organization and use of project information

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Organization and Use of Project

Information

Types of "ro#ect $nfor%ation &ccuracy and Use of $nfor%ation Co%puteri!ed rgani!ation and Useof $nfor%ation rgani!ing $nfor%ation inDatabases 'elational odel of Databases ther Conceptual odels ofDatabases Centrali!ed Database anage%entSyste%s Databases and &pplications"rogra%s $nfor%ation Transfer and lo* 'eferences "roble%s ootnotes

14. Organization and Use of Project Information

14.1 Types of Project Information

Construction pro#ects ine+itably generate enor%ous and co%ple, sets of infor%ation- .ffecti+ely%anaging this bul/ of infor%ation to insure its a+ailability and accuracy is an i%portant %anagerial tas/-"oor or %issing infor%ation can readily lead to pro#ect delays0 unecono%ical decisions0 or e+en theco%plete failure of the desired facility- "ity the o*ner and pro#ect %anager *ho suddenly disco+er on thee,pected deli+ery date that i%portant facility co%ponents ha+e not yet been fabricated and cannot bedeli+ered for si, %onths 2ith better infor%ation0 the proble% could ha+e been identified earlier0 so thatalternati+e suppliers %ight ha+e been located or schedules arranged- oth pro#ect design and control arecrucially dependent upon accurate and ti%ely infor%ation0 as *ell as the ability to use this infor%ationeffecti+ely- &t the sa%e ti%e0 too %uch unorgani!ed infor%ation presented to %anagers can result inconfusion and paralysis of decision %a/ing-

&s a pro#ect proceeds0 the types and e,tent of the infor%ation used by the +arious organi!ations in+ol+ed*ill change- & listing of the %ost i%portant infor%ation sets *ould include

cash flo* and procure%ent accounts for each organi!ation0

inter%ediate analysis results during planning and design0

design docu%ents0 including dra*ings and specifications0
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rogramshttp://www.ce.cmu.edu/pmbook/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html#14.9%20Information%20Transfer%20and%20Flowhttp://www.ce.cmu.edu/pmbook/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html#14.10%20Referenceshttp://www.ce.cmu.edu/pmbook/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html#14.11%20Problemshttp://www.ce.cmu.edu/pmbook/14_Organization_and_Use_of_Project_Information.html#14.12%20Footnoteshttp://www.ce.cmu.edu/pmbook/


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construction schedules and cost esti%ates0

5uality control and assurance records0

chronological files of pro#ect correspondence and %e%orandu%0

construction field acti+ity and inspection logs0

legal contracts and regulatory docu%ents-

So%e of these sets of infor%ation e+ol+e as the pro#ect proceeds- The financial accounts of pay%ents o+erthe entire course of the pro#ect is an e,a%ple of o+erall gro*th- The passage of ti%e results in steadyadditions in these accounts0 *hereas the addition of a ne* actor such as a contractor leads to a sudden#u%p in the nu%ber of accounts- So%e infor%ation sets are i%portant at one stage of the process but %aythen be ignored- Co%%on e,a%ples include planning or structural analysis databases *hich are notordinarily used during construction or operation- 6o*e+er0 it %ay be necessary at later stages in thepro#ect to re7do analyses to consider desired changes- $n this case0 archi+al infor%ation storage and

retrie+al beco%e i%portant- .+en after the co%pletion of construction0 an historical record %ay bei%portant for use during operation0 to assess responsibilities in case of facility failures or for planningsi%ilar pro#ects else*here-

The control and flo* of infor%ation is also i%portant for collaborati+e *or/ en+iron%ents0 *here %anyprofessionals are *or/ing on different aspects of a pro#ect and sharing infor%ation- Collaborati+e *or/en+iron%ents pro+ide facilities for sharing datafiles0 tracing decisions0 and co%%unication +ia electronic%ail or +ideo conferencing- The datastores in these collaborati+e *or/ en+iron%ents %ay beco%e +erylarge-

ased on se+eral construction pro#ects0 aged &bdelsayed of Tardif0 urray 8 &ssoc (Quebec0 Canada)esti%ated the follo*ing a+erage figures for a typical pro#ect of US91: %illion

;u%ber of participants (co%panies) 4:

;u%ber of different types of docu%ents generated >:

;u%ber of pages of docu%ents >?0:::

;u%ber of ban/ers bo,es to hold pro#ect docu%ents

;u%ber of 4 dra*ers filing cabinets ?

