Const Mgmt and

Project Scheme

UNIVERSITY OF
MANAGEMENT
& TECHNOLOGY
Chapter 7:
CPM Book by KK Chitkara
“Planning Construction
Manpower”.
Planning Construction Manpower
The corporate personal management broadly covers a wide spectrum of
functions including:
forecasting needs, formulation of pay scales and service conditions,
recruitment and induction, training and development, morale and motivation,
health and welfare, safety and security, and maintenance of harmonious
industrial relations.

It thus entails an interdisciplinary approach employing the combined skills of

system planners, behavioral scientists, management practitioners, economists,
statisticians and industrial relation experts.

 The scope of construction manpower planning, covered in this chapter is

restricted to:
 Establishing worker’s productivity standards.
 Scheduling construction site workers.
 Grouping project manpower.
 Designing workers financial incentive schemes.
Project Planning Team functions
 Determining expected labor productivity.
 Estimating workers requirement for each work packages.
 Scheduling date-wise, category-wise, project direct labor.
 Establishing a construction teams.
 Organizing task forces.
 Allocating labor during execution stage.
 Monitoring workers productivity at site.
 Recording productivity data.
 Costing and controlling manpower costs.
 Controlling manpower mobilization, distribution and demobilization.
 Defining job requirement for key executive and staff appointments.
 Assist in recruitment of personnel.
 Assist in designing incentive system.
 Assist in controlling manpower costs.
 Assist in training and induction of manpower
Planning construction manpower
 ESTABLISHING WORKERS PRODUCTIVITY STANDARDS

The basic equation for determining the workers required for accomplishing a specific activity is
given by:
 (a) Workers required: = work quantity x Workers productivity standard

Completion period
 (b)Workers productivity standard =Worker output norms x production efficiency factor
 Where:
 Workers productivity standard is defined as the effort in man-days or man hours needed for
accomplishing a unit quantity of work, while working efficiently but allowing for normal delays
and wastage.
 Work quantity of the activity involved is expressed in standard work units.
 Completion period is taken as working days or hours planned or earmarked to accomplish the
task.
 Workers production norms are expressed in man-days or man hours, category-wise, required for
accomplishing the unit work.
 Production efficiency factor is the multiplier used to convert production norms into productivity
standards expected under job conditions at the site.
 the quantity of work to be performed can be accurately estimated from the construction drawing
and specifications. If the work is to be completed with in the stipulated period, the variable in
assessment of workers requirement is the productivity standard.
 The method of computation of workers requirement as illustrated above may appear simple, but
in actual practice assessment of production efficiency and thereby workers productivity
standards are the most challenging tasks faced by the project planners.
 Building Construction workers Classification

Building Trades Mechanical Trades.

•Carpentry work Filter

• Shuttering Carpenter Mechanic Helper

•Furniture Carpenter. Riggers

•Wood Polisher AC mechanic

•Carpenter Helper Sheet Fabricator

•Masonry helper Auto Electrician

• Rebar Fabricator & Fixer. Diesel Mechanic Etc

 Building Construction workers Classification

Building Trades Mechanical Trades.

Masonry Work Patrol mechanic

•Concrete Mason Mechanic H

• Block work and plaster mason Welder

•Tiling Mason AC mechanic

•Marble mason Sheet Fabricator

Auto Electrician

Diesel Mechanic
The method of computation of workers requirement may appear simple, but in actual practice
assessment of production efficiency and thereby workers productivity standards are the most
challenging tasks faced by the project planners.

Identifying Requisite Skills:

Construction involves multi-skill technology for its wide range of related activities. These skills
vary with the nature of jobs, type of project and corporate policy of the contractor. The first step
towards determining productivity standard is to identify the trade workers needed for execution
of the project. A typical trade categorization of construction workers encountered in a building
project is shown in table

Under I.S. 10302: 1982, Indian Standards on “Unified nomenclature of workmen for civil
engineering ”, published by its Construction Management Section Committee includes around
95 categories of labors.

