Sample Piping Work WBS for Oil and Gas Refinery Project

When comes to refinery project, planner can’t run away from piping works. In my experience it is important to have a good WBS. Recently a planner in my team made a mistake by not considering the piping and electrical scope for underground.

It happened for cathodic protection which needs to be installed before the foundation work. As for the piping, road crossing excavation need to be done before piping work can commence. What happened was that there is no dedicated WBS for underground and it slipped everyone's mind. The delivery of both cathodic protection and pipes need to be ordered and available at site prior excavation and tank foundation.

It is highly recommended for planners to brainstorm with site manager and engineering to sort-out those underground installations.

Below are some of my take away for those who plan for piping works.

1.It is recommended the work to be segregated by location (ex: tank area, pipe rack, platform etc).
2.The availability for the drawing and materials is important. If the work involve underground then the IFC for underground work will set the precedence.
3.Planner should take note the “demolishing” scope as these activities will set the precedence before the pipe installation.
4.Developing WBS mainly depending on the nature of project scope and as a planner we should be able to interpret as every project is different.

Level	WBS	Example
1	Plant area	Tank number, Utility unit, Section (each part of p&id) and etc
2	Area within the unit	Area ABC, Area XYZ. Area demarcation is marked for a group of process piping on above ground and underground
3	Height	Above ground and Underground
4	Pipe location	Around sump, pipe rack etc
5	Phase	Fabrication, Tie-in, Testing and Pre-commissioning (hydrotest, chemical clean etc)

Ex : WBS window in Primavera for piping works