1.7 Resource Identification and Project Variables

1.7 Resource Identification and Project Variables

Planning asks not only what work is required, but what enables it. A technically logical sequence can still be infeasible if the project lacks skilled labor, lifting capacity, design information, workfront access, material, funding, or supervision.

Resource categories

Identify resources broadly:

Information and space are often overlooked because scheduling software commonly labels only people and equipment as resources. Yet a missing approved drawing or unavailable workfront can be the true limiting resource.

Resource attributes

For each material resource, determine:

• quantity and availability dates;
• skill or capacity;
• production rate and learning effects;
• shift pattern, calendar, and location;
• mobilization, transfer, and demobilization time;
• exclusivity or sharing with other projects;
• replacement options and lead time; and
• owner responsible for confirmation.

Avoid assuming that doubling crew size halves duration. Space, supervision, trade interference, equipment, and workflow can cap production.

Project variables

Project variables are conditions that shape the plan. They include scope definition, design maturity, delivery and contracting strategy, site geography, existing operations, regulation, stakeholder decisions, technology novelty, market capacity, weather, logistics, security, quality requirements, and interface complexity.

Some variables are constraints: an environmental window may prohibit work. Some are assumptions: a permit is expected by a date. Some are risks: a vendor may miss that date. Classify them so the team knows how to model and manage each one.

Assumption and constraint log

Trace material entries into the schedule basis, resource plan, risk register, and change process.

From planning to scheduling

At conceptual planning, resource identification tests whether the execution strategy is credible. At detailed scheduling, quantities and production rates support activity durations and loads. During optimization, resource smoothing or leveling resolves over-allocation. During control, actual productivity and availability update the forecast.

These stages should not be collapsed. A leveling algorithm cannot fix an execution strategy that assumed nonexistent access or skills.

Scenario example

A project plans two concurrent heavy lifts but owns one crane. Options include sequential lifts, rental of a second crane, changed module sequence, or field assembly. Each has time, cost, safety, and risk effects. The plan must select or explicitly defer the strategy; leaving both activities concurrent without an identified resolution produces an infeasible baseline.

Common traps

• Counting workers without skill distinctions.
• Loading resources after dates are committed and then ignoring over-allocation.
• Treating owner decisions as unlimited resources.
• Hiding uncertainty in long durations instead of maintaining assumptions and risks.
• Forgetting resource-transfer time between workfronts.

A credible plan links scope and sequence to resources and variables that can actually support execution.

Applied review: make availability time-phased

A resource plan must say more than “labor available.” Identify the trade or skill, quantity, productivity basis, shift pattern, mobilization time, learning curve, work location, supervision, equipment pairing, and date range of availability. Material and equipment resources need procurement, transport, inspection, storage, installation, and release assumptions. An average monthly quantity can conceal a short peak that makes the scheduled sequence infeasible.

Project variables should be converted into explicit planning assumptions or risk events. Examples include weather calendars, permit windows, operating-plant outages, owner decisions, design maturity, escalation, local labor conditions, site congestion, environmental restrictions, and funding releases. Some variables justify calendar treatment; others belong as activities, constraints, resource limits, or risk-register entries. Avoid representing every uncertainty as a hard date constraint, because that can hide the network's true drivers.

Use a simple test: if the variable changes, can the model show which activities and milestones move and why? If not, the representation may be too vague. During review, compare resource demand with time-phased supply, investigate overloads, and test alternatives such as resequencing, work-face changes, added shifts, or different methods. A credible exam answer acknowledges that resources influence duration and sequence but does not promise that automatic leveling alone will produce an acceptable plan.