SCHEDULING WITH COMPUTER-INTERPRETABLE CONSTRUCTION METHOD MODELS

Current scheduling tools require the manual translation of design info rmation to activities and typically do not provide dynamic links betwe en cost estimates and corresponding schedules. To take advantage of th e increasingly electronic and object-based descriptions of designs, sc hedules, and estimates, integration mechanisms that translate design d escriptions into schedule and cost views of projects are needed. This paper presents computer-interpretable models for the representation of construction methods as one such a mechanism. These models support th e automated generation of realistic construction schedules. Methods el aborate higher-level activities into appropriate lower-level activitie s to link schedules of various levels of detail. Five attributes defin e a construction method: domain, constituting activities, activity seq uencing, constituting objects, and resource requirements. These constr uction method models can act as templates to capture production and sc heduling knowledge specific to firms and projects. We illustrate the u se and implementation of these models by scheduling the construction o f a small masonry structure. These models assist architects, owners, a nd contractors in studying cost and schedule implications of design an d construction alternatives.