# Behind Each Resource: The Working Times Calendars

If you assign a resource to a task that spans 10 days, how is that person’s weekend taken into account? If a resource who works 8 hours per day is assigned to a task that requires 16 hours of work, how does Microsoft Project calculate the number of days it will take to complete the task? How, in fact, does Microsoft Project know the number of hours per day any resource usually works?

Each of these situations is governed by what is called a working times calendar. A working times calendar stores all expected working and nonworking days and hours. (Nonworking days usually include weekends, holidays, and vacation days.) Microsoft Project uses working times calendars to schedule tasks.

There are two types of working times calendars: base calendars and resource calendars. A base calendar stores the planned working and nonworking days and hours for a group of resources. On the other hand, a resource calendar usually contains the work schedule for only one individual resource (though it can contain the work schedule for a resource set, such as painters).

The default base calendar for your project is usually "Standard," the default project calendar for Microsoft Project.

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