Balance Work Plan & Manhour Model

01Background

When a project slips, "just add manpower" is rarely a plan. The balance-work model exists to answer a harder question precisely: given the scope that remains, how many people — by discipline — are actually needed each week to finish on a target date, and is that number physically achievable on the available work fronts?

02Problem / challenge

Remaining quantities are often scattered across activities at different completion levels. Without converting them into manhours and then into a week-by-week manpower demand, recovery targets are just optimistic dates. The challenge is to build a model that is transparent, easy to update each cycle, and credible enough to commit to.

03My approach

• Extract remaining quantities (balance BOQ) per activity
• Apply manhour norms to get total remaining manhours by discipline
• Set productivity & working-calendar assumptions (hours/day, efficiency)
• Spread manhours across the recovery window → weekly manpower demand
• Test the histogram against site capacity; level peaks that aren't feasible

04Tools used

05Deliverables

• Manhour calculation sheet (balance BOQ → manhours)
• Manpower histogram by discipline & week
• Productivity assumptions register
• Resource-loaded recovery schedule

06Sample — manpower histogram

07Result / impact

Converting balance scope into a manpower histogram turns recovery from a negotiation into a calculation. Management can see exactly what crewing is required — and whether the site can physically absorb it — before committing to a date.