Development of cost driven work breakdown structure for project monitoring and controlling

Abstract

One of the major issue in evaluating project work progress is due to theseparation between the work item in Bill of Quantities (BoQ) and physical activitiesproject schedule. This condition led to many problems such as the variances in projectperformance measurement from the physical schedule progress and the evaluationmade by using cost elements in BoQ. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integratecost in BoQ and work schedule to enable the application of the Earn Value Analysis(EVA) as the standard approach for the project performance appraisal. However theprocess of rationalising the cost element from BoQ to activities in project schedule isa very challenging task. Direct conversion of cost is virtually impossible. Themethodologies adopted for this study were through literature review, interviews withexpert panel, distribution of questionnaire survey form and validation of the proposedguideline developed with industry panels. From this study, it has been found thatcurrently there is no specific guideline of rationalising the cost element from BoQ toproject schedule. There is also no specific methodology on how to develop cost-drivenWBS. This study has established that WBS can be used as an appropriate platform toconvert BoQ cost to project schedule. Since WBS played a significant role indeveloping cost-driven schedule, this study has determine an appropriate guidelinesthat can be used to establish a suitable WBS. These guidelines have been validated byindustry panel. Therefore, this study has been carried out with aim to resolve this issueby using Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) as a medium to rationalise the projectcost elements for activities in project schedule. As conclusion, this study hasdetermined that the use of WBS as a strategic approach toward establishing cost-drivenschedule.