Study on the Complexity Evaluation of a Construction Project

With rapid emerging of large-scale and complex projects, the complexity of the project has been increasing accordingly, which encourages us to focus on the measurement of the complexity of the project. Aiming to measure the complexity of the project systematically, complexity evaluation system and index system are constructed, which are verified with an empirical comparative case. Firstly, based on literatures on project complexity, some academic views are concluded: sources of the project complexity are stemmed from diversity, interdependence, dynamics, and uncertainty and the constituent of the project complexity is epitomized as organization, technical, environment, information as well as goal, respectively. Those academic views lay solid foundation for the construction of the evaluation framework and index system. Then, a comparative empirical case of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), Qinghai-Tibetan Railway, and The Beijing Capital International Airport T3 is carried out with the method of expert investigation, where subjective and objective methods are employed to assign weights of each index. It is found that in respect of the overall complexity, T3 is the lowest among them, denoting a very high complexity level. HZMB and Qinghai-Tibetan Railway, However, they have almost equivalent level but they are in high level of complexity. From the perspective of constituent of project complexity, environmental complexity is regarded as the most significant factors, followed by information, technology, and organization complexity between Qinghai-Tibetan Railway and the HZMB. For T3 terminal, the organization complexity is the most significant factor, and others are ranked as information, technology, the goal complexity, and the environment complexity. Finally, the validity and reliability of the measurement method are verified by conclusion produced from an empirical case.