Resource List Overview

A resource is any quantifiable item in limited supply and of sufficient value to justify tracking and assigning to specific activities for a project. Resources include general or specialized labor, nonlabor items such as equipment, and material items such as bricks. Labor and nonlabor resources are always time-based. Material resources, such as consumable items, are based on a specified unit of measure. Resources can be organized hierarchically for easier management and organization.

Note: All resource assignments in a group must be the same type (labor or nonlabor) to be included in grouping bands. Materials are not calculated together because there may be different units of measure.

Resources perform roles, if defined. Resources can be indirectly assigned to activities by first planning the role required, or resources can be directly assigned to activities. These options are entirely at each organization's discretion. The staffing of role assignments with resources is a useful technique during the high-level or early planning of a project. Roles are assigned to activities when the general labor requirements are known, such as foreman, plumber, or painter. Later, when specific resources are known, they are used to staff the roles. You can plan an entire project using direct resource or role assignments, or by assigning roles and staffing them with resources.

Resources can be added to a resource list at the workspace level or the project level. Add resources at the workspace level when more than one project in the workspace will use the same resources. Add resources at the project level when the resources are only needed for a single project. A resource added at the project level can later be promoted to the project's parent workspace to make it available to other projects in the workspace. When associating roles with resources, they must be owned by the same workspace or project.

All resources can have multiple availability periods defined to reflect the varying amounts of work a resource is able to perform. Each availability period supports up to five pay rates, which represent the cost of the resource in a given work period. Resource rates are used to calculate the cost of each activity to which the resource is assigned.