White Paper

Work Breakdown Structures

The WBS1 is a hierarchal decomposition of

the total scope of work to be carried out by
the project team to accomplish the project
objectives and create the required
deliverables2. The WBS should be structured
in accordance with the way work will be
performed and reflect the way in
which project’s cost and schedule data will
be summarised and reported. The WBS is
one of many different types of ‘breakdown
structure’ used in project management3.

The most common structure for a WBS is a

4 to 6 level indented structure, where the
first three are managerial levels describing (for example) the total project, the project phases and the control
accounts. The lower
level(s) are technical levels culminating in the work packages.

Where a component of work is to be outsourced to a separate contractor, the project’s WBS stops at the control
account or work package level that describes the contracted work. Lower level detail should be incorporated in a
WBS maintained by the contractor.

WBS Nomenclature:
• WBS element: Any single component in the WBS diagram – the component can be at any level. Types of
component include:
o Parent: A higher level element in the WBS that is decomposed into two or more lower level
elements (children)
o Child: A lower level element in the WBS that is rolled up into a single higher level element
(parent). Parent/Child descriptions are relative; an element can be both a parent of lower level
elements and the child of a higher level element.
1
The concept of work breakdown structure developed as part of the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) by
the United States Department of Defense (DoD). While the term "work breakdown structure" was not used, PERT organised
the activities into product-oriented categories.
By June 1962, DoD, NASA and the aerospace industry published PERT/COST System Design, which described the WBS
st
approach. This guide was endorsed by the Secretary of Defense for adoption by all services. On the 1 November 1968, the
DoD issued "Work Breakdown Structures for Defense Materiel Items" (MIL-STD-881), a military standard requiring the use of
work breakdown structures across the DoD. This standard has been revised several times, most recently in 2011.
2
PRINCE2 uses the concept of Product Breakdown Structure (PBS). Whilst the deliverables that make up the final product to
be delivered to the client are always the major part of any WBS, the PMI definition ensures there is no possibility of missing
any of the work required to be accomplished by the project team including project management activities, safety functions,
etc.
Modern PRINCE2 practice has been to extend the concept of ‘product’ to include all of the outputs from a project including
internal reports, etc. so in effectively there is very little difference between a WBS and a PBS. However, for the purposes of
PMI examinations assume the terms ‘total scope of work’ and ‘deliverables’ encompass more than just the ‘product’; or to put
it another way, the ‘product’ is only part of the ‘total scope of work’. For more on the difference between PBS and WBS see:
http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/Mag_Articles/P028_PBS-v-WBS.pdf
3
For more on project breakdown structures see:
http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/Mag_Articles/P009_Breakdown_Structures.pdf

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First published 12 June 2010 – augmented and updated.
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o Work Package: the lowest level of any branch of the WBS. The work package is a defined section
of project work that produces a deliverable (either a part of the product or something required for
the management of the project such as a risk management plan). The work package is normally the
point of integration for schedule, cost, quality and risk information.

o Control Account (or Cost Account): A management control point where the integration of scope,
budget, actual cost, and schedule takes place, and where the measurement of performance will
occur. Control accounts (CA) are placed at selected points (specific components at selected levels)
of the WBS. Each CA may include one or more work packages, but each work package may be
associated with only one CA. Each CA is associated with a specific organisational component
(person) in the OBS4. The responsible manager is frequently designated as the Cost/Control
Account Manager or CAM.
o Planning Package: the lowest level of any branch of the WBS where that branch is expected to be
decomposed into greater detail at a later date, generally when more information becomes available.

• WBS dictionary: The Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary is a companion document to the work
breakdown structure (WBS) that describes each WBS element. It can be in any practical format, but for large
projects a database is normal. For each WBS element, the WBS Dictionary includes a statement of work and a
list of associated activities and milestones. Other information may be included: responsible organization, start
and end dates, resources required, an estimate of cost, charge number, contract information, quality
requirements, and technical references to facilitate performance of the work. It is important that the WBS
dictionary provides concise, relevant, and sufficient information in the same format for every element. The
WBS dictionary will generally include:
o The code of accounts number (WBS number)
o The description of the element
o Exactly what will be done (referencing the specification, etc)
o What is required to allow the work package to start
o Associated activities, and milestones (referenced to the schedule)
o Any assumptions or identified risks
o Who is responsible for performing the work (person or organisation, may be internal or external)

4
OBS = Organisational Breakdown Structure – the staff reporting relationships within the project. The intersection of WBS
and OBS may be a control account or a work package. It defines the point of management responsibility for a deliverable or a
series of deliverables.