The trade categories and crew sizes used for determining construction output also varies with
various agencies publishing output planning norms.
 Typical Building Construction workers planning data
S. No Activities Unity Gang size Un-skilled Output/day(8
hrs)
1 Excavation CM - 2 7
2 backfilling CM - 3 15
3 Concrete Mixing CM 2 10 17

4 Formwork SM 2 1 10
5 Reinforcement SM 2 1 11
6 B.R.C Fabric Cutting MT 2 1 .30

7 Bitumen points SM 2 1 165

8 Block work plaster SM 2 2 40

9 Bitumen paints SM - 1
 Consider a task involving of fixing timber formwork for the roof slab of a single-storey building. The time earmarked for
completion is four days, working eight hours per day. If a workers team consisting of two skilled workers and an unskilled
worker can install the formwork at the rate of hour, then:
 Effort required =  Formwork quantity
Output per team
= 160meter square.
1.25 meter square per team hrs.
= 128 team-hrs.
Team required= team hours /completion period= 128 /4 teams, each of (2skilled+ 1skilled)
4days completions period 4days, 8hrs completion period.
Workers required= 4(2 skilled + 1skilled)= 8 skilled + 4 un-skilled.

 Experienced estimators and planners compile the workers production planning norms for estimating the manpower
requirements. In the absence of such planning data, appropriate norms can be evolved using one or a combination of the
following methods:
 Analyzing the past performance data.
 Abstracting data from published norms.
 Work-studying the actual work process.
Factors Affecting Production Efficiency
Some of the typical factors affecting the works production efficiency are given in the following. The values,
for changes in the productivity rate or human effort are indicated for conceptual purpose; these should be
considered as guidelines and not mathematical rules.
Work complexity a simple, familiar work, is easier to execute than an unfamiliar, complex one. The extra
effort needed for the latter type of work, specially in the initial stages, may range from 10-100% of the
normal expected productivity.
Repetition of work: While the first-time execution of an unfamiliar work needs extra effort and results in
low output, the skill acquired in the process, when utilized over a period of time to execute similar works,
improves productivity rate, especially when crew of workers is the same. This improvement in productivity
rate continues till a certain limit is reached.
This limit corresponds to the stage when the crew acquires the necessary skill and becomes thoroughly
conversant with the process, and the work is performed at its peak productivity rate. This impact of repetitive
work on the productivity rate varies with time, nature of task and the characteristics of the crew. As thumb
rule, the improvement in productivity rate can be taken from 5-15% for each repetition, from its initially
assessed rate of about 60-80% of the average output rate till it reaches about 120% of the average rate.
Quality control : Stringent quality controls is sensitive projects, like in the construction of a nuclear reactor
calls for frequent inspections, which involve elaborate documentation and is a time consuming task. They
increase the non-productive time of workers and, in turn, reduce productivity by 10-25%.
Equipment-intensive tasks The construction tasks which can be performed wholly or partly with equipments
include excavating, handling , transporting, filling, compaction, garding, hoisting, fabricating, pre-casting,
erecting, plastering, finishing ,paving, trenching, cable-laying, pipe-laying, and so on. Generally, special-
purpose equipments are required for performing these tasks.The construction equipment executes works
speedily, but it needs operators.
 Supervision :A supervisor manages his assigned technical work as well as the workers under him. The
accomplishment of tasks economically and on schedule mostly depends upon the competence of the supervisor,
which in turn affects the workers productivity. An efficient and effective supervisor can get a higher productivity
from workers.

 Climatic and weather conditions Generally, under average conditions with temperature varying from 40-70F and
relative humidity of 60%, the workers continue working at the same productivity level. But extreme weather
situations and seasonal changes like extreme hot or cold climate, high humidity, and strong winds and rains affect
both productivity as well as the work performance.
Since construction project are spread over several months or even years, it is necessary to adjust the effect of
weather changes month-by-month on workers productivity as well as work execution. This adjustment in
productivity can best the assessed by experience or it can be derived from available area productivity index.