;u%ber of


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.5ui+alent nu%ber of co%pact discs (CDs) ?

2hile there %ay be substantial costs due to inaccurate or %issing infor%ation0 there are also significantcosts associated *ith the generation0 storage0 transfer0 retrie+al and other %anipulation of infor%ation- $naddition to the costs of clerical *or/ and pro+iding aids such as co%puters0 the organi!ation and re+ie*of infor%ation co%%and an inordinate a%ount of the attention of pro#ect %anagers0 *hich %ay be the

scarcest resource on any construction pro#ect- $t is useful0 therefore0 to understand the scope andalternati+es for organi!ing pro#ect infor%ation-

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14.2 Accuracy and Use of Information

;u%erous sources of error are e,pected for pro#ect infor%ation- 2hile nu%erical +alues are oftenreported to the nearest cent or +alues of e5ui+alent precision0 it is rare that the actual +alues are soaccurately /no*n- @i+ing *ith so%e uncertainty is an inescapable situation0 and a prudent %anagershould ha+e an understanding of the uncertainty in different types of infor%ation and the possibility ofdra*ing %isleading conclusions-

2e ha+e already discussed the uncertainty inherent in %a/ing forecasts of pro#ect costs and durationsso%eti%e in the future- orecast uncertainty also e,ists in the short ter%- or e,a%ple0 consider esti%atesof *or/ co%pleted- .+ery pro#ect %anager is fa%iliar *ith situations in *hich the final fe* bits of *or/for a tas/ ta/e an inordinate a%ount of ti%e- Unforeseen proble%s0 inade5uate 5uality on alreadyco%pleted *or/0 lac/ of attention0 accidents0 or postponing the %ost difficult *or/ proble%s to the endcan all contribute to %a/ing the final portion of an acti+ity actually re5uire far %ore ti%e and effort thane,pected- The net result is that esti%ates of the actual proportion of *or/ co%pleted are often inaccurate-

So%e inaccuracy in reports and esti%ates can arise fro% conscious choices %ade by *or/ers0 fore%en or%anagers- $f the +alue of insuring accuracy is thought to be lo* or none,istent0 then a rational *or/er

*ill not e,pend effort or ti%e to gather or to report infor%ation accurately- any pro#ect schedulingsyste%s flounder on e,actly this type of non7reporting or %is7reporting- The original schedule can 5uic/lybeco%e e,tre%ely %isleading *ithout accurate updating nly if all parties concerned ha+e specific%andates or incenti+es to report accurately *ill the data be reliable-

&nother source of inaccuracy co%es fro% transcription errors of +arious sorts- Typographical errors0incorrect %easure%ents fro% reading e5uip%ent0 or other recording and calculation errors %ay creep intothe sets of infor%ation *hich are used in pro#ect %anage%ent- Despite intensi+e efforts to chec/ andeli%inate such errors0 their co%plete eradication is +irtually i%possible-

ne %ethod of indicating the relati+e accuracy of nu%erical data is to report ranges or e,pectedde+iations of an esti%ate or %easure%ent- or e,a%ple0 a %easure%ent %ight be reported as 1A= ft- B >IKob ;o- AA7"$TT

$T. ;- .Q- ;- QTL D.SC'$"T$; U;$T "'$C.:?:A-:EThis stored infor%ation has e,plicit associations or

relationships depending upon the content and definition of the stored data0 and these associations %aythe%sel+es be considered to be part of the database- igure 1471 illustrates so%e of the typical ele%entsof a database- The internal modelis the actual location and representation of the stored data- &t so%ele+el of detail0 it consists of the strings of HbitsH *hich are stored in a co%puterOs %e%ory0 on the trac/s ofa recording dis/0 on a tape0 or on so%e other storage de+ice-

