Generating labour cost budget for a construction-oriented fabrication facility: simulation-based resource scheduling approach

A novel labour-hour budgeting method is proposed by integrating productivity concepts in project scheduling and budgeting to enhance the accuracy of labour cost budgeting for planning labour-intensive projects. The proposed method applies discrete event simulation approach to represent crew formation, labour resource utilization, and labour resource flowing between consecutive activities, which allows for quantitatively characterizing the impact of labour semi-productive time on labour cost budgeting as a time-dependent variable. Simulation-based assessment of variations in crew sizes and labour allocations is conducive to reducing semi-productive time and thus enhancing the cost performance of the whole project. The proposed method is then applied in a real-world case study for planning steel girder fabrication projects in construction of highway bridges. Not limited to budgeting for labour resources in construction-oriented fabrication facility, the research contributions are also significant to other construction planning settings where limited resources are shared and utilized among different activities.