CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The Problem, the Research Methodology, and the Construction Industry

Introduction to the Study The integration of design and construction has been proposed and considered to be the optimal approach to successfully reducing fragmentation and eliminating some of the major problems in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. This

approach involves the use of computers to manage and manipulate both geometric and non-geometric data, thus facilitating the planning, design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities as one integrated process. In order for this process to be completely successful, integration must be achieved on both horizontal and vertical

dimensions. Horizontal integration must involve all disciplines at each stage of the process, and vertical integration must involve them throughout the life span of the building. This investigation is divided into four phases: phase I includes problem definition, background information, a literature search, source

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documents and data collection for process exploration, and review of state-of-the-art research; phase II includes the research strategy, a

technical approach for model development, and refinements of preliminary findings; and phase III includes an explanation of the development process of the model through the following steps; 1) investigating the process of planning, designing, bidding, and

constructing a building construction project; and 2) identifying and defining the entities (objects) involved in this process and identifying their relationships; and phase IV includes employing the IDEF1x information modeling technique for representation of the model and

validation of the results. Considered in the development of this model will be the concept of product data modeling, international standards for data exchange, adopted and de-facto standards, and classification systems used in the design and construction industry. Recommended practices for design and principal theories of database management will be incorporated into the model.

The Problem Managing a construction project without access to timely and accurate information is a difficult task, and at best, it may result in monetary losses due to lowered productivity, human error, and even a complete breakdown in communication among all involved parties, including the owner, the designer, and the contractor.

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Providing information or knowledge to parties involved in a construction project today is done in much the same way as it has been done in the last few centuries. Although many aspects of the process such as cost record keeping have been computerized, the industry does not yet have a working integrated information system model. The format as well as the nature and flow of required information at each stage of the process is based on either loosely defined terms in the contracts made among stakeholders or the laws and regulations governing the process. Contracts are often drawn up subjectively at the whim of one construction team member and the responsibilities for executing the work delegated through these contracts. However, the responsibilities of acquiring and providing feedback as well as controlling information are generally not clearly defined. On every construction project, a vast number of data will be generated and distributed to the involved parties; however, this process does not always take into account the three most important attributes of data, i.e., quality, integrity, and timeliness, nor does it define standards, proper guidelines, or a model for generating, collecting, storing, and providing feedback about these data. Currently, the project designer or the owner act as a clearinghouse for information processing; however, because of contractual arrangements or adversarial

relationships existing among the owner, the contractor, and the designer, this procedure is neither efficient nor accurate; in addition,

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existing

standard

contracts

do

not

precisely

define

areas

of

responsibility for each party nor the type, format, and quality of information that each participant should provide or collect.

Research Objective and Scope The objective of this research is to investigate the process of building construction, to identify the types and the attributes of data generated throughout the life cycle of a building, and to develop an integrated conceptual data model for managing information during the life cycle of a building. The scope of this research has been limited to information required by owners. been defined: -To inspect and evaluate functional and information models proposed by others and choose the most suitable model as a basis for developing information model. -To develop a general information model, at the highest level, based on a functional model of the building's life cycle. -To develop an information model that reflects the type, quality, and attributes of information that concerns the owner of the facility, from the planning to the operation stages. The scope of this research takes into consideration the owner's point of view on building construction projects using a competitive bidding project delivery method. The boundary of the scope is from The following research goals have

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inception of the idea of the building to start of the construction. The design process has been treated as a separate issue which has an interface with the model because it has been normally done outside of the boundary of the owner's organization.

Research Methodology This investigation has been divided into four phases: problem identification, research strategy, solution to the problem, and validation of the results of investigation. Each phase includes four procedures and at the end of each phase, the product of the phase has been discussed. The general approach to this research is based on systems theory, explained in Appendix I. The research methodology is presented in 1, the columns of which represent each phase in the sequence. Tasks in each phase are presented vertically but at the same time, related tasks of the following phase are considered. The model developed for this investigation is applicable to any research whose objective is to achieve a solution to the problem through development of either qualitative or quantitative models. Clearly, the last row of the model (i.e. the product) is specific to the area of investigation, but the methodology by itself and all the tasks included are generic and applicable to various fields.

The Construction Industry The construction industry, the largest industry in the United

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States, once accounted for 10% of the Gross National Product (GNP). However, since 1975 the share has dropped to 6%. According to the Business Roundtable [CICE, 1983]: "... [construction] has been a $300 billion a year activity involving close to 1 million contractors, over 70 national contractor associations, more than 10,000 local and national labor organizations, about 5 million workers, and more customers than anybody can count."