+igure 14!1 $llustration of a Database anage%ent Syste% &rchitecture
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& %anager need not be concerned *ith the details of data storage since this internal representation and%anipulation is regulated by theDatabase Manager Program(D)- The D is the soft*are progra%that directs the storage0 %aintenance0 %anipulation and retrie+al of data- Users retrie+e or store data byissuing specific re5uests to the D- The ob#ecti+e of introducing a D is to free the user fro% the

detail of e,actly ho* data are stored and %anipulated- &t the sa%e ti%e0 %any different users *ith a *ide+ariety of needs can use the sa%e database by calling on the D- Usually the D *ill be a+ailable toa user by %eans of a special 5uery language- or e,a%ple0 a %anager %ight as/ a D to report on allpro#ect tas/s *hich are scheduled to be under*ay on a particular date- The desirable properties of a Dinclude the ability to pro+ide the user *ith ready access to the stored data and to %aintain the integrityand security of the data- ;u%erous co%%ercial D e,ist *hich pro+ide these capabilities and can bereadily adopted to pro#ect %anage%ent applications-

2hile the actual storage of the infor%ation in a database *ill depend upon the particular %achine andstorage %edia e%ployed0 a Conceptual Data Modele,ists *hich pro+ides the user *ith an idea or abstractrepresentation of the data organi!ation- (ore for%ally0 the o+erall configuration of the infor%ation in thedatabase is called the conceptual schema-) or e,a%ple0 a piece of data %ight be +ie*ed as a particular

+alue *ithin a recordof a datafile- $n this conceptual %odel0 a datafile for an application syste% consistsof a series of records *ith pre7defined +ariables *ithin each record- & record is si%ply a se5uence of+ariable +alues0 *hich %ay be te,t characters or nu%erals- This datafile %odel is one of the earliest and%ost i%portant data organi!ation structures- ut other +ie*s of data organi!ation e,ist and can bee,ceedingly useful- The ne,t section describes one such general %odel0 called the relational %odel-

Continuing *ith the ele%ents in igure 14710 the data dictionarycontains the definitions of theinfor%ation in the database- $n so%e syste%s0 data dictionaries are li%ited to descriptions of the ite%s inthe database- ore general syste%s e%ploy the data dictionary as the infor%ation source for anythingdealing *ith the database syste%s- $t docu%ents the design of the database *hat data are stored0 ho* thedata is related0 *hat are the allo*able +alues for data ite%s0 etc- The data dictionary %ay also contain userauthori!ations specifying *ho %ay ha+e access to particular pieces of infor%ation- &nother i%portant

ele%ent of the data dictionary is a specification of allo*able ranges for pieces of dataJ by prohibiting theinput of erroneous data0 the accuracy of the database i%pro+es-

!ternal modelsare the %eans by *hich the users +ie* the database- f all the infor%ation in thedatabase0 one particular userOs +ie* %ay be #ust a subset of the total- & particular +ie* %ay also re5uirespecific translation or %anipulation of the infor%ation in the database- or e,a%ple0 the e!ternal modelfor a paychec/ *riting progra% %ight consist solely of a list of e%ployee na%es and salary totals0 e+en ifthe underlying database *ould include e%ployee hours and hourly pay rates- &s far as that progra% isconcerned0 no other data e,ists in the database- The D pro+ides a %eans of translating particulare,ternal %odels or +ie*s into the o+erall data %odel- Different users can viewthe data in 5uite distinctfashions0 yet the data itself can be centrally stored and need not be copied separately for each user-.,ternal %odels pro+ide the for%at by *hich any specific infor%ation needed is retrie+ed- Database

HusersH can be hu%an operators or other application progra%s such as the paychec/ *riting progra%%entioned abo+e-

inally0 theDatabase "dministratoris an indi+idual or group charged *ith the %aintenance and design ofthe database0 including appro+ing access to the stored infor%ation- The assign%ent of the databasead%inistrator should not be ta/en lightly- .specially in large organi!ations *ith %any users0 the databasead%inistrator is +ital to the success of the database syste%- or s%all pro#ects0 the database ad%inistrator%ight be an assistant pro#ect %anager or e+en the pro#ect %anager-


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14., -eationa ode of $ata*ases

&s an e,a%ple of ho* data can be organi!ed conceptually0 *e shall describe the relational data model- $nthis conceptual %odel0 the data in the database is +ie*ed as being organi!ed into a series of relationsortables of data *hich are associated in *ays defined in the data dictionary- & relation consists of ro*s ofdata *ith colu%ns containing particular attributes- The ter% HrelationalH deri+es fro% the %athe%aticaltheory of relations *hich pro+ides a theoretical fra%e*or/ for this type of data %odel- 6ere0 the ter%sHrelationH and data HtableH *ill be used interchangeably- Table 147< defines one possible relation to recordunit cost data associated *ith particular acti+ities- $ncluded in the database *ould be one ro* (or tuple)for each of the +arious ite%s in+ol+ed in construction or other pro#ect acti+ities- The unit cost infor%ationassociated *ith each ite% is then stored in the for% of the relation defined in Table 147


