The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has a prescribed way for lump sum cost loading in the schedule; it is a common practice standard for fixed-price resource loading.
The Standard data exchange format (SDEF) is a file format created by the USACE in 1986 to allow contractors using different project management tools to share data. The SDEF format is particular and requires fixed price cost loading using a lump sum labor resource.
This lump sum labor resource cost loading approach is also written in the United Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) 01 32 01.00 10 for Project Schedules, specifically in the Primavera P6 Mandatory Requirements section.
These UFGS specifications are a joint effort of the USACE, the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (HQ AFCEC). Before September 30, 2023, NASA also was included in the UFGS combined effort.
This article demonstrates lump sum cost loading for USACE SDEF and UFGS schedules using a web client interface to connect to a P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) database.
A prior blog USACE SDEF Format and Cost Loading a P6 Schedule demonstrated using a USACE SDEF compatible lump sum labor resource to cost load a schedule using the Primavera P6 Professional client.
P6 Professional includes a program for converting XER files to SDEF format; P6 EPPM does not. P6 EPPM XML files will require P6 Professional to convert to XER formats and then the XER to P3/SDEF Project Conversion software to translate to SDEF format.
Again, we want to demonstrate the lump sum cost loading for a web client connection to a P6 EPPM database.
The Project Schedule General Requirements UFGS 01 32 01.00 10, including the Primavera P6 Mandatory Requirements are as follows:
- Activity codes must be at the project level, not the global or EPS level.
- Calendars by be project level, not Global or Resource level.
- Activity Duration Types must be set to “Fixed Durations & Units.”
- Percent Complete Types must be set to “Physical.”
- Time Period Admin Preferences must remain the default “8.0 hr/day, 40 hr/week, 172 hr/month, 2000 hr/year”. Set Calendar Work Hours/Day to 8.0 Hour days.
- Set Schedule Option for defining Critical Activities to “Longest Path.”
- Set Schedule Option for defining progressed activities to “Retained Logic.”
- Set up cost loading using a single lump sum non-labor resource. The Price/Unit must be 1$/hr, Default Units/Time must be “8h/d” and settings “Auto Compute Actuals” and “Calculate cost from units” selected.
- Activity ID’s must not exceed 10 characters.
- Activity Names must have verb-noun structure and contain the most defining and detailed description within the first 30 characters.
- The daily ending hour for all work calendars must be the same.
Be aware that in line item (h) above, “Auto Compute Actuals” and “Calculate cost from units” are selected. There appears to be a typo in UFGS 01 32 01.00 10 that says these options are “un-selected.” This should read “selected”.
The following blog, Fixed Price Costs and Primavera P6 EPPM, describes how to include fixed-price cost loading in P6 EPPM schedules using a cost User-Defined Field (UDF).
The disadvantage of this UDF approach is that the fixed-price cost UDF is not included in the planned total cost field computation. Another lump sum cost loading approach uses P6 Professional as before, but this time, we assign a fixed-price cost directly to the budgeted labor and nonlabor cost columns.
But this is confusing. The fixed-price cost can be mixed with budgeted labor and non-labor costs, which is not a transparent solution. The USACE SDEF lump sum labor resource method provides a more visible and workable solution.
Also, the USACE SDEF conversion program will not convert these P6 Professional fixed price cost column data into the SDEF format. So, for both Primavera P6 Professional and Primavera EPPM, defining a lump sum labor resource is the only practical workable solution for the UFGS specifications.
We begin our P6 EPPM lump sum resource labor analysis by creating a lump sum resource in the resource database. We choose the Resources tab, the Resources page, and + Add | Sibling Resource, Figure 1.
Figure 1
Toggle on “Calculate Costs from Units” and “Auto Compute Actuals” in the bottom dock for LUMPSUM,” Figure 2.
Figure 2
Further, on the bottom Units and Prices page, we set the LUMPSUM Units and Prices to $1.00/h, Figure 3.
Figure 3
We must replace the Corporate – Standard Full/Time global calendar with a 5×8 project calendar, Figure 4.
Figure 4
In Figure 5 and the Administration | Enterprise Data navigator pane, choose the Project Calendars page, left-click the gear, and select Add from the dropdown menu.
Figure 5
In the Select Calendar to Copy dialog, Figure 6, you can copy from the Corporate—Standard Full/Time global calendar.
Figure 6
Enter the calendar name 5×8, Figure 7.
Figure 7
Make sure the Time Periods are set to default, including 8.0 Hours/Day, Figure 8.
Figure 8
Further, confirm that the Administration | Application Settings | Time Periods are default values, including 8.0 Hours/Day, Figure 9.
Figure 9
Now, we need to change the task calendars in our demonstration schedule. Click on the Contract Award calendar field and select the ellipse, Figure 10.
Figure 10
In the Figure 11 popup Select Calendar dialog, we choose the 5×8 calendar.
Figure 11
Select the field at the intersection of the Final Quality Assurance Inspection task and Calendar column, Figure 12.
Figure 12
Hold the shift key down, select the Contract Award Date calendar (5×8), right-click and choose Fill Down from the dropdown menu, Figure 13.
Figure 13
The calendar column appears as it does in Figure 14.
Figure 14
Note that the deliverables’ calendar still indicates Corporate – Standard Full Time. When you click Save, the screen refreshes, and these deliverables update to the 5×8 calendar, Figure 15.
Figure 15
We must modify the duration type of all non-milestone tasks to Fixed Duration & Units. The milestone tasks, Contract Award, Project Start, and Project Completion Date, are the duration type Fixed Duration & Units/Time because, by definition, their duration and work are zero.
We can, however, modify the duration type of Project Management to Fixed Duration & Units, Figure 15. As we did for the calendar column, choose the last row in the schedule (Final Quality Assurance Inspection), Figure 16.
Figure 16
Then, in Figure 17, we hold the shift key down, select the Project Management calendar column, and right-click.
Figure 17
In Figure 17, we choose Fill Down from the dropdown menu. The updated duration type column appears in Figure 18.
Figure 18
We select the Project Management task, select Assignments in the bottom dock, and choose Assign | Resource, Figure 19.
Figure 19
In Figure 20, we select the recently created LUMPSUM labor resource, Figure 20, and click assign.
Figure 20
We enter Planned Units of 10,000 for the Lump Sum resource in the bottom details of Project Management, Figure 21.
Figure 21
Figure 22 displays the cost-loaded Project Management task assigned to the LUMPSUM resource.
Figure 22
Note that the planned cost of the Project Management Lump Sum resource is $10,000. We proceed and cost load the remainder of the project schedule with our LUMPSUM labor resource. The final cost-loaded schedule appears in Figure 23.
Figure 23
Summary
For lump sum cost loading in the schedule, the standard agreeable and compatible method with the USACE SDEF format is to create and assign a lump sum labor resource to schedule activities. This method complies with the UFGS 01 32 01.00 10 Project Schedule section on Primavera P6 Mandatory Requirements.
Assigning fixed-price labor resources with Resource ID LUMPSUM clarifies the schedule’s cost loading. The lump sum is for labor, material, and equipment costs, which, unlike UDFs, can be included in the P6 EPPM schedule’s total costs. This way, the scheduler models fixed-price costs in a P6 EPPM web client interface environment.
Again, this process requires P6 Professional to convert XMLs to XERs and then XERs to SDEF format schedule files.