Project management information control systems

Construction managers rely on ready access to a large amount of project inf ormation. The entry, processing, and flow of information are important in a voiding problems, delays, and claims on construction projects. This paper d escribes a study of the extent and nature of project documentation and proj ect information flows within the construction industry. The study mapped va rious types of project information against the documents that typically pro vide the information and the construction management functions that provide and access the information. From this analysis, a computer system to suppo rt the task of project information management was designed. The problem ana lysis, requirements specification, system design, and system implementation are described. The system allows construction managers to enter informatio n for a wide variety of project events, cross-reference the various bodies of information, and use the information to monitor and control various aspe cts of a construction project. The objective of the study was not necessari ly to improve upon commercially available project information and documenta tion tools, but to deepen and formalize our understanding of project inform ation as an input to a larger body of work on integrated project informatio n systems and data standards for the construction industry.