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%ight be used for nu%erous %asonry construction tas/s0 but the definition of this cre* need only appearonce-

2'FPU;$T0 UT"UT and T$.PU;$T su%%ari!e the e,pected output for this tas/ *ith a standardcre* and define the standard unit of %easure%ent for the ite%- $n this case0 costs are gi+en per thousandbric/s per shift- inally0 %aterial (&T@PU;$TPCST) and installation ($;STCSTS) costs are

recorded along *ith the date (D&T.CS and D&T.$CS) at *hich the prices *ere a+ailable andentered in the database- The date of entry is useful to insure that any inflation in costs can be consideredduring use of the data-

The data recorded in each ro* could be obtained by sur+ey during bid preparations0 fro% past pro#ecte,perience or fro% co%%ercial ser+ices- or e,a%ple0 the data recorded in the Table 147< relation couldbe obtained as nation*ide a+erages fro% co%%ercial sources-

&n ad+antage of the relational database %odel is that the nu%ber of attributes and ro*s in each relationcan be e,panded as desired- or e,a%ple0 a %anager %ight *ish to di+ide %aterial costs(&T@PU;$TPCST) into attributes for specific %aterials such as ce%ent0 aggregate and otheringredients of concrete in the unit cost relation defined in Table 147


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to both of t*o relations)0 %inus (consisting of all ro*s belonging to one relation and not another)0 orpro#ection (consisting of a subset of the attributes fro% a relation)- The algebraic underpinnings ofrelational databases per%its rigorous definitions and confidence that operations *ill be acco%plished inthe desired fashion-IE

Exampe 14!'" A #u*contractor -eation

&s an illustration of the preceding discussion0 consider the proble% of de+eloping a database of possiblesubcontractors for construction pro#ects- This database %ight be desired by the cost esti%ation depart%entof a general contractor to identify subcontractors to as/ to bid on parts of a pro#ect- &ppropriatesubcontractors appearing in the database could be contacted to prepare bids for specific pro#ects- Table1473 lists the +arious attributes *hich %ight be re5uired for such a list and an e,a%ple entry0 includingthe subcontractorOs na%e0 contact person0 address0 si!e (large0 %ediu% or s%all)0 and capabilities-

TA()E 14!' Subcontractor 'elation .,a%ple

&ttribute .,a%ple

;&.C;T&CT"6;.ST'..TC$TLST&T.$"CD.S$.C;C'[email protected]'$C&@&S;'Letc-

RL .lectrical Co-etty RL(41


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associated *ith each subcontractor %ight be entered as an additional attribute in the relation0 and theaccounting depart%ent could find addresses directly-

Exampe 14!4" /istorica (ridge 0or -eation

&s another si%ple e,a%ple of a data table0 consider the relation sho*n in Table 147: *hich %ight recordhistorical e,perience *ith different types of bridges accu%ulated by a particular agency- The actualinstances or ro*s of data in Table 1474 are hypothetical- The attributes of this relation are

"'K.CT ;U.' 7 a ?7digit code identifying the particular pro#ect-

TL". '$DG. 7 a te,t field describing the bridge type- (or retrie+al purposes0 a

nu%erical code %ight also be used to describe bridge type to a+oid any differences inter%inology to describe si%ilar bridges)-

@C&T$; 7 The location of the pro#ect-

C'SS$;G 7 2hat the bridge crosses o+er0 eg- a ri+er-

S$T. C;D$T$;S 7 & brief description of the site peculiarities-

.'.CT$; T$. 7 Ti%e re5uired to erect a bridge0 in %onths-

S"&; 7 Span of the bridge in feet-

D&T. 7 Lear of bridge co%pletion-

&CTU&@7.ST$&T.D CSTS 7 Difference of actual fro% esti%ated costs-

These attributes could be used to ans*er a +ariety of 5uestions concerning construction e,perience usefulduring preli%inary planning-

