KAEA 4165

Construction Management and Technology

CRITICAL PATH METHOD 3

Dr. Tan Chee Ghuan
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Resource Management
The most important resources: people, machines,
materials and money.
If these resources are available in abundance, then the
project could be accelerated to achieve shorter project
duration.
If these resources are severely limited, then the result
more likely will be a delay in the project completion
time.

In general, from a scheduling perspective, projects

can be classified as either time constrained or
resource constrained.

Resource Leveling
Time constrained project - project completion time can
not be delayed even if additional resources are required.
However, the additional resource usage should be no
more than what is absolutely necessary.
The primary focus purposes of scheduling in time
constrained projects is to improve resource utilization.
This process is called resource leveling.
It applies when it is desired to reduce the hiring and firing
of resources and to smooth the fluctuation in the daily
demand of a resource.
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Resource Leveling

In this case, resources are not limited and project duration

is not allowed to be delayed.
The objective in this case is to shift non-critical activities
of the original schedule, within their float times so that a
better resource profile is achieved.

Resource Scheduling
Resource constrained project - the level of
resource availability cannot be exceeded.
In those situations where resources are
inadequate, project delay is acceptable, but the
delay should be minimal.
The focus of scheduling in these situations is to
prioritize and allocate resources in such a manner
that there is minimal project delay.
However, it is also important to ensure that the
resource limit is not exceeded and the technical
relationships in the project network are respected.

Resource Scheduling
Shortage of resources is a major challenge for construction projects. i.e.
number of skilled labor is limited, a related equipment has to be returned
as soon as possible, a limited require our special consideration.
Scheduling under these resource constraints becomes a complex
problem, particularly when more than one resource is limited.

Resource Scheduling

Example 1: Resource Leveling

Critical path:A-C-F-H-K

Example 1: Resource Leveling

Critical path:A-C-F-H-K

Example 1: Resource Leveling

Activity

Duration

Total Float/Slack

Resource Hours
Needed Per Week

Total Resources
Required

30

20

18

18

12

16

21

20

25

Total

194

Example 1: Resource Leveling

Day 10

On day 10 the required resource hours is 10

If project is budgetted for up to 10 resource units per day, then it is
acceptable.

Example 1: Resource Leveling

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2
4
3
3
2
4
3
4
2
5

How if the project is limit to 9 resources hour?

Activity C, D, and E are all scheduled on this day and have require 4, 3, and
3 hours respectively.

Example 1: Resource Leveling

Which activity should be adjusted?
Critical path:A-C-F-H-K
C is on the critical path
E has 1 day slack
D has 3 days of slack (we can split the activity)

2
4
3

3
3
2
4
3

Example 2: Resource Leveling

Question:

Solution:

Activity M has a free float of 7 weeks.

Shifting activity M by 7 weeks will reduce
the peak usage of the resource on weeks
10 and 11 and increase the usage on
weeks 17 and 18. Also, shifting activity M
will give chance for preceding activities to
be shifted.

Activity J can be shifted by 6, however it

has 8 weeks free float. By shifting activity
J, the free float of both activities E and F
are changed.

Shift activity L by 2 weeks to optimize the

resource usage. The free float of activity
will be changed to 2 weeks.

 Next, shift activity E by 10 weeks to

improve the resource usage.
Shift activity H by 2 weeks.
Finally, shift activity F by 1 week.

Resource histogram after leveling

Example 3: Resource Scheduling

Question:
Resource limit is set at 8 hourly units per day. Display the
amount of resources required as a function of time.
B

C
Activity

Resource

Duration

ES

Slack

LF

11

11

11

12

A
C

E
F

Activity

Resource

Duration

ES

Slack

LF

11

11

11

12

Project delay 2
days due to
resource limitation

Project delay 2
days due to
resource limitation

Rearrange
activities
within their slack to
create a more level
profile.
Splitting
C
creates a more level
project.

Example 4: Resource Scheduling

Question:
A construction project is presented using an AOA as shown with the
duration and number of workers required to complete each activity.
Determine the critical path and the project duration. If only 11
workers are available for this project, workout the minimum duration
required to complete the project using the serial method for
allocating the workers. Make use of the table below.
4

4
4

3
4

7
6

weeks
workers

Solution:

3
0

6
6

2
3

5
7

EF

LS

LF

ET

10

11

Priority Rules:
1. Critical Paths (zero
float)
2. Earliest Start
3. Least Float
4. Largest No. of
Resource - week

Priority Rules:
1. Critical Paths (zero float)

Priority Rules:
1. Critical Paths (zero float)
2. Earliest Start
3. Least Float
4. Largest No. of Resource
- week

CHECK DEPENDENCY PATH!!

Example 5: Resource Scheduling

Question:
Resource M limited to 5, resource L limited to 8.
Calculate the activity times and identify the critical path.
Produce a scheduled start date for each activity based on the resources
loading diagrams for both M and L which do not exceed the resources
limitations. Use the priority sorting of early start total float in
preparing the resource loading diagrams
Activity

Duration
(Weeks)

Resource requirement

Example 5: Resource Scheduling

Given:
B

F
H

A
C

G
I