A Building Information Modelling Based Production Control System for Construction

We propose visual interfaces for BIM-based construction management systems to empower construction personnel on site by providing them with construction process and status information. Computer-aided visualization, not only of the construction product, but also of the construction process, can provide a unique service to support decision-making by workers, supervisors and managers, with the goal of achieving stable flows. The three main user interfaces – for a) detailing of work packages into finer-grained task definitions by the trade managers and preparation of proposed weekly work plans, for b) collaborative planning and integration between the plans of the different trade crews, and for c) day to day communication of product and process information to and from work crews – have been designed and implemented as functional mock-ups. They have been evaluated in three focus group workshops with project engineers, construction site supervisors, trade crew leaders and logistics managers. The findings at this early stage are that the interfaces provide rich information for production control, including monitoring of current process status, and fulfil the guiding principles defined for BIM-enabled production control. However, significant R&D is still needed for back-end integration of the various information system components of the system architecture before the system can be implemented and tested on site.