| |
Current Winners of the Donald S. Barrie Award
2005 Barrie Award Recipient:
 FAISAL
MANZOOR ARAIN is a Doctoral candidate and research scholar
with the Department of Building, School of Design and Environment,
National University of Singapore. Mr. Arain holds a Bachelor of
Architecture degree from DCET-NED University, Pakistan, and a Master
of Science degree in Construction Engineering and Management from
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. He has
worked as a project manager with a consultant firm in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Arain’s ongoing research is in
the area of IT application in construction project management. His
research concentrates on developing a knowledge-based decision
support system (KBDSS) for effective management of variations in
educational building projects in Singapore. Furthermore, the KBDSS,
with appropriate modifications, would be useful for the management
of variations in other types of building projects. His doctoral
research is expected to help raise the overall level of productivity
in the construction industry. Mr. Arain is expecting to complete his
studies in 2005 with a Doctor of Philosophy degree from National
University of Singapore.
Abstract
This study identifies the major
findings from the data collected from the source documents of 79
institutional building projects and how these would have
implications for future policy implications. Finally, the study
presents a Knowledge-Based Decision Support System (KBDSS) developed
based on the data collected from these 79 institutional buildings,
for making timely and more informed decisions for management of
variations. To achieve the study objectives, an in-depth study of
source documents and questionnaire survey was carried out for data
collection. In-depth interviews with 62 professionals, who were
involved in these projects, were analyzed. The results indicate that
the total number of variations in upgrading projects were almost
twice the total number of variations in new projects. The root
causes of variations were grouped under five categories. The highest
number of variations and variation orders were contributed from the
Owner Related Variations (ORV) and Contractor Related Variations (CRV)
groups. Further analysis of these two groups revealed the most
important and common root causes of variations from both these
groups. Furthermore, the study revealed the most frequent effects
and most effective controls for each of the most important causes of
variations identified that assisted in developing the KBDSS. The
KBDSS consists of two main components, i.e., a knowledge-base and a
decision support shell for selecting appropriate controls. The KBDSS
is capable of displaying variations and their relevant in-depth
details, a variety of filtered knowledge, and various analyses of
the knowledge available. This would eventually lead the decision
maker to the suggested controls for specific variations and assist
the decision maker in selecting the most appropriate controls for
managing the variations timely. The KBDSS is able to assist project
managers by providing accurate and timely information for decision
making, and a user-friendly system for analyzing and selecting the
controls for variation orders for institutional buildings. With
further generic enhancement and modification, the KBDSS will also be
useful for the management of variation orders in other types of
building projects, thus helping to raise the overall level of
productivity in the construction industry. The system developed and
the findings from this study would also be valuable for all building
professionals in general.
Read the
whole paper
|
|
