Dynamic quality and change management for large scale concurrent design and construction projects

Though concurrent design and construction has been lauded for reducing the time of the total processes, such an approach may make projects more uncertain and complex than those where a sequential design and construction process is used. The main sources of risk are iterative cycles that result from errors and changes introduced during the execution of concurrent design and construction. Such cycles create subsequent impacts on the project performance. In addition, traditional network scheduling tools are not adequate to deal with problems encountered during concurrent design and construction because they consider the project only as a combination of discrete activities and ignore dynamic interactions between different activities. In this context, Dynamic Planning and control Methodology (DPM), a simulation-based planning and control tool, was developed to help prepare a robust construction plan that would avoid these uncertainties. However, DPM focuses only on iterative cycles caused by quality problems in construction, and it lacks the capability to deal with change cycles. In order to address this issue, this paper proposes a framework for quality and change management and a new generation of DPM based on this framework. The new DPM incorporates the traditional network tools and buffering strategies into system dynamics simulation models and aims to capture iterative cycles and their impact on design and construction performance in advance. Generated policy guidelines and analysis by the new DPM show comprehensive project profiles and help avoid unnecessary redundant subsequent actions. In addition, uncertainties of complex concurrent projects can be reduced by the buffering strategy of the new DPM. Finally, a case study of a bridge project demonstrates that DPM can help prepare robust and systemic planning for concurrent design and construction in the real world setting, and DPM allows managers or site engineers to analyze the unpredictable incidents that may occur during concurrent design and construction and to anticipate their impacts on project performance. Thesis Supervisor: Feniosky Pefia-Mora Title: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering