Module 5 of 12 · Planning Studio · Part A

Planning Studio 1 · Break Down & Budget the Work

One plan, five artifacts, one line to manage to. In Part 1, set the boundary of the work and turn it into a defensible labor budget. The plan carries forward to Planning Studio 2 in Part B, where you will sequence it, schedule it, and draw the S-curve.

Oakhaven Public Safety Campus  ·  GRC-26-0142  ·  Design Development  ·  Nov 8, 2026 to Feb 6, 2027  ·  Grace phase fee $280,000

A project plan is one argument, made five times, at increasing resolution: here is the work, here is what it costs, here is when it happens, here is how the fee gets earned, and here is the line we manage to.

The Planning Studio runs across both planning modules. The first two arguments in Part 1 Establish Clarity about the work and its cost. In Part B the same plan flows into the schedule, the Earned Value Plan, and the S-curve. Every decision you commit here rides along.

Stage 1
WBS
What is the work?
Stage 2
Budget
What does it cost?
Stage 3
Schedule
When does it happen?
Stage 4
EV Plan
How is the fee earned?
Stage 5
S-Curve
The line you manage to
1

Work Breakdown Structure

Draw the boundary before you draw anything else

The SD package was approved and the DD notice to proceed is in hand. Below are 19 work packages your team has floated for this phase. Some belong in Design Development. Some belong to another phase, and every one let in uncharged spends the $280,000 phase fee. Mark each one In DD scope or Not this phase, then check your boundary.

Challenge · Why does 3.1 Planning & Control appear in every phase?
Managing the phase is work, and work that is absent from the WBS never gets budgeted, scheduled, or earned. A PM who plans, staffs, and reports "for free" is spending fee the plan never accounted for. Level-of-effort work gets a line like any other.
2

Project Budget

Turn the work into hours, and the hours into a margin

The DD fee is $280,000. Grace’s target profit is 20%, so your cost budget, everything you may spend on labor, is $224,000. The Oakhaven team roster is set: eight roles. Staff the phase by entering hours per role at cost rates, and the dashboard reacts as you type. A plan with margin below the 15% firm floor cannot be committed. Margin spent before the phase starts is a business decision rather than a planning error.

Total hours
0
Labor cost
$0
Planned margin
—
Avg team loading
—
    Where this mix comes from. Project management ≈ 10% of phase labor, from PSMJ’s "10% rule" for A/E project management effort. Quality review 2 to 5% of design effort, from cost-of-quality research in design & construction (CII, Quality & Quantity, 2022). Principal oversight 5 to 8% and a roughly 1:1.5 licensed-to-design-staff production ratio, from AIA Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice staffing guidance and Deltek Clarity A&E benchmarks. It is a defensible starting point, and the work in your WBS decides where the hours go.
    Challenge · The Principal in Charge wants 120 hours on this phase. What does that do?
    At $310/hr, 120 Principal hours is $37,200, nearly 17% of the entire cost budget on one signature. Rate mix is a lever: the same task done one level down often protects both quality and margin. The question to ask is "is this the work only the Principal can do?"