PROJECT MANAGEMENT 101 AT WESTON & SAMPSON
MODULE 2 · WEEK 4
Build the Work Breakdown Structure
The agreement for Cypress Landing East is signed, and the project manager builds the structure for the 30 Percent Design phase from it. The disciplines have returned the subtasks they wrote during the pursuit, and some of those subtasks were written before the negotiation changed the scope.
What Work Breakdown Structure performs the 30 Percent Design scope, and nothing else?
What is given
Phase 4 of our firm’s structure is the phase the agreement calls 30 Percent Design, and its scope of services carries ten sentences.
- S1. Weston & Sampson will prepare 30 percent plan views of the water, sewer, and reuse water mains in the project corridors.
- S2. Weston & Sampson will prepare 30 percent plan views of the stormwater management system.
- S3. Weston & Sampson will prepare 30 percent plan views of the streetscape, including hardscape, landscaping, and lighting.
- S4. Weston & Sampson will develop three seawall concept designs for year 2090 tailwater conditions.
- S5. Weston & Sampson will prepare a markup set of the utilities to be relocated and will send it to each impacted utility company for review.
- S6. Weston & Sampson will prepare the 30 percent engineer’s opinion of probable cost.
- S7. Weston & Sampson will submit PDF copies of the 30 percent plans to Town staff two weeks before the plan review meeting.
- S8. Weston & Sampson will conduct one 30 percent plan review meeting with Town staff.
- S9. Weston & Sampson will present the 30 percent design to the three bodies Town staff names.
- S10. Weston & Sampson will propose value engineering options where cost is high or construction is difficult.
A3. Weston & Sampson assumes that the 30 percent design is presented to the three bodies the solicitation names, for a total of three presentations at the 30 percent milestone, one to each body. Additional presentations will require additional compensation.
X1. Weston & Sampson will not perform Construction Engineering and Inspection services.
X3. 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.
Four steps. Three are a single selection, and one is a single number.
Step 1Listing the tasks under the phase
Written Lesson, Sections 2.4.2.1 and 2.4.2.2
The project manager first lists the phases from the scope of services. The language of the WBS should match the proposal and contract language exactly, so that the project manager, the team, and the accounting department can cross reference WBS elements to the proposal and to the billing process.
The second step lists the tasks under each phase. Typically, each task is defined as a deliverable or result produced in fulfillment of a specific scope item.
“This phase is not referring to Construction Engineering and Inspection (CEI) Services. CEI responsibilities will be handled by another contract.”
- 4 30 Percent Design
- Water and sewer layout
- Stormwater layout
- Streetscape layout
- Seawall concept designs
- Utility coordination
- Cost opinion
- 30 percent review and presentations
- Topographic and boundary survey
- Permit applications
- Construction Engineering and Inspection
- Project coordination
The four candidates in the question are marked.
Four of the eleven candidates are in the question.
Which candidate task does not belong in Phase 4?
One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.
Construction Engineering and Inspection. No scope sentence requires it, Section D, Phase 7 assigns it to another contract, and exclusion X1 states that our firm will not perform it. Work our firm will not perform produces no element at any level.
Seven tasks perform the ten sentences: water and sewer layout, stormwater layout, streetscape layout, seawall concept designs, utility coordination, cost opinion, and the 30 percent review and presentations. Topographic survey and permit applications belong to other phases.
Step 2Combining the discipline subtasks
Written Lesson, Sections 2.4.2.3 and 2.4.2.4
Each discipline prepares the subtasks under its own tasks. A WBS element stops at a subtask when three conditions are met: one discipline performs it, the team can estimate the hours it takes, and it has a defined end that somebody can observe.
The fourth step combines the discipline input into one structure and removes the duplicates, so that two disciplines do not describe, schedule, and staff the same work.
- 4 30 Percent Design
- Water and sewer layoutCivil
- Prepare water, sewer, and reuse water plan viewsCivil
- Add the stormwater pipes to the plan viewsCivil
- Prepare construction phasing recommendationsCivil
- Stormwater layoutWater resources
- Prepare stormwater plan viewsWater resources
- Streetscape layoutLandscape architecture
- Prepare streetscape, hardscape, landscaping, and lighting plan viewsLandscape architecture
- Seawall concept designsStructural
- Prepare three seawall concept designsStructural
- Design seawall caps for individual propertiesStructural
- Utility coordinationCivil
- Prepare the utility relocation markup and send it to each utility companyCivil
- Evaluate utility conflictsCivil and Water resources
- Cost opinionProject manager
- Prepare the 30 percent opinion of probable costProject manager
- 30 percent review and presentationsProject manager
- Conduct the plan review meeting with Town staffProject manager
- Present the 30 percent design to the three bodies Town staff namesProject manager
- Coordinate the 30 percent designProject manager
The two subtasks in the question are marked.
Two disciplines returned a stormwater subtask. Water resources wrote Prepare stormwater plan views under Stormwater layout. Civil wrote Add the stormwater pipes to the plan views under Water and sewer layout.
What does the combined structure do with the two subtasks?
One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.
Keep one. Scope sentence S2 requires the stormwater plan views once, and Water resources performs them. The Civil subtask describes the same work from the other side of the trench, so it comes out at combination.
Two other subtasks went back to the disciplines. Evaluate utility conflicts named Civil and Water resources together, and Coordinate the 30 percent design has no end anybody can observe. The combined structure carries ten subtasks into Step 3, and the check in both directions finds what combination does not.
