‫جامعة السودان للعلوم والتكنولوجيا‬

‫كلية هندسة و تكنولوجيا النفط‬

‫‪Work Breakdown Structure‬‬

‫)‪(WBS‬‬
 Work Breakdown Structure
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the foundation
for project planning and control. It is the connecting point
for work and cost estimates, schedule information, actual
effort/cost expenses, and Responsibility.
It must exist before the project manager can plan these related
and vital aspects of the project, and they all must be planned
before the project manager will be able to measure progress
and variance from plan. In order to perform this vital
function, the WBS is at its core a hierarchy of deliverables or
tangible outcomes.
Organizational Structures
Organizations are as old as mankind. Survival forced people to
organize into families, tribes, and communities to provide for basic
needs (security, food, shelter, etc.) that a single person had difficulty
providing.
Organizations
long-term goals coordinated
created to achieve work of
specific unique goals
within a limited time required many
frame thousands of
ambitious undertakings people
 Work Breakdown Structure
The Functional Structure hierarchical
designed to support structure
repetitive activities over depending on
a long (indefinite) period works
specialization
of time.
involving

In large organizations, each function is subdivided

further, to the point that a proper span of control is
achieved.
The Project Structure
 The project structure is designed to handle
one-time, unique, and non recurrent
endeavors.
 It is based on a task force assembled for a
limited time to achieve a predefined goal.
The members of the project team may come
from different organizational units and have
different educations and backgrounds.
Organizations involved in ongoing operations and
multiple projects simultaneously develop hybrid
structures that mix the functional organizational
structure with the project structure.
most of these structures are based on a permanent
functional skeleton and temporary project structures.
Each project has a project manager (or coordinator)
that serves as a point of contact for the customers and
is responsible for the project success.
While the tasks assigned to each functional unit are
repetitive and can be learned by repetition, the work
content of each project must be defined and properly
allocated to individuals and organizations
participating in the project.

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is the tool

commonly used to ensure proper division of
labor and integration of the project deliverables.
HIERARCHIES IN THE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT: THE
NEED FOR A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

A framework composed of two hierarchical structures

known as the work breakdown structure (WBS) and
the organizational breakdown structure (OBS) is used
for dividing the project scope amongst the
participating individuals and organizations in an
efficient and effective.
The Scope
In a project context the term scope refers to:
• The product or service scope, defined as the features and functions
to be included in the product of service.
• The project scope, defined as the work that must be done in order to
deliver a product or service with the specified features and functions
The project total scope is the sum of products and services it should
provide. The work required to complete this total scope is defined in
a document known as the statement of work, or scope of work
(SOW). All the work that is required to complete the project should
be listed in the SOW along with explanations detailing why the work
is needed and how it relates to the total project effort.
 Implementing Division of Labor in Projects
The SOW is translated into a hierarchical structure called the
work breakdown structure (WBS).

The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines the WBS as

follows: ‘‘A deliverable–oriented grouping of project
elements which organizes and defines the total scope of
the project. Each descending level represents an
increasingly detailed definition of a project component.
Project components may be products or services’’ (PMI
1996).
the WBS is a hierarchical structure in which
the top level represents the total work
content of the project while at the lowest
level there are work elements or
components.
By allocating the lower-level elements to the
participating individuals and organization, a
clear definition of responsibility is created.
The WBS is the tool with which division of
labor is defined. It should be comprehensive
—that is, cover all the work content of the
project and logical—to allow clear allocation
of work to the participating individual and
organizations as well as integration of the
deliverables produced by the participants
into the project-required deliverables.
Coordination and Integration
Division of labor is required whenever the
work content of the project exceeds what a
single person can complete within the
required time frame or when there is no
single person who can master all the
knowledge and abilities required for the
project.
Two reasons that promote division of labor may
lead to the failure of the project:
1.Coordination of the work performed by different
individuals and organizations is required because
outputs (deliverables) of some participants provide
inputs to the work of other participants in the
project.

