.

Which rule does element 3.5 break?

One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.

Model answer

Rule 1. Phase 3 carries five scope sentences, and none of them asks for a seawall assessment. Exclusion X3 removes perimeter seawall work from the agreement. An element with no sentence, and an exclusion that covers it, is removed.

The draft breaks the other two rules as well. 3.2.3 repeats 3.2.2 under Civil, which breaks rule 2, so it is removed. 3.3 Stormwater model names two owners, which breaks rule 3, so Water resources keeps it and Civil comes off. And scope sentence P3, the service laterals, has no element at all, so one is added under 3.2.

Step 3Placing an assumption

Written Lesson, Sections 2.3.4 and 2.3.5

Weston & Sampson · assumptions and exclusions in the structure, from Written Lesson 2.3

The assumption travels with the element, so the person assigned to the work receives the assumption information right next to the subtask they are assigned to work on.

Work that others perform produces no Weston & Sampson element, and yet the project still depends on it. The element that depends on it carries an assumption naming the other party and the date the work is needed.

Work our firm will not perform and work excluded from the scope produce no WBS element at any level.

Phase 3 after Step 2, corrected, before its conditions are placed

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurvey
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Identify the location and likely depth of service lateralsSurvey
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resources
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager

Weston & Sampson · an assumption from the Survey discipline scope

Weston & Sampson assumes the Town obtains right of entry to private properties within 10 working days of the notice to proceed. A later date will delay the survey and may require additional compensation.

Where does the right of entry assumption sit in the structure?

One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.

Model answer

On 3.1.1. Staking property boundaries is the work that cannot start without entry, so that subtask carries the assumption, naming the Town and the ten working days. The crew chief reads it beside the assignment.

The same rule places the Town’s 2024 stormwater model on 3.3.2 Build and calibrate the model. Exclusion X3 and the CEI exclusion sit on no element, because excluded work produces no element at any level.

Step 4The verdict

Written Lesson, Section 2.3.3

The draft structure for Phase 3, as the proposal team wrote it

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurvey
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsCivil
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources and Civil
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resources
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager
3.5 Perimeter seawall condition assessmentStructural

The three elements that break a rule are marked. Scope sentence P3 has no element at all.

Three elements break a rule, and one scope sentence has no element.

Is the draft Work Breakdown Structure for Phase 3 ready for the schedule and the budget?

One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.

Model answer

No. Remove 3.2.3 and 3.5, give 3.3 one owner, add an element for P3, and place the two assumptions. Then the team review confirms three things: each discipline has read and accepts the subtasks it will perform, each task carries one owner, and the phases and tasks are ready to open on the Project Description Form.

The answer

This section fills in when every step above is answered.

No. The draft breaks all three rules and misses one scope sentence. Corrected, Phase 3 holds four tasks and eight subtasks, each with one owner, with the two assumptions on the elements that depend on them.

Phase 3, corrected, with its conditions

3 Data Collection and Public Input
3.1 Topographic and boundary surveySurvey
3.1.1 Stake easements and property boundariesSurveyAssumption: the Town obtains right of entry to private properties within 10 working days of the notice to proceed.
3.1.2 Map topographic features and above ground utilitiesSurvey
3.2 Subsurface utility locatesSurvey
3.2.1 Request utility markoutSurvey
3.2.2 Perform Quality Level A test holes at 40 locationsSurvey
3.2.3 Identify the location and likely depth of service lateralsSurveyAdded for scope sentence P3.
3.3 Stormwater modelWater resources
3.3.1 Collect tailwater and storm event dataWater resources
3.3.2 Build and calibrate the modelWater resourcesAssumption: the Town provides its 2024 stormwater model and input files within 10 working days of the notice to proceed.
3.4 Public engagement startProject manager
3.4.1 Prepare the engagement plan with Town staffProject manager

The takeaway

A WBS names work. It carries no dates, no staff hours, and no cost. Module 3 sequences its elements into a schedule, and Module 4 assigns staff and cost to them.

All of the scope and nothing else, each element once, one owner for each element. A structure that passes the three rules is the reference every later document is built from.

Written Lesson Open Glossary