Introduction to Project Management/ Construction Management

(PM/CM)

Lecture 07: Resource Management

Architecture and Urban Design Semester VII_2022_Dr. Wafaa Nadim, wafaa.nadim@guc.edu.eg

Learning Outcome
• Define the type of resources
• Appreciate resource scheduling
• Understand labour productivity
• Appreciate resource management
Types of resources
• Exhaustible (coal, oil, natural gas, TIME)

• Re-placeable (brick, tiles, glass, etc)

• Re-usable (equipment, labourer, etc)

• ‘construction management addresses how the resources available to the
manager can best be applied’.
Halpin and Woodhead (1998)

• Four primary resources to be managed: ‘four Ms’

Manpower, Machines, Materials and Money
 Scheduling resources
• What kind of resource to consider (electrician, crane, plumber, bricks)?

• Which tasks is the resource to be used on?

• When will the resource be needed for each task (task start time, duration and finish)?

• At what rate will the resource be used on the task (how much or how many per day)?

• How many will be available when they are needed?

• What happens if other projects that we are doing need the same resources at the same time?
 Labour productivity
• Productivity in the construction industry is a major concern among all segments.

• productivity is often defined as units or value of output divided by hours of labour or equipment
input
(Adrian, 1987)
 Productivity
• e.g. productivity of a carpenter crew installing wall panels was 15m2/labour hour

or

• the productivity of a trenching machine is 35m3 /machine hour.

 Types of Constraints

❑Time

❑Resource

❑Mixed
 Resource Allocation

When a network is developed for a project, the logic presumably reflects

sequences of the activities as they must take place, without regard to:
limitations imposed
by the availability of resources

In practice this is not typically the case

 Resource Allocation
• With no regard for resource limitations, most activities are scheduled on an early-start schedule

• Limitations arise because resources may be limited in availability

• Additional resources may be available—but at such a premium that they are treated as limited
 Resource Management

Productivity will generally be highest if a constant

crew size is maintained for the project duration
 Allocation vs leveling

Resource allocation concerns the allocation of resources that are limited

Resource leveling concerns the efficient use of resources when project

duration cannot be altered
 Resource Management
• Resources may not always be limited in absolute terms

• It may simply be more costly to “double up” on resources at certain times in a project

• Added cost may be justified if the contract places a tight constraint on the project completion
date

• Resource leveling—while not constrained by limited resources—tends to reduce maximum

demands for a given resource on any given day
 It is not uncommon for the job demands for
a particular craft or trade to fluctuate widely

This can be costly to the employer

 Resource leveling will hold the
duration of the project constant

An effective means of smoothing

the utilization of resources
 A number of different approaches
can be used for resource leveling

If project duration is constant, the

different methods will have the same objective—to use up

available float

if smoothing of resources will occur

 Resource Levelling

• Since the duration of the project is fixed, critical activities are not manipulated

• Only the start times of activities with float can be adjusted

 Creating Resource Loading Charts

Display the amount of resources required as a

function of time.
4 B 5 5 D 9 9 E 11
Res = 2 Res = 7 Res = 3

1. Start with a network

0 A 4
diagram
Res = 6 11 F 12
Res = 6
4 C 7
11 12
Res = 2
 Creating Resource Loading Charts

Activity Resource Duration ES Float LF

A 6 4 0 0 4
B 2 1 4 0 5
C 2 3 4 4 11
D 7 4 7 0 9
E 3 2 11 0 11
F 6 1 13 0 12
2. Produce a table that shows the duration, early
dates, and late dates, Float, and resource(s)
required for each activity.
 Creating Resource Loading Charts
3. Draw an initial loading chart with each activity
8 scheduled at its ES.

6
Resources

Resource
4 imbalance
A D F
B
2 E
C

2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Project Days
 Creating Resource Loading Charts
4. Rearrange activities within their float to create
a more level profile. Splitting C creates a more
8 level project.

6
Resources

4 C
A D F
B
2 E
C

2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Project Days
Manual Solution for Allocation

The resource limits:

5M (masons)
2H (helpers)

Resource limits
are not to be
exceeded under
any circumstances

EF
LS TF
 5 6 6 8
6 1 7 7 1 9

1 5 5 9 9 15
The resource limits: 1 0 5 5 0 9 9 0 15
5M (masons)
0 1 15 16
2H (helpers) 0 0 1 15 0 16

1 3 3 6 7 9
Resource limits 7 6 9 10 7 13 13 6 15
are not to be
exceeded under
any circumstances 3 7
9 6 13

EF
LS
3 5
11 8 13
Project duration is 20 days—4 days longer
than if the resource limits had been ignored