Resource planning for construction companies

Construction companies often have to coordinate staff, equipment, vehicles, building sites and deadlines simultaneously. At the same time, construction processes are subject to change due to weather conditions, material availability, subcontractors, schedule changes or last-minute priorities. Effective resource planning should help to identify available capacity more quickly and coordinate changes in a clear and organised manner.

Not every construction company needs specialised resource planning software for this. For manageable projects and a small number of resources, Excel, a calendar or existing functions within construction or ERP software may be entirely sufficient.

An additional planning solution becomes particularly useful when there are many construction sites running simultaneously, resources are moved between projects, or last-minute rescheduling is part of the daily workflow.

What does resource planning mean in a construction company?

Resource planning in the construction industry involves far more than simply scheduling staff.

Depending on the size of the company and the scope of its services, different resources must be taken into account simultaneously.

The real challenge lies in ensuring that these resources are not planned separately from one another.

For example, a work crew may be available whilst the required equipment is already being used on another construction site. Similarly, an available vehicle is of little use if the employee assigned to it is scheduled to work on another project.

What planning problems do construction companies frequently encounter?

Construction companies vary greatly in terms of their specialist trades, project size and organisational structure. Nevertheless, certain challenges arise on a regular basis.

• Staff are redeployed between construction sites at short notice,
• Equipment or vehicles are scheduled twice,
• Construction sites start later than planned,
• Subcontractors change their appointments,
• Material is not available in time,
• The weather affects the planned schedule,
• Several site managers access different planning statuses,
• Information is also maintained in Excel spreadsheets or calendars.

When are Excel, a calendar or existing construction software sufficient?

Specialised resource planning is not automatically necessary.

Where there are only a few construction sites running simultaneously, a well-organised Excel spreadsheet or calendar solution may be more cost-effective than introducing an additional system.

A simple solution may be sufficient if:

• only a few construction sites are planned at any one time,
• a person who coordinates resource planning,
• there are only a few devices or vehicles available,
• Changes occur relatively rarely,
• no automated interfaces are required,
• all those involved have a reliable understanding of the current plan.

Existing ERP, construction or project management systems should also be assessed first. If these already include suitable resource and deployment planning functions, an additional application may not be necessary.

For companies that currently rely mainly on spreadsheets for planning, the comparison Visual Planning or Excel an additional aid to decision-making.

When does specialised resource planning make sense?

As the number of projects increases, the effort required for coordination often rises more sharply than the sheer number of resources.

Typical indicators include:

• Several site managers access the same resources,
• Staff are regularly moved between construction sites,
• Equipment and vehicles are scheduled multiple times,
• It is difficult to identify available capacity,
• Any changes must be agreed by telephone or email,
• Various Excel files contain different planning statuses,
• Last-minute absences lead to extensive manual rescheduling.

In such situations, a central planning board can help to coordinate the same resources across multiple construction sites.

1. Planning staff and work teams

Staff deployment planning is one of the most important tasks in many construction companies.

However, it is often not enough simply to know whether an employee is available.

The following may also be relevant:

• Qualifications,
• Trade,
• Team or work group membership,
• Driving licence categories,
• authorised machine operation,
• Working hours,
• Holidays and absences,
• Location or proximity to home.

The level of detail required to reflect these criteria depends on the actual planning problems.

2. Scheduling equipment and construction machinery

Equipment and machinery are often scarce resources and need to be coordinated across multiple construction sites.

For example, a plan should make the following clear:

• which construction site a piece of equipment is located on,
• how long it is scheduled to last there,
• when it will be available again,
• whether maintenance is due,
• whether several construction sites require the same piece of equipment,
• what alternative devices are available.

Particularly in the case of specialised equipment, incorrect allocation can have an impact on several projects.

3. Take vehicles and transport into account

Vehicles can also become a bottleneck.

Depending on the construction company, vans, lorries, trailers or specialist vehicles, for example, may need to be allocated to specific teams or building sites.

It may also be relevant to specify which employee is authorised to drive the vehicle in question.

If there are only a small number of vehicles available, their allocation should be visible alongside staff and construction sites.

4. Coordinate several construction sites simultaneously

With several projects running in parallel, the complexity of resource planning increases.

