Reasoning Mechanism for Construction Nonconformance Root-Cause Analysis
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 134, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper describes how problem patterns can be identified and analyzed for diagnosing and/or predicting nonconformance of constructed facilities. This will enable appropriate actions to be taken for eradicating the causes of nonconformance and preventing their recurrence and/or their occurrence. A structure has been defined for representing construction projects information and organizing knowledge extracted from past experience to facilitate the analyses. Pattern analyses have been directed at deriving root cause classes of problems including (1) design, which relates to the assigned specifications, methods, and/or procedures; (2) execution, which involves errors or the inability to execute tasks; and (3) external, which includes unforeseen events or accidents. Highway pavement construction has been selected as an application and illustrative domain. Expert knowledge related to low density and roughness of constructed pavements has been assembled and organized to support the analyses. The approach provides a generic mechanism to carry out integrated root cause analyses with design/planning, construction, and quality management information. Its application has been demonstrated and validated using case studies from different construction domains.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 134 • Issue 4 • April 2008
Pages: 280 - 288
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Nov 10, 2003
Accepted: Aug 3, 2007
Published online: Apr 1, 2008
Published in print: Apr 2008
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