Resource Allocation and

Resource Leveling

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University

6
1
CATEGORIES OF RESOURCES

 Labor

 Materials

 Equipment’s.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 2

Labor
1. Salaried staff: like-project engineer, secretary.

2. Hourly workers: like-carpenters.

Equipment and Materials

1. Construction equipment and materials

2. Installed equipment and materials

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 3

What is resource allocation?
Resource allocation(resource loading) :

Is the assignment of the required resources to each activity, in

the required amount and timing.
What Is Resource Leveling?
Is minimizing the fluctuations in day-to-day resource use
throughout the project.
It is usually done by shifting noncritical activities within their
available float. It attempts to make the daily use of a certain
resource as uniform as possible.
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 4
Why level Resources?
1. When the contractor adds the daily total demand for a
specific resource for all activities he must provide the required
amount, or work will be delayed.

2. Leveling may also be necessary for an expensive piece of

equipment.

3. The main idea of resource leveling is to improve work

efficiency and minimize cost during the life of the project.

Note: In general, materials do not need to be leveled

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 5
Leveling Resources in a Project

oResource leveling is a mathematically complex process.

oThe resource-leveling method is called the minimum moment

algorithm.

o discussed by Robert B. Harris (1978) in his classic textbook, Precedence and

Arrow Networking Techniques for Construction

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 6

Resource Profiles
Resource
need

Actual, not leveled

Leveled, realistic Ideal

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University Time 7

Sort

Sort : the process of arranging activities in

a list to certain specific order.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 8

Priorities & Sorts
 The activities making up the network must be listed in order
of their priority of resources allocation.

 The network shows the logical sequence of activities.

(predecessor and successor).

 The listing of activities must therefore reflects the

dependency of some activities .

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 9

Activities Sort

Resource unit TF ES Duration Activity

8H 0 1 1 A
9H 0 2 9 B
7H 3 2 5 C
5H 0 11 5 D
4H 3 7 4 E
8H 0 16 4 F
2H 3 11 6 G
4H 0 20 1 H

Activity sort reflects the logic sequence of the network.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 10
Major Sort

Resource unit TF ES Duration Activity

8H 0 1 1 A
9H 0 2 9 B
7H 3 2 5 C
4H 3 7 4 E
2H 3 11 6 G
5H 0 11 5 D
8H 0 16 4 F
4H 0 20 1 H

Activity sort with ES time as Major sort

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 11
Major & Minor Sorts

Resource unit TF ES Duration Activity

8H 0 1 1 A
9H 0 2 9 B
7H 3 2 5 C
4H 3 7 4 E
5H 0 11 5 D
2H 3 11 6 G
8H 0 16 4 F
4H 0 20 1 H

Activity sort with ES time as Major sort & TF as Minor Sort

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 12
 Allocated resources
8H
A
9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H
B
7H 7H 7H 7H 7H
Activity

C
4H 4H 4H 4H
E
5H 5H 5H 5H 5H
D
2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H
G
8H 8H 8H 8H
F
4H
H

3/31/20
2 4 6 8
Nabil Dmaidi
12
10Najah University 14 16 18 20 13
Time
 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
8H
A
9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H
B
7H 7H 7H 7H 7H
C
4H 4H 4H 4H
Activity

E
5H 5H 5H 5H 5H
D
2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H
G
8H 8H 8H 8H
F
4H
H

Total Labor 8 16 16 16 16 16 1313 13 13 7 7 7 7 7 10 8 8 8 4

3/31/20 Early
Nabilstart
Dmaidi resources aggregation
Najah University 14
Resource Aggregation

Resources aggregation: is a summation of the resources that

are used to carry out the program on a time period basis. For
example, day to day , or week to week.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 15

Total Labor 8 16 16 16 16 16 1313 13 13 7 7 7 7 7 10 8 8 8 4

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3/31/20 Early start resources aggregation
Nabil Dmaidi diagram (Histogram)
Najah University Time
16 16
Late start

 Another histogram can be obtained if Late start

considered. Shows different resources demand.

 And many histograms can be obtained considering a

different time in the network.