 Labor availability: The labor productivity also depends upon the employment opportunities available in the market.
If jobs are plenty and labor is scarce, the labor productivity tends to become less. During a slump in the construction
market, labor is easily available while there is a dearth of jobs. In such situations, employers can afford to be
selective as hiring and firing of workers become easy. In scarce job situation, the overall productivity improves since
the employers can then sort out labor with a light productivity. There is also a tendency among labor to move to
high-value, large-sized projects since they offer them longer service, better job opportunities and more stability.

 Role of management The project management has a key role to play in planning and control long productivity. It is
responsible for specifying the weekly target of work to be accomplished by the workers as well as how the works
are to be executed and using which resources. It provides feedback to the workers on their past performance, and
communicates performance improvement measures.
SEHEDULING CONSTRUCTION SITE WORKERS
Direct and Indirect Workers: The workers at the project site are inducted to perform a specific function and its connected
tasks. These workers include supervisors, construction workers, operators and drivers and administrative personnel. For
ease of estimating, planning, accounting and controlling, the project workers are broadly divided into two categories,
namely-direct workers or construction site workers and indirect workers or support manpower.
 Direct manpower These are the construction site workers who can be identified with execution of the client’s permanent
works such as those listed in the bill of quantities. The direct manpower constitutes 75-90% of the total manpower
employed at the project site.The direct construction workers include foremen and tradesmen, skilled in various engineering
trades, in addition to the semi-skilled and unskilled manpower. The tradesmen include shutting carpenters, fabricators, steel
fixers or iron workers, masons, plumbers, electricians, furniture carpenters, mental workers, painters and decorators.
Generally the wages of construction site workers are accounted on a daily or hourly basis, and their activity-wise
requirement is computed using the workers productivity standards.
 Indirect manpower The indirect manpower covers all supervisors, staff and workers other than those in the direct
manpower. It is required to support the direct manpower, both technically and administratively. It generally of the project
management and administration group. The indirect manpower is generally accounted on monthly basis with some
exceptions like plant and machinery operators who can be accounted on daily wages like direct manpower. Most of the
indirect manpower can be assessed while formulating organization of work and can also be estimated using thumb-rules
based on experience.
 Example the following are some examples of direct and indirect construction site workers.
 A shuttering carpenter employed in the preparation of from work during construction of the roof slab of a building, which
forms a part of the contract, is categorized as a direct worker, while another carpenter engaged in the construction of a
workers camp (temporary accommodation) for housing labor is an indirect worker. Similarly a welder employed in the
manufacture of metallic inserts for fixing In the ground slab of a permanent building is a direct worker, while in the vehicle
and plant maintenance and repair workshop is considered an indirect worker.
 A vehicle driver of a concrete truck mixer used for transporting ready-mix concrete from site batching
plant and the concreting site is classified as direct worker of the ready-mix concrete supply work-
centre, whereas a driver of a personnel-carrying vehicle is taken as an indirect worker.
 Generally all persons in a project engaged in the administrative duties such as office functioning,
supervision, repair and maintenance workshop, and operation and maintenance of utility service are
grouped as indirect workers.
 The workers scheduling methodology involves the following two steps:
 Scheduling direct construction site workers.
 Adding indirect construction site workers.
 Scheduling Direct Workers The project direct manpower constitutes a major portion of the labor strength. It
comprises of production workers who can be identified with the execution of an activity of permanent works.
 The direct manpower schedule indicates, data-wise as well as category-wise the worker strength required to accomplish
the scheduled work. The past performance data is invaluable for conceptualizing manpower forecast. For example, the
actual workers utilized for a project shown can roughly indicate the effort in man-months and the peak manpower
required for similar projects. This illustration shows that for similar works peak workers strength may be around 1.5
times the average manpower. But, then, no two projects are alike, and the manpower schedule for each project has to be
compiled separately.
 The bar chart of construction work schedule with its date of commencement and completion of each activity has a
specified duration, work content, and manpower required for its accomplishment, the daily average manpower required
for each scheduled activity can be assessed as:
 Quantity of work x labour productivity standard in man-days + duration in days.