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First published 11 Jan. 2010 – augmented and updated.
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o Who is responsible for managing the work (must be a manager working for the project manager)
o What are the deliverables
o Who will receive the deliverables
o The estimated duration, resources and cost for the work package
o How progress will be measured

• WBS Levels: Establish the hierarchical structure of the work breakdown structure. Typically the highest level
of the WBS is identified as level 0. The level typically forms the first part of the WBS element number:

Guidelines for developing a WBS:

A well designed WBS has the following characteristics:
• Clear direction/definition: Make sure the project initiation has been fully completed and the parameters of
what’s in and what’s out of scope agreed before developing the WBS.
• Completeness: The WBS should describe all of the work needed to complete the whole project. And there
shouldn’t be anything in the WBS that isn’t part of the project.

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• The 100% Rule: Each of the higher levels of the WBS should include 100% of the work of the project and
only the work needed to complete the authorised scope. When documenting the lower level elements (children)
underneath a WBS element (parent), the children must completely and exactly describe the same amount of
work as the parent, just in more detail.
• Appropriate level of detail: Only develop the WBS to an appropriate level of detail—one that provides
adequate information to plan, manage and control the project without creating excessive data.
• The decomposition Rule: Each element of the WBS decomposes into at least two ‘children’ (if no further
decomposition is needed (or possible) do not go to the next level for this branch of the WBS). Each ‘child’ has
only one parent (a WBS element must not be connected to 2 higher level elements).

Links to the Schedule5:

The activities in the project schedule follow the 100% rule. Each work package or planning package should
decompose into one or more schedule activities. Planning packages are typically represented by a single summary
activity (eg, Allowance for testing = 8 weeks); this summary activity will be replaced by more detailed activities
once the full requirements of the work are defined6. Normal work packages typically expand into a significant
number of activities and milestones that fully define the sequence and duration of the work needed to complete the
package. The activities should define 100% of the effort needed to accomplish the work package. Each schedule
activity should only roll up into a single WBS element.

Links to Earned Value Management7:

Most EV systems aggregate/integrate information at either the work package level or the control account level.
This level of granularity balances the effort needed to identify and allocate actual cost data with the usefulness of
the information provided. In most organisations accurately dividing and allocating actual costs to the schedule
activity level is nearly impossible whereas rolling up schedule progress data to a work package is straightforward.

The Earned Value methodology involves more then just calculating formulae. Where a variance is identified, the
responsible manager is expected to assess the reason and recommend recovery actions. This requires a single point
of management responsibility for each work package and control account.

More information:
• Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures 2nd Edition – www.pmi.org
(available as a free PDF download for members – see next page)

5
For more on scheduling see: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/PMP_Sup/PMP_Mod06_Time.html
6
See ‘rolling wave planning’: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/WhitePapers/WP1060_Rolling_Wave.pdf
7
For more on Earned Value see: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/WhitePapers/WP1081_Earned_Value.pdf

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First published 11 Jan. 2010 – augmented and updated.
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Diagram above © PMI from the WBS Practice Standard.

• Other WBS Standards:

o MIL-STD-881C (3 Oct 2011), Department of Defense Standard Practice, Work Breakdown Structures for
Defense Material Items
o ASTM E2150 - 13 Standard Classification for Life-Cycle Environmental Work Elements—Environmental Cost
Element Structure
o ASTM E2103 / E2103M – 13, Standard Classification for Bridge Elements—UNIFORMAT II
o ASTM E1557 - 09(2015) Standard Classification for Building Elements and Related Sitework—UNIFORMAT II
Plus other ASTM Standards

• For a discussion on the other types of project breakdown structures including CBS, RBS, BoM and others
see: http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/Mag_Articles/P009_Breakdown_Structures.pdf

_____________________________

This White Paper is part of Mosaic’s Project Knowledge Index

to view and download a wide range of published papers and articles see:
http://www.mosaicprojects.com.au/PM-Knowledge_Index.html

5 www.mosaicprojects.com.au
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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First published 11 Jan. 2010 – augmented and updated.