You work for “Reasonable Builders”. The company is negotiating a contract to build two units on a vacant block of land in Essendon. The owner of the company has asked you to give him a time line

School of Project Management

BUSM4613 Project Management Techniques Assessment 3a: MS Project Option 1

Assessment Type: Individual Project Plan

Word limit: N/A

Due date:

Weighting

Overview

Thursday of Week 7, 23:59 Melbourne time  30%

The aim of this assignment is to understand and apply the concept of systematic project planning and  scheduling to an event/project using MS Project

Learning Outcomes

CLO 1 Select and apply appropriate project management techniques to manage project duration  and cost

CLO 2 Analyse and apply principles of cost control, cash flow planning and financial administration  to ensure effective project management

CLO 3 Control project cost and duration

Upon successful completion of this assessment you will be able to apply planning techniques on any  kind of projects.

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Assessment details

Brief

You work for “Reasonable Builders”. The company is negotiating a contract to build two units on a vacant block of  land in Essendon. The owner of the company has asked you to give him a time line and cost in which these two  units can be built and to provide him with MS Project Schedule using MS Project. This will help him to negotiate the  price with the Client. This is the first time for you to develop a multi project plan/schedule. Recently, you have learnt  a great deal in using MS Project and you are eager to use your skills on this project. From the company records you can get hold of a guiding schedule for one unit and your job is now to schedule the construction of both units in a most  effective way. The schedule for one unit is below.

You think of two apparent ways of doing the job:

1. Build the units one after the other but then you think it would take twice as long to build all the  units and the

Client may not be happy about it neither your boss.

2. Build two units together but it would possibly double the resource requirements.

You conclude that you need to work on a mixed strategy. You will link some tasks across

“Units” so if one task finishes in one Unit that can be started in the other Unit. You also find out that some tasks can be  started together, and resources can be shared/distributed. Where they cannot be shared you can advise your boss to  recruit/contract more resources but obviously, it will cost more. After some trials you are ready to present your Master Plan  (Project file that contains two Units together). Along with your Master Plan you write a project report that highlights:

a) How have you optimised the time and the resources?

b) What is the duration and cost of the whole project and what is critical path and what are the critical activities? c) What are the resources required and their numbers for this project according to your plan?

Task Name 

Duration 

Predecess  

ors

Resource Names

Plans and Site 

36 days

Create site plans 

2 days 

Draftsperson

Arrange council permit 

2 days 

Draftsperson

Prepare site 

7 days 

3FS + 14 

days

Labourer (300%) Carpenter

Organise Materials 

4 days 

4SS 

Supervisor

Lay Foundations 

7 days 

4,5 

Concreter, Carpenter, Labourer (200%)

Plumbing for  

Sewerage

3 days 

Plumber

Pour Slab 

1 day 

Concreter (300%), Carpenter, Labourer

Foundations Comp 

0 days 

8

10 

To Lock Up 

25 Days

11 

Erect Framing 

4 days 

Carpenter (400%)

12 

Lay roofing 

12 days 

11 

Roof Tiler (200%), Labourer (200%)

13 

Brick Walls 

6 days 

12 

Bricklayer (400%)

14 

Fit windows and doors 

3 days 

13, 11 

Carpenter (200%)

15 

Lockup 

0 days 

14

16 

Fit Out 

35 days

17 

Electrical cables 

2 days 

15 

Electrician

18 

Internal plumbing 

3 days 

17SS 

Plumber

19 

Plaster walls 

6 days 

18,17 

Plasterer (300%)

20 

Internal doors and trim 

4 days 

19 

Carpenter (200%)

21 

Install kitchen 

4 days 

20 

Cabinet maker (200%)

22 

Install bathroom 

6 days 

21SS 

Cabinet maker, Plumber

23 

Final electrical fittings 

2 days 

22, 21 

Electrician

24 

Final plumbing fittings 

2 days 

23SS 

Plumber

25 

Paint 

6 days 

24 

Painter (300%)

26 

Council approval 

1 day 

25

27 

Construction  

complete

0 days 

26FS + 

7days

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Assessment details (continued)

Brief (continued)

Guide to Standard Rates: You may change if you wish

Resource 

Std  

Rate 

per  

hour

Draftsperson 

$40

Electrician 

$33

Plumber 

$35

Concreter 

$18

Carpenter 

$19

Labourer 

$12

Painter 

$14

Supervisor 

$28

Cabinet Maker 

$20.50

1 

0

Roof Tiler 

$15

1 

1

Bricklayer 

$13

1 

2

Plasterer 

$14

Your boss appreciates your work and successfully negotiates the project with the Client. The duration and cost that  you estimated becomes the baseline. The Client agrees to provide all the material to be used and contracts your  company for providing the services on Cost plus Fixed Fee basis.

The project gets underway. Unfortunately, Draftsperson leaves your company just a day before the project is going  to start. It takes your boss a week to arrange a new draftsperson. As he is a new person, it takes him at least 2  days longer than planned to finish his job. When the slab is being poured for Unit 1 the concrete mixer breaks  down. You stop the work for that day and complete the rest of the job the next day. You also find out that erecting  the frame takes at least 3 days more than what you have planned for. You constantly update the project to monitor  the changes.

When the project is approximately half way through, your boss asks you to develop a formal progress report so  that it can be sent to the Client.

This report presents the progress of the project and contains the following:

1.Current status of the project

2.Tracking Gantt Chart

3.Variances tables for time and cost.

