Overview
Level of Effort is the master matrix for the project. Rows are deliverables (drawings, reports, calculations), columns are disciplines, cells are estimated hours. It is the document you write at proposal time and refine through kick-off — and it is the spine that the rest of the platform hangs off.
From the LoE you derive the resource plan (in Resources), the schedule, the BoQ for engineering services, and the initial set of Tasks. Get the LoE right and a lot of administrative work disappears.
When to use it
- Bid stage — pricing the engineering effort.
- Kick-off — turning the bid LoE into a baselined plan.
- Mid-project re-baselining when scope changes.
How it works
1. List deliverables
Start with the deliverables list — drawings, specs, reports, calculations. The granularity is up to you, but coarser is better at first.
2. Add disciplines
Pick the disciplines involved (Electrical, Structural, Project management, etc.). These become columns.
3. Fill hours
Estimated hours per cell. Totals roll up across rows (per deliverable) and down columns (per discipline).
4. Push into other modules
Tasks ([Tasks]) get auto-created from your LoE rows. Resource pools ([Resources]) are seeded from the discipline column totals. Engineering services on the BoQ can be priced from the LoE's hour totals at standard rates.
5. Re-baseline as needed
Keep a baseline LoE separate from the working LoE; the difference is your variation case.
Tips
- Start coarser than you think you should. You can always split a row in two later; merging two over-detailed rows is messier.
- Baseline the LoE at kick-off and freeze that baseline. Keep a separate working copy for actuals.
- Use the same deliverable names in the LoE as in the Document Register; the link-up gets much easier.