 The ratio of skilled and unskilled workers in a construction team depends upon on the nature of work.
 The date-wise aggregation of manpower required for the scheduled activities (or work-items)indicates the daily strength
of manpower, category-wise, required to accomplish the scheduled work as per the project plan.
 Daily manpower required for scheduled work:
 Number of manpower of construction of scheduled activity on date.
 Adding Indirect construction Site Workers
 Requirement of indirect workers varies with the nature and size of the project. There are some yardsticks for assessing
administrative persons, but on the whole the number of indirect workers required for each project has to be estimated
and scheduled separately on case by case basis.
Adjustments for Daily Manpower Requirement:

 The daily forecast of manpower can best be considered an approximate estimate of the work
force required under the normal operating conditions. The factors such as learning process,
weather conditions, labor turnover, strikes, absenteeism, sickness and the overtime working
policy affect the day to day aggregated manpower requirement. Though it is difficult to quantify
such variables, for planning proposes the aggregated manpower in each category may be
increased by 5% or so to cater to these factors.
 On the other hand, it is also possible to decrease manpower. Though it is difficult to replace
skilled workers by machines the overall strength of the work force can be reduced by increasing
productivity as follows:
 Replacing unskilled labor by machines wherever feasible in jobs like loading, unloading, shifting,
bar-cutting, etc
 Using appropriate and efficient tools as equipment.
 Constantly improving the methods of production.
 Increasing productivity through improved working conditions and incentives.
 Implementing the job-oriented financial incentive schemes.
 Training workers to overcome the initial learning period.
 In particular, overtime working based on job-oriented financial incentive scheme if properly
implemented can cut down the daily manpower requirement by a substantial amount say 10-
15%.. 
The workers productivity norms vary from area. Workers coming from different areas,
even when employed on a similar job, have different productivity. This difference is
due to a blend of many ethnic and environmental factors. Considering the production
norms of one of these areas (or a project) as the base, the production norms for other
areas can be assessed using a relative published index or experiences, as illustrated.

Area Location Relative productive Index

Zone A .95
Zone B 1.00
Zone C .93
Zone D .91
Zone E .95
Zone F 1.10
 Scheduling Direct Workers :
The project direct manpower constitutes a major portion of the labour strength. It comprises of production
workers who can be identified with the execution of an activity of permanent works.
 The direct manpower schedule indicates, data-wise as well as category-wise the worker strength required
to accomplish the scheduled work. The past performance data is invaluable for conceptualizing manpower
forecast. For example, the actual workers utilized for a project can roughly indicate the effort in man-
months and the peak manpower required for similar projects. No two projects are alike, and the manpower
schedule for each project has to be compiled separately.
 The bar chart of construction work schedule with its date of commencement and completion of each
activity has a specified duration, work content, and manpower required for its accomplishment, the daily
average manpower required for each scheduled activity can be assessed as:
 Quantity of work x labor productivity standard in man-days + duration in days.
 The ratio of skilled and unskilled workers in a construction team depends upon the nature of work. A
typical skilled and helper ratio used for building construction activity by a company in the Middle East,
employing workers.
 The daily strength of manpower, category-wise, required to accomplish the scheduled work as per the
project plan.
Adding Indirect construction Site Workers:
 Requirement of indirect workers varies with the nature and size of the project. There are some yardsticks
for assessing administrative persons, but on the whole the number of indirect workers required for each
project has to be estimated and scheduled separately on case by case basis.
 Nature of groups:

 The project manpower organization depicts the hierarchy of organizational groups of

people. Each group is headed be a leader. Each leader is assigned specific tasks, resources,
responsibilities and authority that enables him to manage the group efficiently and
effectively for accomplishing the assigned objectives.

 Command and control group: This group includes the project manager and his key
staff. The Command and Control key staff of a medium-sized project would include the
following:

 Planning and monitoring staff.

 Costing and contract administration staff.
 Technical staff, including the manpower of design and drawing office, site laboratory and
technical library.
 Administration and personal staff and worker connected with temporary housing, catering,
camp utility services, medicine and welfare, safety and security, and other facilities, for the
entire project.
 Material handling staff and workers.
 Plant and machinery workshop engineers, staff, operators, mechanics, drivers, electricians,
fabricators, welders, riggers, and so on.
 Finance management and cost accounting staff.
 Command and control staff falls in the category of indirect manpower.
Construction task forces:
These are responsible for transformation inputs into output. The
construction task forces of the typical Housing Project, as is evident from
its organizational chart, include the following:

 Building structure construction task force.

