Resource Allocation and Resource Leveling - Construction Project Scheduling and Control - page 147

late dates). This approach is used especially for activities that require coordination with
the general contractor or other subcontractors. In such cases, the subcontractor loses
the float for such activities and his or her scheduled dates become critical. The subcon-
tractor must then be careful not to change the start or finish dates of these activities,
for any reason. without consulting the general contractor.
Tip Box 6.4
A general contractor does not typically level his subcontractor's resources but must
require subcontractors coordination if they level their resources in order to maintain
control of the master schedule.
Tip Box 6.5
Upon leveling the resources, all activities become “critical” from a resource-leveling
point of view. This means that any activity shift, even within its float, may disturb
the resources usage profile and resource set limits, and this negates the purpose of
resource leveling.
This author also has observed that only a minority of contractors/schedulers
level the resources in CPM schedules. In fact, a good percentage of them don't even
resource-load the schedules. This is fine as long as the project manager realizes that
most resources are not unlimited, so the project manager has to pay attention to the
daily consumption of resources, particularly the important ones. Of course, this still
may not result in the most efficient use of the resources.
Resource Calendars
Certain resources may be available only on certain dates or days of the week. The
scheduler can create a special calendar with workdays matching those of the specific
resource. For example, if the safety officer for a construction project is available only
on Monday and Tuesday (perhaps because she spends other days of the week on other
projects), we can create a “Safety Inspection” calendar with only two workdays per
week: Monday and Tuesday. If this calendar is assigned to an activity, this activity can
only be scheduled during these two days of the week.
Work Space as a Resource
Some experts like to deal with work space as a resource since it is shared by all work-
force members and is limited. This author does not prefer to do so, but space has to
be managed efficiently throughout the project. What is important in this context is