Paulo RoqueChartered Civil Engineer, PMP| BECHTELSetubal, Portugal
Can a WBS be developed in a such a way that each work package ID is directly linked to each Item of a priced bill of quantities in construction contracts?
The technical specifications included in the construction contracts utilizes a unique numbering division system according to each discipline of a construction trade.And the Items of a priced bill of quantities are usually linked to the technical specifications numbering division system.
But while a priced bill of quantities is most fitted to assist quantity surveyors, for example, in payment certificates valuation in construction contracts administration, a WBS divided into construction work packages (CWP) directly linked to the Item system of a priced bill of quantities can play a critical role in the facilitation of the construction project scope monitoring and controlling. Saving Changes...
Unless the materials used are unique to each work package, such a 1:1 mapping is unlikely - you are more likely looking at a many-to-many relationship between work packages and contract items.
Kiron Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The same situation I am facing for each type of projects I was beyond construction. What @Kiron stated above is a must. What I did is creating the WBS with the exact structure and numbers you stated above. So, I can map WBS items (each time of items) and its related resources directly with administrative software and deliverables whcih out of my scope of work but it is a headache each time I have to integrate the information from my program/projects to administrative reports. Saving Changes...
NARESH CHEEKATLAConstruction Manager| L&T HCPRajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India
What Sergio did with creating the WBS to match the other numbering system is the standard in many industries. Items purchased from outside suppliers will have their own numbering systems, however those are consumed within your own indentured documentation. The WBS can be intelligently numbered so that it actually contains a lot of useful organizational info: The first number is the major organizational function such as Structures (1). The next layer might break out sub-functions such as Concrete Structures (12) vs. Framed Structures (13) etc. Then maybe 131 for Framed Structure Trusses and so-on, all the way down to the work package, where the complete Bill of Materials (BOM) resides. That intelligent numbering is handy since it now works exactly like the Dewey Decimal system does for libraries and you know exactly where to look for specific information.
I will respectfully disagree that such mapping is unlikely, as it has been done in the manufacturing industry since at least Henry Ford. (One of my first big jobs was actually implementing such a system.) Because parts aren't ordered the same way they are consumed (one to one becomes many to many) in instances where the same BOM items might be used in multiple places, they are all collected into a separate view to enable Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) to manage contracts and purchasing, tracking, etc.
Our current systems for doing this are quite large as we deal with literally millions of parts. Today we us model based systems, but document based systems have been around for decades. Database systems are somewhere in-between as the hierarchical product definition is linked across different digital documents. Modern tools like Hadoop MapReduce enable efficiently searching through all your databases and collect all the repeated parts for use by supply chain management so that even if you have 100 of the same part used in 100 different jobs, they all go on the same purchase order. Saving Changes...
Pablo Cesar Garcia BonillaConstruction Contracts Manager / Construction Manager| Green Soul EngineeringSan Jose, Costa Rica
As Kiron stated I've found this kind of 1:1 mapping is so difficult to implement. But I think this was mainly because we didn't wanted to change the way we order our wbs and schedule templates, or because the BOQ does not have the necessary structure. I tried to do this mapping in a recent small project and it was a complete success, but it depends uppon a good BOQ have been developed at first by the client (in my recent small project I done this for my internal client). Now I'm trying to do the same in larger projects. Saving Changes...
Tim McBrideProject Manager| RDC Fine HomesBritish Columbia, Canada
Hi there, does anyone have a visual of how this report would be structured? We are trying to change our system for custom home construction and this idea is something we have been throwing around for a while. Saving Changes...
The structure of the report depends entirely on how your downstream customers need to consume the information.
Information may be grouped based on purchase agents or vendors for different types of bulk consumables across multiple projects. You probably need a by-residence view for site specific materials including custom orders. If you make smaller purchases based on need date, then you might have a schedule based view.
Whenever you are generating reports, remember that those are deliverables for some customer to enable them to do their own jobs effectively. I always recommend starting with the customer requirements, and base the reports on that rather than generating reports, and hope they prove useful to someone. Saving Changes...