 Each histogram shows different resources demand.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 17

late Start Sorts

Resource unit TF LS Duration Activity

8H 0 1 1 A
9H 0 2 9 B
7H 3 5 5 C
4H 3 10 4 E
5H 0 11 5 D
2H 3 14 6 G
8H 0 16 4 F
4H 0 20 1 H

Activity sort with LS time as Major sort & TF as Minor Sort

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 18
 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
8H
A
9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H
B
7H 7H 7H 7H 7H
C
4H 4H 4H 4H
Activity

E
5H 5H 5H 5H 5H
D
2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H
G

8H 8H 8H 8H
F
4H
H

Total Labor 8 9 9 9 16 16 1616 16 13 9 9 9 7 7 10 10 10 10 4

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 19
Late start resources aggregation
Total Labor 8 9 9 9 16 16 1616 16 13 9 9 9 7 7 10 10 10 10 4

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3/31/20
Late start resources aggregation
Nabil Dmaidi
diagram (Histogram)
Najah University Time
20
Total Labor 8 9 9 9 16 16 1616 16 13 9 9 9 7 7 10 10 10 10 4

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 21
Early start vs Late start resources aggregation diagram (Histogram)21
Total Labor 8 9 9 9 16 16 1616 16 13 9 9 9 7 7 10 10 10 10 4

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3/31/20
Early start vs Late startNabil
resources
Dmaidi Najah University 22Time
aggregation diagram (Histogram) 22
 E
Example 10
16 6 6 22
6 16

B F I
6 4 12 11 2 17 13 3 19
10 0 6 16 13 0 6 19 16 6 6 22

A C G K
1 5 1 6 5 6 11 3 11 22 2 22
6 0 0 6 11 0 0 11 14 0 0 14 24 0 0 24

D J
6 2 12 14 14
8
8 0 6 14 22 0 0 22

ES Dur. LS
H
EF3/31/20
FF TF LF 8 6 16
Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 23
14 8 8 22
Activities Sort

Resource unit TF ES Duration Activity

8H 0 1 5 A
2H 0 6 5 C
4H 6 6 2 D
9H 6 6 4 B
5H 8 8 6 H
5H 6 10 6 E
2H 0 11 3 G
8H 6 11 2 F
5H 6 13 3 I
2H 0 14 8 J
6H 0 22 2 K

Activity
3/31/20 sort with ES time as Major
Nabil Dmaidi sort & University
Najah TF and duration as Minor Sorts24
 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 8H 8H 8H 8H 8H

C 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

D 4H 4H

B 9H 9H
9H 9H 9H 9H
9H

H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

E 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H

I 5H 5H 5H
J 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

K 6H 6H

Total
Labor
8 8 8 8 8 15 1516 16 12 20 20 17 12 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 25
Early start resources aggregation
Total 26
Labor
8 8 8 8 8 15 1516 16 12 20 20 17 12 12 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6

20
18

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University
Time Early start resources aggregation diagram
Activities Sort

Resource unit TF LS Duration Activity

8H 0 1 5 A
2H 0 6 5 C
4H 6 12 2 D
9H 6 12 4 B
5H 6 16 6 E
5H 8 16 6 H
2H 0 11 3 G
8H 6 17 2 F
5H 6 19 3 I
2H 0 14 8 J
6H 0 22 2 K

Activity sort with LS time as Major sort & TF and duration as Minor Sorts
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 27
 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 8H 8H 8H 8H 8H

C 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

D 4H 4H

B 9H 9H 9H 9H

E 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H

I 5H 5H 5H
J 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

K 6H 6H
Total
Labor
8 8 8 8 8 2 2 2 2 2 2 15 15 11 11 12 20 2017 17 17 6 6
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 28
Late start resources aggregation
Total
8 8 8 8 8 2 2 2 2 2 2 15 15 11 11 12 20 20 17 17 17 6 6
Labor

20
18

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 29
Time Late start resources aggregation diagram
 Early start
20
18
Labor
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2

20
18 Late start
Labor

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 30
Smoothing/Leveling

 Let us program activity F to start by its late start day which is

day 17.

 And activity I to start by day 14.

 The resulting resources aggregation histogram will be as

follows:

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 31

 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 8H 8H 8H 8H 8H

C 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

D 4H 4H

B 9H 9H
9H 9H 9H 9H
9H

H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

E 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H

I 5H 5H 5H
J 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

K 6H 6H

Total
Labor
8 8 8 8 8 15 1516 16 12 12 12 12 12 12 7 10 10 2 2 2 6 6
3/31/20 EarlyNabil
start resources
Dmaidi aggregation
Najah University 32
Total
Labor 8 8 8 8 8 15 15 16 16 12 12 12 12 12 12 7 10 10 2 2 2 6 6

20
18

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2
3/31/20 4 6 8 10Dmaidi
Nabil 12 Najah University
14 16 18 20 22 24
33
Time
Smoothing/Leveling

 Let us program activity E to start by its late start time.

 So its resources demand starts with its Late start date.

