Constructability Feedback Systems: Issues and Illustrative Prototype

Heuristic construction knowledge generated while contracting is seldom recorded and transferred to other workers. Experiences of past mistakes as well as efficient work practices are crucial means for saving money, time, and improving the safety and quality of construction. With the rising costs of construction and the increased demand of time constraints on contractor schedules, few members of the construction industry can afford to waste time and resources on errors or ineffective work practices. The Constructability Lessons Learned Database (CLLD) prototype described in this paper is a leading edge method of automatically gathering, systematically organizing and efficiently applying vital construction information to a contractor's daily activities. This paper presents a review of previous and current attempts at database constructability programs, uses of constructability feedback systems, challenges to develop and utilize such systems, and an overview of the design and development of the CLLD prototype. The overview describes knowledge elicitation techniques used to gather constructability knowledge, the design of the system (organizing and classifying construction information for efficient retrieval and expansion), and system's implementation, validation, and operation. The conclusion discusses future extensions of the CLLD concept in the construction industry.