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Hendrickson and Au classified the construction industry into four major categories: Residential Housing Construction, Institutional and

Commercial Building Construction, Specialized Industrial Construction,

Figure 2: Research Methodology

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and Infrastructure and Heavy Construction [Hendrickson & Au, 1987]. Barrie and Paulson [Barrie & Paulson, 1984] used a similar classification and defined each as follows:

Residential Housing Construction This segment of the industry represents about 30-35 percent of total construction expenditures and includes single-family and multifamily dwellings and high-rise apartments, it is dominated by small

builders, and projects are designed by architects.

Institutional and Commercial Building Construction This segment of the industry represents approximately 35-40 percent of the market, the largest market share of total construction volume, and includes a broad range of project types and sizes. Both labor and material intensive, these projects have included schools and universities, medical clinics and hospitals, recreational and sports stadiums, large shopping centers, high-rise buildings (office and hotels), and warehouses and light manufacturing plants. These projects are also designed by architects and built by building contractors.

Specialized Industrial Construction This segment of the industry represents 5-10 percent of the market and is dominated by large engineering firms and specialized

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contractors. It requires a high degree of technological complexity, both in design and construction, and thus involves various engineering disciplines. Turn-key projects, very common in this type of construction, include petroleum refineries, steel mills, food processing plants, paper and pulp mills, chemical processing plants, and nuclear power plants.

Infrastructure and Heavy Construction This segment of the industry represents about 20-25 percent of the market and is primarily designed and constructed by civil engineers. These equipment-intensive projects include highways and bridges, mass transit systems, tunnels, pipelines, and water and sewage treatment plants.

Characteristics of a Building Construction Project Building construction is any type of structure that requires the expertise of an architect such as offices, traditional institutions, organization retail for

establishments,

and

housing.

The

architectural projects is shown in 3. This type of project involves the architectural, civil & structure, mechanical, and electrical engineering.

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Figure 4: Architectural Project Organization [ASCE, 1990]

The traditional approach for building procurement follows a linear process called the Total Project Delivery System (5) and consists of programming, schematic design (i.e., basic information and conceptual design), design development, construction documents, and construction.

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Figure 6: Total Project Delivery System [Pena, 1987]

The project design, which perhaps has the greatest impact on the entire process, has been defined in many ways. According to Rowe, "Design, being the main task of creation of a building, can be viewed in a number of ways.... From all perspectives, however, design appears to be a fundamental means of inquiry by which man realizes and gives shape to ideas of dwelling and settlement" [Rowe, 1987]. Furthermore, design is a practical form of inquiry insofar as it involves creating and a certain commonplace usefulness, quite apart from its more esoteric benefits [Harrison, 1978]. Every building design must take into consideration four aspects: function, form, economy, and time; and it involves five steps: goals, facts, concepts, needs, and problem [Pena, 1987]. The interaction between all four aspects with each step has resulted in an Information

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Figure 7: Roles of Team Members [ ASCE, 1990]

Index, or a matrix of key words used to seek appropriate information which is used as a guide for architectural programming [ARH, 1973].

The Project Team Members and Their Roles

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The three primary members of a project team are the owner, the design professionals, and the constructor. Depending on the scope, complexity, and delivery method of a project, the responsibilities of these participants differ. Associated General Contractors has developed a matrix for each project delivery system type that explains these responsibilities in detail [AGC, 1976]. 8 describes, in general, the roles of the team members.

Design and Construction Integration The traditional Design-Bid-Build method (i.e., the competitive bid method) shown in 9 is the most common method of construction contracting in the project delivery system. In this method, the owner hires an architect to design the building and to prepare all bidding documents; these documents are made available to contractors, who in turn determine the price (which includes a profit) of a project, or a bid. The owner receives all bids and chooses a contractor based on some predetermined criteria. In the public sector, a project is usually awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. However, this method of project delivery has one major disadvantage: the design and construction processes are completely separate, thus allowing little or no integration or coordination between the design team and the constructor prior to construction, which leads to adversarial

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relationships among the owner, the architect, and the constructor. To overcome this problem as well as constructability problems and to promote the effective management of construction projects, several other approaches have been used. The most widely used of these approaches are the Construction Management and Design-Build

Procurement strategies.

Figure 10: Competitive Bid, Single Contract [CSI, 1983]

The Construction Management Procurement Strategy Construction Management consists of a series of management activities carried out during the predesign, design, and construction phases of a project [Halpin & Woodhead 1980]. A construction

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management firm controls the flow of information among project participants and awards contracts to designers, vendors, and trade contractors. 11 shows the relationship among the parties involved in a construction management contract. This method attempts to bridge the gap that exist between the design and construction phases and has been very successful in some major projects; however, because of the fragmentation that now exists within the industry as a whole and because of the lack of a standard means of generating, processing, and storing information, organizations have adopted different methods for management of information. Therefore, when different organizations team up on a project, they still face similar problems to those in the traditional design-bid-build approach.