A company must then not only consider individual construction sites, but also decide which resource should be prioritised for which project.

Typical questions include:

• Which construction site will need additional staff next week?
• Where can a column be removed earlier?
• Which piece of equipment is needed on several construction sites at the same time?
• Which construction site has the least flexibility in terms of deadlines?
• Where does spare capacity arise?

A central overview can help with these decisions.

5. Allow for last-minute changes

Construction planning is often characterised by changes.

Typical causes include:

• bad weather,
• missing material,
• Illness,
• deferred input,
• Changes requested by the client,
• Problems with subcontractors,
• technical faults.

A suitable plan should therefore not merely depict the original target state.

It should also enable rapid rescheduling without the need to manually adjust all the relevant lists.

6. Take qualifications and authorisations into account

Not every employee can take on every task.

When planning resource allocation, for example, certain qualifications, certificates or machine authorisations may be required.

Software can help to highlight such features.

Examples include:

• Welding certificates,
• Electrical engineers,
• Crane operator,
• Aerial work platform authorisations,
• Driving licence categories,
• Security qualifications.

Whether software must automatically check such criteria or merely display them depends on the process in question.

7. Include subcontractors in the planning

External companies play an important role in many construction projects.

Your services can have a direct impact on your own resource planning.

If a subcontractor starts work later, for example, it may be necessary to reschedule the company’s own staff or equipment as well.

Resource planning can therefore display external services as appointments or resources without external companies necessarily having to be granted full access to the internal planning system.

8. Combining project deadlines and resource planning

Project planning often outlines milestones and construction phases, whilst resource planning specifies in more detail which staff, equipment and vehicles will actually be deployed.

Both planning levels are closely interlinked.

For example:

1. A phase of construction is due to begin on Monday.
2. This requires five staff members and a specialised piece of equipment.
3. However, the specialised equipment is currently still on another building site.
4. The previous assignment has been postponed by three days.
5. As a result, the planned start of construction must be reassessed.

Good resource planning highlights such dependencies at an early stage.

9. Take locations and journey times into account

In the construction industry, the location of the project plays a greater role than in many stationary planning processes.

An employee or piece of equipment may, in theory, be available but be deployed geographically far away.

Depending on the company, it may therefore be useful to highlight information about locations or areas of operation in the planning process.

However, fully automated route optimisation is a different challenge and may require specialised systems.

10. Schedule maintenance and inspections of equipment

Construction machinery and equipment must be serviced or inspected regularly.

Such appointments should be taken into account in availability planning.

This may include:

• Maintenance intervals,
• UVV inspections,
• Repairs,
• Calibrations,
• Cleaning or set-up times.

Whether this information is managed directly within the resource planning system or imported from another system should be clarified prior to implementation.

11. What data should be imported from ERP or construction software?

A great deal of relevant data already exists in other business systems.

Typical data sources may include:

• ERP system,
• Construction project software,
• Human resources,
• Time and attendance,
• Device management,
• CRM,
• Project management.

Data such as projects, construction sites, staff, orders or resource data can be imported from these systems.

It is crucial to clearly define which system takes precedence for which information.

12. What information must be returned?

Not every operational change needs to be automatically transferred back to the leading system.

Relevant examples might include:

• changed execution date,
• Resource allocation,
• Project status,
• Period of use,
• Confirmed site visit date.

For every integration, it should be checked whether the reverse transfer is actually necessary or whether it merely creates additional technical work.

What are the limitations of resource planning in the construction industry?

Resource planning software does not automatically meet all the requirements of a construction company.

Depending on the company’s structure, specialised systems may still be required for:

• Construction costing,
• Tendering and awarding of contracts,
• Invoicing,
• Document management,
• Construction diary,
• Material planning,
• Construction site management,
• Route optimisation.

Resource planning should therefore not seek to unnecessarily replace existing specialist applications.

Their focus is on coordinating available resources, appointments and operational assignments.

How does Visual Planning fit into the operations of construction companies?

Visual Planning® for construction site and installation planning This may be of interest to construction companies where staff, equipment, vehicles, projects and other resources need to be coordinated within a graphical planning system.