Step 3Checking both directions
Written Lesson, Sections 2.4.3 and 2.4.4
The forward check reads each scope sentence and finds the element that performs it. The reverse check reads each element and finds the scope sentence that requires it.
| The gap | The action |
|---|---|
| A scope sentence with no element | Add the element and name the owner |
| An element with no sentence, and an exclusion covers it | Remove the element |
| An element with no sentence, and no exclusion covers it | Ask the client, and write an exclusion until the client answers |
| A sentence the team cannot break into elements | Obtain the information, or write an assumption |
- 4 30 Percent Design
- Water and sewer layoutCivil
- Prepare water, sewer, and reuse water plan viewsCivil
- Prepare construction phasing recommendationsCivil
- Stormwater layoutWater resources
- Prepare stormwater plan viewsWater resources
- Streetscape layoutLandscape architecture
- Prepare streetscape, hardscape, landscaping, and lighting plan viewsLandscape architecture
- Seawall concept designsStructural
- Prepare three seawall concept designsStructural
- Design seawall caps for individual propertiesStructural
- Utility coordinationCivil
- Prepare the utility relocation markup and send it to each utility companyCivil
- Cost opinionProject manager
- Prepare the 30 percent opinion of probable costProject manager
- 30 percent review and presentationsProject manager
- Conduct the plan review meeting with Town staffProject manager
- Present the 30 percent design to the three bodies Town staff namesProject manager
The forward check reaches scope sentence S7: Weston & Sampson will submit PDF copies of the 30 percent plans to Town staff two weeks before the plan review meeting. The combined structure above has no element for it.
Which gap is S7, and what is the action?
One selection. The page marks it at once and shows the model answer.
Add the element. 4.7.3 Submit the 30 percent plans to Town staff two weeks before the review, owned by the project manager. Promised work with no element is work nobody is assigned to perform.
The reverse check finds two elements with no sentence. Design seawall caps for individual properties has no sentence and exclusion X3 covers it, so it is removed. Prepare construction phasing recommendations has no sentence and no exclusion covers it, so it comes out and the question goes to the Town, with an exclusion in the meantime. The solicitation asked for both, and the negotiated scope carries neither.
“Recommendations for construction phasing.” “Utility Coordination: … Produce a mark-up set of utilities to be relocated. … Identify utility conflicts.”
Step 4Numbering the structure
Written Lesson, Sections 2.4.2.5 and 2.4.2.6
A phase takes a whole number, a task takes one decimal place, and a subtask takes two. The owner of each task is the discipline responsible for completing the work.
- 4 30 Percent Design
- Water and sewer layoutCivil
- Prepare water, sewer, and reuse water plan viewsCivil
- Stormwater layoutWater resources
- Prepare stormwater plan viewsWater resources
- Streetscape layoutLandscape architecture
- Prepare streetscape, hardscape, landscaping, and lighting plan viewsLandscape architecture
- Seawall concept designsStructural
- Prepare three seawall concept designsStructural
- Utility coordinationCivil
- Prepare the utility relocation markup and send it to each utility companyCivil
- Cost opinionProject manager
- Prepare the 30 percent opinion of probable costProject manager
- 30 percent review and presentationsProject manager
- Conduct the plan review meeting with Town staffProject manager
- Present the 30 percent design to the three bodies Town staff namesProject manager
- Submit the 30 percent plans to Town staff two weeks before the reviewProject manager
How many tasks does Phase 4 hold once the structure is combined and checked?
Two tries. After the second the page shows the worked solution.
Seven. Phase 4 takes the number 4, the tasks run 4.1 to 4.7, and the subtasks run 4.1.1 to 4.7.3. The full structure is in The answer below.
The answer
This section fills in when every step above is answered.
Phase 4 holds seven tasks and ten subtasks. Each task carries one owner. Two assumptions ride on the elements they condition.
- 4 30 Percent Design
- 4.1 Water and sewer layoutCivil
- 4.1.1 Prepare water, sewer, and reuse water plan viewsCivil
- 4.2 Stormwater layoutWater resources
- 4.2.1 Prepare stormwater plan viewsWater resources
- 4.3 Streetscape layoutLandscape architecture
- 4.3.1 Prepare streetscape, hardscape, landscaping, and lighting plan viewsLandscape architecture
- 4.4 Seawall concept designsStructural
- 4.4.1 Prepare three seawall concept designsStructural
- 4.5 Utility coordinationCivil
- 4.5.1 Prepare the utility relocation markup and send it to each utility companyCivil
- 4.6 Cost opinionProject manager
- 4.6.1 Prepare the 30 percent opinion of probable costProject managerAssumption: value engineering covers up to three options, presented with the 30 percent opinion of probable cost. Additional options will require additional compensation.
- 4.7 30 percent review and presentationsProject manager
- 4.7.1 Conduct the plan review meeting with Town staffProject manager
- 4.7.2 Present the 30 percent design to the three bodies Town staff namesProject managerAssumption A3: three presentations at the 30 percent milestone.
- 4.7.3 Submit the 30 percent plans to Town staff two weeks before the reviewProject managerAdded by the forward check, for scope sentence S7.
Out of the structure: construction phasing recommendations, which wait on the Town with an exclusion in the meantime, and seawall caps for individual properties, which exclusion X3 removes. The repeated stormwater element left at combination. Coordinate the 30 percent design and evaluate utility conflicts went back to the disciplines, and no scope sentence asks for either.
The structure is reviewed with the project team before it is used. Three things are confirmed in that review:
- Each discipline has read the subtasks it will perform and accepts them,
- Each task carries one owner, and
- The phases and tasks are ready to open on the Project Description Form.
The project manager collects the awarded proposal, the executed agreement, the discipline scopes, and the client documents, and builds the structure in six steps. Each discipline writes its own subtasks, and the project manager combines them, numbers them, and names one owner for each task.
Neither edit to a scope or a structure reaches the other document by itself. The forward check and the reverse check find different gaps, so both are run, and both documents change together.