 In this program, we will cover the development of staffing guidelines and planning values. Staffing guidelines are important. They are used in establishing standard planning values and in assigning personnel to field contracts. Minimum and maximum staffing guidelines are used to reduce understaffing and overstaffing. For the best utilization of available personnel, each contract staff should be made up of the smallest number of personnel that ensures quality construction. Maximum staffing guidelines show the maximum number of personnel that should normally be assigned for each operation on major contracts. The guidelines are for peak operations. The number of personnel would be less for minor contracts. And at other times, when the contractor's productivity requires only part-time inspection, each agency should modify the maximum staffing guidelines to fit its own work methods. Contract assignments, which are never performed by field construction personnel, should be omitted. Examples include the survey crew, if staking is done by the contractor, plant inspectors, when certified plants are used, and density and gradation inspectors, when the tests are performed by district personnel. The many different contract situations make it difficult to establish effective and meaningful minimum staffing guidelines. However, an outline of major work items for each contractor operation and the type of attention required, one-time, intermittent, or full-time, can be developed. Standard planning values uniformly quantify the work which must be performed by field construction personnel in construction management. Standard planning values can be established to provide guidance in determining construction management requirements, regardless of contract or program status, in any budget period, as long as there is some definition of the program. Two sets of standard planning values are typically used in planning. The two sets of standards are for individual activities, approximately 40 activities, and activity groups, four groups. The accuracy of the planning values varies with the degree of sophistication in defining construction management activities and the data available about the contracts or construction programs. Planning standards provide the most accuracy in manpower planning. A standard planning value is developed for each of the individual activities in the master list. The standard planning value is composed of a base planning value and modifiers, or additives. The base planning value represents the construction management effort per unit of measure on a normal construction project. Modifiers reflect additives to the base planning when conditions significantly affect manpower needs. Planning values should be established to a level of accuracy that ensures reasonably accurate manpower projections or needs at the district level. There are many variables in construction. It is not practical to plan for all the variables. So planning values, even with the use of additives, do not have to exactly satisfy the manpower requirements of an individual contract. Final adjustments to manpower requirements among the contracts in a district can be accomplished through scheduling techniques. A number of guidelines apply when planning standards for activity groups. Detailed quantities are not always available for all contracts. Only major characteristics of the contract may be known. Under these circumstances, it is not practical to use all activities. Detail should be reduced to that warranted by the accuracy of the data available. Activities were combined into four groups, staking, inspection, office engineering, and project management. The planning standards were developed by combining the standards for individual activities. These standards provide reasonably accurate guidelines. But they do not relate manpower requirements to contract characteristics as accurately as standards for individual activities. Modifiers to the planning standards may be desirable for some agencies to provide more accurate estimates. Only three construction conditions have significant effect on manpower needs in most agencies. Working under traffic, construction in urban areas, and mountainous terrain. Developing standards for activities involves adapting base planning values and modifiers. The process for developing base planning values includes reviewing the standard planning value computation sheets for each contract type, selecting the sheets applicable to the selected listing of contract types and activities, reviewing the significant work tasks within the standard planning value documentation according to the previously revised activity definitions, adjusting tasks, construction quantities, productivity values, testing frequencies and inspection time on all activities where necessary, completing new planning value computation sheets and computing base planning values, and compiling base planning values on a table of activity planning standards. Using modifiers involves reevaluating the new standard planning value computation sheets for each of the modifiers selected. Adjusting tasks, construction quantities, productivity values, testing frequencies and inspection time to reflect the effect of each of the modifying factors, computing a modified base planning value for each modifier type, computing the modifier, additive percentage, by dividing the difference between modified base planning value and the normal base planning value by the normal base planning value and adding the modifier values to the table of activity planning standards. Developing standards for activity groups is next. If these standards are selected, modifications must first be made to the standards for activities. Then you will need to adapt the base planning values for activity groups. Selecting the base planning values involves reviewing the activity group standard planning value computation sheets for each contract type, selecting the sheets applicable to the adjusted listing of contract types, reviewing and adjusting the activities and their base planning values from the table of activity planning standards, which would normally be used on a typical contract, adjusting the quantity estimates to better reflect normal construction contracts within the agency, completing new standard planning value computation sheets and computing base planning values and compiling base planning values on a table of activity group base planning values. Using modifiers for activity groups involves reevaluating the new activity group standard planning value computation sheets for each of the modifiers selected, increasing the base planning values of the activities by applicable modifier percentages from the table of activity planning standards, computing a modified activity group base planning value for each modifier type, computing the activity group modifier, additive percentage, by dividing the difference between modified base planning values and the normal base planning value by the normal base planning value and compiling modifier values on a table of activity group planning modifiers. For some construction programs, neither detailed quantities nor defined project limits have been established, but program budgets are available. Where this is the case, manpower requirements may be estimated by using dollar conversion standards. The cost per planning unit is estimated. The dollars are converted to equivalent planning units and man hours are planned using the standards for the planning activity groups. Nearly all major contracts would have quantities and defined limits available for the current budget period and most would have them available for three to five years prior to construction because of the lead time required. Some construction programs, such as overlays, usually are defined only in terms of dollars until shortly before contracts are advertised. Where any construction work is defined only in dollars for whatever reason. It is necessary to convert dollars to the units of measure for activity groups. By converting the program dollars to contract units, the manpower standards for the activity groups may be used. This avoids the need to develop and update another set of manpower standards. These standards simply convert construction dollars to contract units, roadway kilometer or linear meter of bridge. Dollar conversion standards provide an estimate of how much may be constructed with available dollars. Dollar standards by themselves are not used in planning. They provide the units to be used with the standards for activity groups. Standard costs per planning unit are developed for each contract type. The costs should be based on current bid prices with an allowance for inflation or other anticipated changes. For example, if overlay project average costs were $25,000 per roadway kilometer, a district overlay program of $400,000 would convert to 16 roadway kilometers. In this program, we have covered development of contract staffing guidelines and planning values. Staffing guidelines are important. They are used in establishing standard planning values and in assigning personnel to field contracts for the best utilization of available personnel. Each contract staff should be made up of the smallest number of personnel that ensures quality construction. Each agency should modify the maximum staffing guidelines to fit its own work methods. Standard planning values uniformly quantify the work which must be performed by field construction personnel. Two sets of standard planning values are typically used in planning. Individual activities, approximately 40 activities, and activity groups, typically four groups. For more information on this or other IRF videotapes, write to the International Road Federation or call the numbers on your screen.