In Primavera P6, the Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) is a global hierarchy of responsible managers. These responsible managers ultimately control the security settings and permissions for individual projects. Whenever you create a new project, EPS layer or WBS layer, you’ll need to choose a Responsible Manager. Responsible managers determine which users have access to the project or EPS layer. Before creating projects, you should create an OBS to reflect the management structure of your organization.

The responsible managers created in the OBS are assigned to both projects and users. These two assignments work together. When you assign a responsible manager to a user, that user gains access to all projects assigned to the same manager. If you assign the responsible manager to an EPS layer, any users assigned that same manager will have access to all projects within the layer. You will need to assign responsible managers to both users and projects to determine who has access to what.

It’s from the Organizational Breakdown Structure that you’ll create these responsible managers. The OBS is a global hierarchy, giving you flexibility in assignments as responsibilities change. This structure is created for the entire database, rather than for a single user. Generally, application administrators will set up the OBS prior to adding EPS layers, projects or users.

In this article, we will go over how to view and make changes to the Organizational Breakdown Structure. First, we’ll go over different ways to view this structure – such as using Chart View. Then, we’ll talk about how to add new responsible managers to the structure. Lastly, we’ll look at how to assign responsible managers to projects and users. The following examples are all from Primavera P6 Professional 18. However, these tools are available in all versions of Primavera P6.

Viewing the OBS

First, let’s take a look at the current Organizational Breakdown Structure. To view or modify the OBS, select Enterprise > OBS.

This will open the OBS dialog box, which you can use to create, view, and edit the structure. The top section will display all the responsible managers currently within the OBS. The bottom section allows you to adjust the details for each manager. The toolbar on the right allows you to add, delete, copy, paste, and move around OBS elements within the hierarchy.

Different companies will set up the OBS in different manners. Some choose to create responsible managers for individuals, such as the project managers. Others might choose to make their OBS match their Enterprise Project Structure to make assignments easier. The default OBS structure will be set up in this way – with each responsible manager matching an EPS layer. Here, you might see managers such as E&C and Energy. By default, these are assigned to their matching EPS layers. When we get into assigning responsible managers to users, this can make the process easier. If you know a user needs access to the Engineering & Construction projects, you can just assign them the associated manager.

Using Chart View

From this window, you can also view the OBS layer hierarchy using Chart View. To access this view, select Display Options > Chart View.

Chart View will display the OBS layers as connected boxes, showing the hierarchy. Depending on how many OBS layers there are, you may want to expand the OBS dialogue box and zoom in by selecting Display Options > Zoom > Zoom In.

Adding Responsible Managers to the OBS

Here, you can create new responsible managers. Again, the way you set up this hierarchy will depend on your company’s management structure. Generally, I recommend setting up the OBS to match your EPS. This will make it easier once you get into assigning projects to users.

In this example, let’s say that I’m planning on creating a new EPS layer for heavy civil projects. Before creating that layer, I’ll create a matching responsible manager. I’ll assign this responsible manager to that EPS layer, ensuring that any users assigned the same manager will have access to those projects.

To add a new OBS element, select Add.

Using the displaying tabs, you can now adjust details about your OBS layer.

General

In the General tab, give your new layer a name. I’ll name this layer Civil. If desired, you can add a description to the OBS element by selecting Modify.

In the editor window, you can enter and format text, pictures, and tables. I’ll type in Heavy Civil Projects. Then, press OK.

Users

In the Users tab, you can view the users and corresponding security profiles associated with the OBS element. If you have the appropriate access rights, you can assign users from this tab using the Assign button, or remove them by selecting Remove. Again, any users assigned to this OBS layer will have access to all the projects assigned to the same layer. You can assign multiple responsible managers to a single user to give them access to different types of projects.

When you assign a responsible manager to a user, you will also need to assign them a Project Security Profile. While the responsible manager gives the user access to the project, the security profile determines what they can do in the project. You can assign multiple users to the same projects with different security profiles as needed.

You can also assign responsible managers to users during User creation.

Responsibility

In the Responsibility tab, you can see what projects, EPS layers, and WBS layers the responsible manager is assigned to. These fields are not adjustable here – you can only view them. If you want to adjust these values, you’ll need to go into the project, EPS layer, or WBS layer directly. With your responsible manager created, you can now assign it to projects and EPS layers as you create them.

With the OBS element created, you can move it around the hierarchy using the arrows on the right side of the window. In this example, I’ll use these arrows to move my Civil layer under the Enterprise layer.

Assigning OBS Elements

With your OBS set up, you can assign responsible managers to any projects, EPS layers, or WBS layers created. Any user also assigned that same manager will gain access to the assigned data. Again, if you assign a responsible manager to an EPS layer, users will have access to all projects within that layer. On the other hand, if you assign the responsible manager to a project, users will have access to just that project. Going further, you could assign a responsible manager to a single WBS layer within a project – this would allow user access to only a part of the project.

The process for assigning responsible managers is the same for all data types. Typically, you can do this with the Responsible Manager field within the data’s Details section – such as Project Details or WBS Details. In this example, I’ll demonstrate assigning a responsible manager to an EPS Layer.

To view or edit the Enterprise Project Structure, select Enterprise > EPS.

Here, you can adjust the responsible manager for any selected layer using the Responsible Manager field. In this situation, however, I’ll create a new EPS layer by selecting Add. Using the cells in the table, I’ll name this layer Heavy Civil Projects, and set the ID to Civil. Using the arrow keys, I can move this layer around in the hierarchy.

With this layer created, I’ll now assign the associated responsible manager. To do this, select the ellipses button within the Responsible Manager field. I’ll select the Civil layer I created earlier, and press Assign. Now, any users assigned the Civil responsible manager will have access to the projects added to this EPS layer.

In the same way, you can assign responsible managers to projects and WBS layers. You can always adjust the responsible manager as needed if securities change in the future.

Summary

In Primavera P6, the Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS) determines which users have access to which projects. The OBS is a hierarchy of responsible managers that you can assign to both projects and users. Any user assigned a responsible manager will have access to all projects that the manager is also assigned to. Often, you may not want all users to have full access to all P6 projects. With responsible managers, you can quickly determine which projects they can work in, and which they cannot. It’s important to establish an Organizational Breakdown Structure before adding projects or users to the database. This way, you can fully control which users have access to which projects going forward.

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Lauren Hecker is the instructor for the Primavera P6 Professionals training courses. To see her next open enrollment course, please visit our calendar. To schedule an onsite or custom course, please contact us!