Assume the Project Start Date. Assume the working time as 8hr/day from 8:30am – 5:30pm with one hour  break. Assume any missing data such as Public holidays, Xmas Period and state this upfront in your  Planning Report.

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Referencing guidelines

You must acknowledge all the courses of information you have used in your assessments.

Refer to the RMIT Easy Cite referencing tool to see examples and tips on how to reference in the  appropriated style. You can also refer to the library referencing page for more tools such as EndNote,  referencing tutorials and referencing guides for printing.

Use RMIT Harvard referencing style for this assessment.

Submission format

Upload as one single folder via the Assignments submission page within Canvas.

Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about honest presentation of your academic work. It means acknowledging the  work of others while developing your own insights, knowledge and ideas.

You should take extreme care that you have:

Acknowledged words, data, diagrams, models, frameworks and/or ideas of others you have  quoted (i.e. directly copied), summarised, paraphrased, discussed or mentioned in your

assessment through the appropriate referencing methods,

Provided a reference list of the publication details so your reader can locate the source if

necessary. This includes material taken from Internet sites.

If you do not acknowledge the sources of your material, you may be accused of plagiarism  because you have passed off the work and ideas of another person without appropriate

referencing, as if they were your own.

RMIT University treats plagiarism as a very serious offence constituting misconduct.

Plagiarism covers a variety of inappropriate behaviours, including:

Failure to properly document a source

Copyright material from the internet or databases

Collusion between students.

For further information on our policies and procedures, please refer to the University website.

Assessment declaration

When you submit work electronically, you agree to the Assessment declaration.

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Criteria Ratings Points HD D CR P N

General sections Outstanding. General sections of the report include the title page,

Excellent.

Very good.

Good.

Poor.

executive summary, table of contents, and an introduction to the report.

Make sure you include all these sections in your report. The table of contents should include all contents and indicate the

page numbers. The executive summary should provide a snapshot of the results of each section of the report. Your reader should get a good understanding of the result of your planning by reading the executive summary. The introduction section is an introduction to the report. Use this space to introduce the report to the reader. By reading this section, the reader should be able to gain a good understanding of

what the report is about.

The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.

The

document

includes

most the outlined information in this criterion.

The

document

includes

some of the outlined

information

in this criterion.

The

document

includes few of the outlined

information in this criterion.

The document

includes none of the outlined information in this criterion.

2 to >1.59 1.59 to >1.39 1.39 to >1.19 1.19 to >0.99 0.99 to >0 2 pts

Planning report Outstanding. The first part of the report is the planning of the time,

Excellent.

Very good.

Good.

Poor.

cost, and resources. Planning report should clearly explain how you have optimised time and resources for this project. It should demonstrate the calculation and the result for the project duration and cost. The critical path and critical activities should be clearly reported. The type and the number of resources should also be tabulated in the report. Make sure your project plan includes this information:

• Optimisation of Time and Resources • Project Time  and cost • Critical Path and Activities • List of resources  required and their numbers •Printed Gantt Chart •  Printed Activity Network.

The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.

The

document

includes

most the outlined information in this criterion.

The

document

includes

some of the outlined

information

in this criterion.

The

document

includes few of the outlined

information in this criterion.

The document

includes none of the outlined information in this criterion.

10 to >7.99 7.99 to >6.99 6.99 to >5.99 5.99 to >4.99 4.99 to >0 10 pts

5

MS Project Master plan file

The project plan report should be accompanied by a  MS Project that shows how you implemented the  planning. The Master plan file should demonstrate  correct implementation of the following points: • Calendar set up • Relationships logic • Resourcing  appropriate • Over-allocation removed • Critical Path highlighted.

Outstanding.

The document includes all the outlined information in this criterion.

Excellent.

The document  includes most  the outlined  information in  this criterion.

Very good.

The document  includes some of  the outlined

information in this  criterion.

Good.

The document  includes few of  the outlined

information in this  criterion.

Poor.

The document includes none of  the outlined

information in this  criterion.

6 to>4.79 4.79 to >4.19 4.19 to >3.59 3.59 to >2.99 2.99 to>0 6 pts

Tracking report Outstanding.

Excellent.

Very good.

Good.

Poor.

The tracking report describes the current status of the project. The report should show how you dealt with the project variations and the revised plan for the project. Make sure your tracking report includes this information: • Printed Gantt chart showing progress • Printed Tracking Gantt Chart • Printed Variances tables for time and cost.

The document includes all the outlined information in this

criterion.

The document includes most the outlined information in this criterion.

The

document

includes some of the outlined

information in this criterion.

The

document

includes few of the outlined

information in this criterion.

The document includes none of  the outlined

information in  this criterion.

8 to >6.39 6.39 to >5.59 5.59 to >4.79 4.79 to >3.99 3.99 to >0 8 pts

MS Project Tracking File Outstanding. The tracking report should be accompanied by a MS

Excellent.

The document

Very good. The

Good. The

Poor.

The document

Project tracking file that shows the progress of the project and its current status. The tracking file should include: • Baseline properly set • Input delays as mentioned • Tracked Progress approx 50%.

The document includes all

the outlined information

in this criterion.

includes most the outlined information in this criterion.

document

includes some of the outlined

information in this criterion.

document

includes few of the outlined

information in this criterion.

includes none of  the outlined

information in this  criterion.

4 to >3.19 3.19 to >2.79 2.79 to >2.39 2.39 to >1.99 1.99 to >0 4 pts Total: 30 pts

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