Contract Work Breakdown Structure

The purpose and intent of the CWBS and CWBS dictionary is to document the contractor’s deliverable products and planned approach to performing the contract scope of work. It also contains the technical description of the military end item being developed/procured by the contract. The technical definitions and descriptions of each product-oriented (i.e., hardware) WBS element should be derived from the contractor’s systems engineering Integrated Product Team (IPT) or related technical department. The cost content of each WBS element definition should be produced by the contractor’s finance department.

MIL-HDBK-881 serves as the basis for developing the CWBS. Routine reporting shall be at CWBS level 3 for all contractors. Extensions of the CWBS can be tailored to the specific program but will be consistent with MIL-HDBK-881. More detailed reporting of the CWBS shall be required only for those lower-level elements that address high-risk, high-value, or high-technical-interest areas of a program. Identifying these additional elements for inclusion in the CWBS is a critical early assignment for the Cost Working-Group Integrated Product Team (CWIPT) for inclusion in the CWBS.