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Figure 12: Construction Management Organization [CSI, 1983]

The Design-Build Procurement Strategy The design-build concept is not new to the construction industry; in fact, it was the original method of construction project delivery. From ancient times until the nineteenth century, buildings were both designed and built by a master builder, who had total control over the

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project, managing the process from the idea stage to completion. This resulted in an integrated system developed by each master builder, with the constructability concept being a part of the process. During the twentieth century, the design and construction processes were

completely separated to such an extent that the American Institute of Architects (AIA) considered it unethical for architects to act or present themselves as design-builders. In 1978 the AIA changed its position and set new guidelines for design-build projects [Wist, 1986]. There are two types of design-build projects: the single source method, whereby one organization provides both services; and the joint venture method, whereby two separate organizations, a designer and a contractor, work together on a particular project. Joint ventures are usually formed by contractors that serve as the prime contractor for the owner and that hire a designer for specific services.

Other Project Delivery Methods Several other methods of project delivery have been proposed and used by different organizations. These methods include Program Management, Bridging, and Scope Bidding.

Program Management.

This is extension of construction

management services to planning, programming, and design stages and may include process of site acquisition. For projects involving many

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buildings and significant site improvements this approach has been used. Because one entity carry responsibility of overall coordination

and execution of the project logistical and scheduling problems would be solved easier and project will be executed more efficiently.

Bridging.

This concept involves combining the advantages of

the design-build and the design-bid-build methods while eliminating their disadvantages [Heery et al, 1993]. In this method, the owner hires an A/E firm to prepare all requirements, costs, preliminary plans, and contract documents. Based on these documents, a team that includes the A/E firm and the building contractor will submit a bid, develop a design, and construct the facility. Scope Bidding. This concept used in the private sector, involves the owner inviting selected contractors to submit bids based on the scope of a project during the schematic design stage. During the design development stage, contractors are short-listed, and the owner negotiates with each until one is selected as the project constructor. The major advantage of this method is that the several contractors involved during the design stage bring their cumulative experience to the project, and thus improve the design and constructability of that project.

Techniques for Improving Design and Construction

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Many techniques and procedures for improving and integrating design and construction processes have been proposed and tested. The most widely used methods are the Value Engineering and

Constructability concepts.

Value Engineering.

Generally speaking, value engineering

(VE), which involves the cost effectiveness of the design, has been defined as "a creative, organized approach whose objective is to optimize cost and/or performance of a facility or system" [Dell'Isola, 1988]. VE is a function-oriented rather than an item-oriented cost reduction process, the purpose of which is to obtain the required function of a system at the lowest possible cost. VE does not involves the integrating of design and construction; however, it fosters more

construction knowledge in the design process. VE, emphasizing the review of a proposed design in its incipient stage of basic information and conceptual design, is a step toward integration.

Constructability. One recommendation of the Construction Industry Cost Effectiveness (CICE) project was the implementation of constructability. In a published report of The Construction Industry Institute (CII), constructability is defined as "the optimum knowledge and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operation to

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achieve overall project objectives. Maximum benefits occur when people with construction knowledge and experience become involved at the very beginning of a project [CII 3-1, 1986]." Implementing constructibilty reduces the time and the cost of a project while increasing its productivity and quality. The CII has published guidelines for implementing a constructability program [CII 32, 1987] and recommends, for the best results, that the construction disciplines be accorded full participation in the planning and design

stages and not simply be regarded as reviewers of the design. To be effective, a constructability program requires a reliable database of lessons learned from previous projects.

Current Use of Computers in the Construction Industry Computers in the construction industry were traditionally used in crunching numbers and tracking financial data. With the introduction of Computer-Aided Design (CAD), the role of computers has changed. In general, two types of data are used in the design and construction of a building: geometric data, which include drawings such as plans, elevations, sections, etc.; and non-geometric data, which include descriptions of costs, schedules, specifications, etc. [Mitchell, 1977]. Both design and construction of a building deal with both types of data, and hence, any integrated system should have the dual capability of

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handling

geometric

and

non-geometric

data

and

defining

the

relationships between the data types. CAD technology has changed rapidly during the past few years, and it is currently utilized in a majority of architectural firms. According to a survey conducted by the American Institute of Architects, 80% of architectural firms using computers and 80% of these firms report that CAD to be profitable [Architecture, 1992). Although CAD currently ranks fourth among all computer applications in these firms, all indicators point to the use of CAD growing faster than the use of any other computer application. Software for preparing specifications is quite advanced, and programs such as Master Spec by AIA are now in use. Other specialty applications such as energy analysis and lighting are rapidly gaining popularity, and software vendors have developed a number of programs for design and construction firms in all areas of the construction industry.

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