 Precast building production and erection task force.
 Building finishes construction task force.
 External services construction task force.
 A construction task force consists of one or more work centers. A work
center is entrusted with the execution of a group of activities constituting
one or more work packages.
 A task force generally operates with out much interference from the other
executing agencies. It is an independent and significant unit of project
organization. It is fully supported with design and drawing packages,
construction plan and allocated resources.
Forecasting Indirect Manpower
 As stated earlier, the indirect manpower requirement is related to the management functions.
In construction projects, these functions can broadly can grouped as.
 Project office management
 Design and drawing management
 Estimation and contracts management
 Planning and monitoring management
 Project administration and personal management
 Cost and finance management
 Materials management
 Plant and equipment management
 Quality management
 Construction supervision management
 Support services management
 In general, the extent of indirect manpower needed to perform the project functions depends
upon the type and size of the project. A small project may need few indirect personal to
supervise and manage whereas a large-sized project may require far more indirect manpower
of various categories including managers, engineers, staff, and skilled technical and
administration assistants and workers, further, the period of employment of the indirect
manpower varies with the project needs.
Structuring Site Organization: The project organization is temporary-it ceases to be on completion of the
project. It on conceived during the project conception stage and comes into existence at the start of
planning stage. Gradually, it grows and undergoes changes with the various stages of the project life cycle
to meet project. It’s special attributes include the innovation capacity to overcome problems as they arise.
Usually it is staffed with experienced people to respond speedily to changing situations and to speed up
decision making.

Unity of command: According to this no man serve two bosses simultaneously that the worker should receive
orders from and be responsible to only one superior.

Scalar principle: This implies that within an organization, the chain of command or hierarchy showing the
superior-subordinate relationship should be well defined, that is, it should clearly lay down the channel of
authority, decision-making and communication.

Span of control: This principle puts a limit to the number of subordinates (span of control) reporting to a
superior. In other words, an executive should be made accountable for the actions of only a limited number
of subordinates. The span of control depends upon many factors such as :

1) Nature of work.
2) Project characteristics, including execution time.
3) Moral and competence of the people.
(iii) Lump-sum work payment : Employee is paid according to: scheme Time saved from standard
time fixed for completing the job. A lump-sum amount paid for completing the fixed quantity of a
specified job.
(iv) Profit sharing bonus: These can be paid as bonus after a predetermined
time, say, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly.
The basis of financial incentive schemes is the setting of attainable output target rates for time or
task. Generally, for direct workers these output targets are derived from the productivity
standards. For indirect manpower, the tie employed and profit-sharing may be the only method of
offering financial incentives.
Finalizing a financial incentive scheme for a given work is a difficult process. A scheme once
agreed upon cannot be altered without concurrence of the parties concerned. The following
guidelines can help in designing a financial incentive scheme for the direct workers. The scheme
should be:
•Attainable enough, so that the workers find prospects of higher earning than their guaranteed
minimum wages.
•Simple enough, so that the workers can easily comprehend it.
•Specific enough, so that the output can be measured without any controversy.
•Concise enough, so that the unforeseen and unavoidable holdups in progressing works can be
easily determined and workers compensated for the time wasted during execution.
•Supervised enough, so that work progresses smoothly as per standards engineering practices and
quality specifications.
•Comprehensive enough, so that all the statutory requirements are fulfilled.
An incentive scheme needs to be designed carefully. It is difficult to sell to
workers. It faces teething problems during implementation. Once implemented,
it cannot be altered without concurrence of the affected workers.
With all its drawbacks, however, an incentive scheme is still necessary to induce
the workers to give their best. In conclusion, it can said that workers work
harder if there is a financial reward linked to their performance, and the
management saves upon time and costs if it is properly implemented.
THANK YOU