 The resulting resource aggregation and histogram will be as

follows:

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 34

 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 8H 8H 8H 8H 8H

C 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

D 4H 4H

B 9H 9H
9H 9H 9H 9H
9H

H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

E 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H

I 5H 5H 5H
J 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

K 6H 6H

Total
Labor
8
3/31/20 8 8 8 8 15 1516Nabil
16Dmaidi
7 15 Najah
15 University
12 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 35 6
Total
Labor
8 8 8 8 8 15 15 16 16 7 15 15 12 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6

20
18

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

3/31/202 4 6 8 10
Nabil Dmaidi 12 14
Najah University 16 18 20 22 36 24
Time
Smoothing/Leveling

 In case activity D is split able activity. It could be interrupted

to be carried out in two parts.

 Let us program activity B to start by 7th day .

 And activity H to starts by its Late start date.

 And activity E to start by day 14.

 The resulting resource aggregation and histogram will be as

follows:

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 37

 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 8H 8H 8H 8H 8H

C 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

D 4H 4H

B 9H 9H 9H 9H

H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

E 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H

I 5H 5H 5H
J 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

K 6H 6H

Total
8
Labor 3/31/20
8 8 8 8 6 11 11 11 11 10 10 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 7 7 6 6
Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 38
Early start resources aggregation
Total
Labor 8 8 8 8 8 6 11 11 11 11 10 10 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 7 7 6

20
18

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

3/31/202 4 6 8 10
Nabil Dmaidi 12 14
Najah University 16 18 20 22 39 24
Time
Early Start OR Early Finish

 There are many solutions between the limits of

Early Start and Early Finish.

 The optimal solution is zero fluctuation histogram.

Which is hard to be achieved.

 It is preferred to solve the problem twoard the

Early start resources aggregation diagram.

WHY ?!

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 40

 Because if there are labor availability problems to
be overcome, they will occur in the early beginning
of the project.

 By other words, if the program based on the Late

Start date, it means that all the activities are
Critical, and any labor problem will affect the
project completion.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 41

 Allocation within resources restraints

 Another situation which you may face in practice is the

restricted resources availability.

 Where you have to carry out the job with the available
resources only.

 In this case the project duration may be prolonged to suit the

availability of the restricted resources.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 42

 Rules for scheduling activities with
limited resources
1) schedule activities to start as soon as their predecessors have been
completed.

2) if more than one activity using a specific limited resources can be scheduled,
priority is given to the activity with early Late Start. ( LS as Major Sort)

3) if two or more activities have the same Late start, give priority to the activity
with least Total Float. (TF as Minor Sort)

4) if the activities have the same Total Float in the minor sort, give the priority
to the activity with the Largest Number of Resources.

5) If the activities are tied in the number of resources, give priority to the
activity that has already started.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 43

Example

A B D F H
1 1 1 2 9 2 11 5 11 16 4 16 20 1 20
2 0 0 2 11 0 0 11 16 0 0 16 20 0 0 20 21 0 0 21
8H 9H 5H 8H 4H

C E G
2 5 5 7 4 10 11 6 14
7 0 3 10 11 0 3 14 17 3 3 20
Activity desc. 7H 4H 2H

ES Dur. LS
EF FF TF LF
Resources

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 44

 Resource unit TF ES Duration Activity
8H 0 1 1 A
9H 0 2 9 B
7H 3 2 5 C
4H 3 7 4 E
5H 0 11 5 D
2H 3 11 6 G
8H 0 16 4 F
4H 0 20 1 H

Activity sort with ES time as Major sort & TF as Minor Sort

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 45

  Assume that the available labors in the company
restricted to 10 helpers, and the company decided to
carry out the job without resorting to hire more labor.

 The resulting program will exceed the Early finish date

based on the network.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 46

Total Labor 8 16 16 16 16 16 1313 13 13 7 7 7 7 7 10 8 8 8 4

16
Labor

14
12
10
8
6
4
2

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3/31/20 Early start resources aggregation
Nabil Dmaidi diagram (Histogram)
Najah University Time
47 47
 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26

A 8H

B 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H 9H
7H 7H 7H 7H
C
Activity

E 4H 4H 4H 4H

D 5H 5H 5H 5H 5H

G 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H 2H

F 8H 8H 8H

H 4H

Total Labor 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 9 9 7 10 10 10 2 2 4

12
Labor
10
Limit
Labor

8
6

4
2

3/31/20 Time
Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 48
Resources aggregation diagram
 Money and network schedules
Reminder, cost was one of the elements of project constraints triangle ( COST, TIME &
QUALITY).

An effective management tries to minimize and integrate the above mentioned

elements.

CPM provides a mean for relating time and money.

