NR NR/L3/INI/PG115/PS/006 ISSUE 2 PDF

This Network Rail Guidance Note outlines the preferred approach to developing a appropriate Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) within Investment Projects and Asset Management(Renewals).

The approach can be applied to the full range of business activities and deliverables such as business planning, scope development, cost estimating, contracts and procurement, engineering design, construction, testing and commissioning, handover and closeout.

It outlines the responsibilities and methodology to develop, implement and maintain the Work Breakdown Structure.

Purpose

This Guidance Note forms part of the suite of documents comprising the Planning and Programme Controls standard.

It is a commonly accepted practice (APM body of Knowledge; PMI PMBOK) that programme or project work scope to be fully understood, the "whole" needs to be broken down into a number of hierarchical sub-components from which the activities and action that needs to be undertaken can be firmly established and understood.

Once completed, breakdown of work enables definitive plans, estimates and schedules to be generated, thus providing confidence to the business of how the scope can be delivered within the established time and cost constraints.

Work breakdown structures represent fundamental building blocks that provide the overall framework and structure for Infrastructure Investment projects. They allow the business to plan, manage, monitor and report the entire portfolio of work being undertaken spanning development and delivery activity.

Consistent breakdown enables the business to share and re-use historical information in an informed and constructive manner, through the utilisation of a generic work breakdown structure.

The objectives of this common approach are:

a) plans that represent project requirement in a more acceptable way to the project team;

b) organising and defining the various programme and project work scopes in a controlled and consistent manner across the business;

c) maintaining the performance of the planning application within acceptable parameters by minimising the size of the planning application database;

d) offering the business the ability to save money and time through efficient utilisation of a common framework;

e) developing and confirming common understanding and coding structure within each bespoke WBS generated;

f) enabling controlled sub-division of the work until key deliverables can be defined;

g) can be visually presented to aid understanding and provide completeness;

h) enabling utilisation of historical information;

i) enabling information transfer and utilisation of planning and estimating "templates".