The solution can, for example, be used as a central operational planning board, whilst projects, customers and commercial data continue to be managed within existing ERP or construction software.

This can be particularly useful when several site managers or dispatchers are accessing shared resources and changes need to be visible quickly.

However, Visual Planning is not essential for every construction company.

If only a few construction sites are running simultaneously, or if the existing construction or ERP software already offers suitable resource planning, an additional solution may cause more trouble than it is worth.

How should a construction company test resource planning?

Rather than simply showcasing general functions, a product demonstration should illustrate a typical real-world planning scenario.

For example:

1. A column has been scheduled for construction site A.
2. Work there is being delayed due to the weather.
3. The same column is already needed at Construction Site B just two days later.
4. A piece of equipment that is required is still at construction site C.
5. An employee is also off work at short notice.
6. Alternative resources must be found for construction site B.
7. All site managers concerned should be able to view the latest planning status.

A scenario like this makes it easy to see whether a solution supports day-to-day work in practice.

What data is required for the implementation?

You do not need to include all company details to get started.

Typical resource master data includes:

• Staff,
• Teams and work crews,
• Machinery and equipment,
• Vehicles,
• Locations,
• Qualifications.

Typical planning data includes:

• Construction sites,
• Projects,
• Periods of use,
• Resource allocations,
• Status,
• Priorities.

Further information should only be included when it is actually required for the planning process.

How much does it cost to set up?

A simple planning board for staff and building sites can be implemented relatively easily.

The complexity increases when equipment, vehicles, qualifications, multiple sites and interfaces are also integrated.

Typical project tasks include:

• Define planning processes,
• Define resource structures,
• Prepare master data,
• Configure views,
• Set up user roles,
• Testing interfaces,
• Train dispatchers and users.

Starting with a clearly defined planning area can help to keep the implementation manageable.

Checklist for selecting a resource planning system for a construction company

In addition to the technical requirements, the total implementation costs should also be taken into account. Our overview shows that, what costs may be incurred when using resource planning software.

Conclusion: Resource planning in the construction industry must be able to respond quickly to changes

For construction companies, the main benefit of resource planning lies in having a centralised overview of staff, equipment, vehicles, building sites and deadlines.

However, additional software only makes sense if it reduces the specific planning workload or improves transparency.

For smaller or straightforward planning processes, Excel, a calendar or existing functions within construction or ERP software may be sufficient.

Specialised resource planning becomes more relevant when many construction sites are competing for the same resources at the same time and last-minute changes are part and parcel of day-to-day business.

Visual Planning may be a possible solution in such scenarios. Whether it is suitable for the company should be assessed on the basis of the actual resources, existing systems, desired integrations and a real-world planning scenario.

Frequently asked questions about resource planning for construction companies

What resources should a construction company plan for?

Typically, relevant resources include staff, work crews, construction machinery, vehicles, equipment and construction sites. Which of these need to be planned together depends on the specific business model.

Is Excel sufficient for resource planning on construction sites?

Where there are only a few sites and resources, Excel may well be sufficient. Problems usually arise when several people are planning at the same time, changes occur frequently, or the same resources are used across many projects.

Can resource planning software replace construction software?

Not usually. Construction software often handles cost estimation, project management, invoicing or documentation. Resource planning, on the other hand, focuses on the operational allocation of staff, equipment and deadlines.

Should equipment and staff be planned together?

This can be useful if both resources are required for a job at the same time. This makes it possible, for example, to see that whilst a work crew is available, the required equipment is not.

Is an ERP interface necessary?

Not essential. An interface becomes particularly useful when projects, orders or master data are already maintained in another system and the aim is to avoid having to maintain them manually in two places.

Is Visual Planning suitable for construction companies?

Visual Planning may be of interest if you need to coordinate different resources and construction sites flexibly on a graphical planning board. However, for simple planning processes or where resource planning in the existing system is already adequate, an additional application may be unnecessary.

Further guidance on resource planning

• A comparison of resource planning software: 12 selection criteria
• Visual Planning or Excel: When is it worth making the switch?
• How much does it cost to implement resource planning software?
• Cloud, hosting or on-premises: which deployment model is right for you?
• Resource planning for mechanical engineering companies