2.The ability to integrate the deliverables produced

by different participants is crucial.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROJECT ORGANIZATION
AND THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

The WBS is designed to WBS defined

support the division of the the lowest WBS level to an
organizational unit or a
project scope (work content)
specific individual
responsible for it in the OBS
individuals and organizations

which is accomplished by allocates each

combining the WBS with component of the
OBS. project scope
Responsibility
To support division of labor, the WBS should
integrate with the OBS of the project.
At the top level of the OBS is the project
manager, and at the bottom are individuals
responsible for the accomplishment of specific
work content in the WBS. These subprojects
allocated to responsible managers are known as
work packages.
The manager of a work package is an expert in its
product scope and project scope. Thus, all the
project-management processes at the work package
level are the responsibility of the work package
manager. These include tasks such as scheduling the
activities of the work packages, assigning resources,
estimating cost, and monitoring and control. These
tasks are specific to the work package and may
include such activities as design, manufacturing,
training, testing, and support.
The assignment of responsibility to the work package
managers should be based on a clear definition of the work
content of the work package, including:
• Deliverables and the delivery time of each
• Required inputs to the work package (data,
output from other work packages, etc.)
• Required resources to perform the work package
• Cost of performing the work package
• Tests and design reviews
 THE DESIGN OF A (WBS) AND TYPES OF (WBS)

The WBS serves as the taxonomy of the project. It

enables all the project stakeholders—customers,
suppliers, the project team itself, and others—to
communicate effectively throughout the life cycle
of the project.
For each project, one can design the WBS in
several different ways, each emphasizing a
particular point of view.
The design of the WBS at the early stage of
the project life cycle may have a significant
impact on the project success. Often the
individuals who prepare the WBS are not
aware of the crucial role they play in
determining future coordination and
understanding among the operational units
who eventually execute the work packages.
A mismatch among the WBS, the OBS,
and the management style of the project
manager may lead to a poor project-
completion record.
Such difficulties are compounded if
different parties that are involved in the
project have produced different WBSs.
 EXAMPLE
Level 1 Level 2
1 Project initiation 1 Project initiation
2 Key milestones 1.1 Scope of work definition
3 Conceptual design 1.2 Site assessment
4 Pre-basic design 1.3 Project definition
5 Basic design 2 Key milestones
6 Time and cost management 2.1 Project effectiveness
7 Bidding process & selection of 2.2 Issue of pre-basic & configuration report
successful contractor 2.3 Approval of pre-basic & configuration
8 Award of contract report (by client)
9 Performing the detailed design 2.4 Issue of major equipment data sheets
10 Performing the procurement 2.5 Issue of basic design package
11 Construction
12 Commissioning
13 Delivery & close out
3 Conceptual design 6 Time and cost management
3.1 Reviewing the requirements 6.1 Activity definitions
3.2 Market evaluation 6.2 Activity sequencing
3.3 Evaluation long term and short 6.3 Activity resource estimates
term benefit 6.4 Activity duration estimates
3.4 Technical study 6.5 Develop schedule
4 Pre-basic design 6.6 Risk management
4.1 Process 6.7 Project investment cost estimate
5 Basic design
5.1 Process 7 Bidding process & selection of successful
5.2 Piping contractor
5.3 Electrical 7.1 Announcing the bid
5.4 Civil & architectural 7.2 Submitting the bid documents to potential
5.5 Health & safety & environment contractors
5.6 Mechanical 7.3 Evaluation of the received proposal
5.7 Instrumentation 7.4 Selection of successful contractor
8. Award of contract 10 Performing the procurement
8.1 Review notification of proceed & signing 10.1 Completing the vendor list for all
of contract materials & equipment
8.2 Planning for the evaluation of actual 10.2 Sending the necessary documents
manpower needed to the suppliers
8.3 Revaluation of needed spaces comparing 10.3 Receive proposals of the suppliers
to actual available 10.4 Selecting of the winning suppliers
8.4 Submission of bond & insurance 10.5 Contracting with the winning
certificates suppliers
9 Performing the detailed design 11 Construction
9.1 Preparing and awarding subcontractor (consultant) 11.1 Construction phases
for detail design 11.2 Process
9.2 Endorsement of base design documents 11.3 Installation Piping
9.3 Process 11.4 Electrical
9.4 Piping 11.5 Civil & architectural
9.5 Electrical 11.6 Healthy, safety & environment
9.6 Civil & architectural 11.7 Mechanical
9.7 Health, safety & environment 11.8 Instrumentation
9.8 Mechanical 11.9 Testing
12 Commissioning
12.1 Pre commissioning of
process area 13 Delivery & close out
12.2 Modifications 13.1 Delivering manuals
12.3 Safety manuals and 13.2 Preparing and delivering
safety plans as-built drawings
13.3 Delivery of extra material
to the client
13.4 Finalizing the financial
issues
13.7 Start-up of operation
 WBS for the construction of petroleum refineries

Project initiation Conceptual design Award of contract Construction

Review notification
Scope of work Reviewing the Construction
of proceed &
definition requirements phases
signing of contract

Preparing and
Evaluation long
delivery of
Project definition term and short Installation Piping
cost/cash flow
term benefit
estimates

Preparing contract
Healthy, safety &
Technical study and signing the
environment
contract

Testing