The application of resources to a project (materials, manpower and machinery) related

to another resource which is MONEY.

The value of the resources for each activity represents

a component of project cost.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 49

Hint

:Construction costs includes

.Materials costs )1
.labor costs )2
plant and equipment costs )3
.overhead costs and profit )4

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 50

 E
Example 10
16 6 6 22
6 16

B F I
6 4 12 11 2 17 13 3 19
10 0 6 16 13 0 6 19 16 6 6 22

A C G K
1 5 1 6 5 6 11 3 11 22 2 22
6 0 0 6 11 0 0 11 14 0 0 14 24 0 0 24

D J
6 2 12 14 14
8
8 0 6 14 22 0 0 22

ES Dur. LS
H
EF3/31/20
FF TF LF 8 6 16
Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 51
14 8 8 22
 $( Cost( TF ES Duration Activity
650 0 1 5 A
1300 0 6 5 C
400 6 6 2 D
1450 6 6 4 B
500 8 8 6 H
1100 6 10 6 E
600 0 11 3 G
350 6 11 2 F
1000 6 13 3 I
1300 0 14 8 J
200 0 22 2 K

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 52

 Time
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24

A 200 100 200 100 50

C 150 100 200 200 150

D 200 200

B 100250
9H 9H 300
9H 100
9H

H 50 100 150 200 50 50

E 200 200 100 150 100 150

G 200 200 200

F 150 100

I 200 100100
J 100 100 150 200 100100 150 100

K 100 100

Total
200 100 200 100 50 350 550550Nabil
400 500 750Najah
450 University
600 300 350 150 200 100100 150 100 10053100
cost 3/31/20 Dmaidi
Total
200 100 200 100 50 350 550550 400 500 750 450 600 300 350 150 200 100100 150 100 100 100
cost

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

3/31/20 2 4 6 8 Nabil Dmaidi

10 12 University
Najah 14 16 18 20 22 54 24
Time
 Cash Flow
 It is quite significant to the contractor to know the amount of
money that would be spent in each stage of the project.
( Expenditures)

 And compare it to the amount of money that would be

received. (income)

Overtrading
 Overtrading: arises when the current liabilities of a company
exceed the current assets, even though the business is
solvent.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 55

Total
200 100 200 100 50 350 550550 400 500 750 450 600 300 350 150 200 100100 150 100 100 100
cost
Com. 200 300 500 600 650 1000 1550 2100 2500 30003750 4200 4800 51005450 5600 580059006000 6150 625063506450
cost

$
6400
6000
5600
5200
4800
4400
4000
3600
3200
2800
2400
2000
1600
1200
800
400

3/31/20 2 4 6 8 Nabil Dmaidi

10 12 University
Najah 14 16 18 20 22 56 24
Com. cost = Cumulative Cost
Time Cash Flow Diagram
 Retainage Release
Expenditures

Revenues

Cumulative
Expenditure
s
& Revenues
Amount of
Negative
Cash Flow

3/31/20
Time
Nabil Dmaidi
(Months)
Najah University 57
Cash Flow Curve for revenue and expenditures
Cash Flow Example

$$$
early
$$
planned
late
$

Time

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 58

Cash Flow: In and Out

$
Profit

Spending

Reimbursement

Time

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 59

 Cash Flow Analysis

 Cash flow analysis consists of a detailed examination of funds

disbursement (expenditures) and the receipt of revenue.
 Cash flow shows if surplus fund available during project, or if
negative cash position will occur during construction.
 The cash position of contractor during project whether
positive or negative is important.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 60

 Negative cash position

 Negative cash position means that the revenues

obtained from a project insufficient to meet the
financial obligations (expenditures) of the project.

 In this case other fund from the company or from

outside sources must be used.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 61

 Positive cash position

 Positive cash position means that the revenues

obtained from a project exceed the financial
obligations (expenditures) of the project.

 In this case surplus (extra) fund available with the

contractor.

 And the contractor may invest this surplus funds for

short duration.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 62

Materials Management
Is defined as the planning and controlling of all necessary efforts
to ensure that the correct quality and quantity of materials and
equipment are appropriately specified in a timely manner, are
obtained at a reasonable cost, and are available when needed.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 63

Materials management functions

 Identifying.

 Acquiring.

 Distributing.

 Disposing.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 64

Objectives of materials management

 Ensure that materials meet the specifications and are on

hand when and where required.

 Obtain the best value for purchased materials.

 Provide efficient, low-cost transport, security, and storage

of materials at construction sites.

 Reduce any surplus to the lowest level possible.

3/31/20 Nabil Dmaidi Najah University 65