TA()E 14!4 .,a%ple of ridge 2or/ 'elation

"ro#ect;u%ber

Type ofridge @ocation Crossing Site Conditions

.rection Ti%e(onths)

Span(ft-)

.sti%ated less&ctual Cost

1?A13I1I:14>1AI1:=

Steel "lateGirderConcrete&rch

Steel Truss

&ltoona"ittsburgh&llento*n

'ailroad'i+er6igh*ay

O Deep "ileoundation

>I=

0:::

&s an e,a%ple0 suppose that a bridge is to be built *ith a span of : feet0 located in "ittsburgh "&0 andcrossing a ri+er *ith li%estone sub7strata- $n initial or preli%inary planning0 a designer %ight 5uery thedatabase four separate ti%es as follo*s


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[email protected] fro% '$DG.2'F *here S"&;


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+igure 14!2 6ierarchical Data rgani!ation

The net*or/ %odel or database organi!ation retains the organi!ation of infor%ation on branches andnodes0 but does not re5uire a tree of structure such as the one in igure 147


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+igure 14!' .,a%ple of a ;et*or/ Data odel

2hile the early0 large databases *ere based on the hierarchical or net*or/ organi!ations0 the relational%odel is no* preferred in %any applications due to its fle,ibility and conceptual si%plicity- 'elationaldatabases for% the /ernel for large syste%s such as '&C@. or S&"- 6o*e+er0 databases distributeda%ong nu%erous ser+ers %ay ha+e a net*or/ structure (as in igure 1473)0 *ith full relational databasescontained at one or %ore nodes- Si%ilarly0 Hdata *arehouseH organi!ations %ay contain se+eral differenttypes of databases and infor%ation files- or these data *arehouses0 %ore co%plicated search approachesare essential0 such as auto%atic inde,ing of %ulti7%edia files such as photographs-

ore recently0 so%e ne* for%s of organi!ed databases ha+e appeared0 spurred in part by *or/ inartificial intelligence- or e,a%ple0 igure 1474 illustrates aframedata structure used to represent abuilding design ele%ent- This fra%e describes the location0 type0 cost0 %aterial0 scheduled *or/ ti%e0 etc-for a particular concrete footing- & fra%e is a general purpose data representation sche%e in *hichinfor%ation is arranged inslots*ithin a na%ed fra%e- Slots %ay contain lists0 +alues0 te,t0 proceduralstate%ents (such as calculation rules)0 pointers or other entities- ra%es can be inter7connected so thatinfor%ation %ay be inheritedbet*een slots- igure 147> illustrates a set of inter7connected fra%es used todescribe a building design and construction plan- 1:EObject orienteddata representation is si%ilar inthat +ery fle,ible local arrange%ents of data are per%itted- 2hile these types of data storageorgani!ations are acti+e areas of research0 co%%ercial database syste%s based on these organi!ations arenot yet a+ailable-
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+igure 14!4 $llustration of Data Stored in a ra%e


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+igure 14!, $llustration of a ra%e ased Data Storage 6ierarchy

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14.3 %entraized $ata*ase anagement #ystems

2hiche+er conceptual %odel or database %anage%ent syste% is adopted0 the use of a central database%anage%ent syste% has a nu%ber of ad+antages and so%e costs co%pared to the co%%only e%ployedspecial purpose datafiles- & datafile consists of a set of records arranged and defined for a single
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application syste%- 'elational infor%ation bet*een ite%s in a record or bet*een records is not e,plicitlydescribed or a+ailable to other application syste%s- or e,a%ple0 a file of pro#ect acti+ity durations andscheduled ti%es %ight be asse%bled and %anipulated by a pro#ect scheduling syste%- This datafile *ouldnot necessarily be a+ailable to the accounting syste% or to corporate planners-

& centrali!ed D has se+eral ad+antages o+er such stand7alone syste%s 11E

-educed redundancygood planning can allo* duplicate or si%ilar data stored in different files

for different applications to be co%bined and stored only once-

Improed aaia*iityinfor%ation %ay be %ade a+ailable to any application progra% through

the use of the D

-educed inconsistencyif the sa%e data is stored in %ore than one place0 then updating in one

place and not e+ery*here can lead to inconsistencies in the database-

Enforced data securityauthori!ation to use infor%ation can be centrali!ed-

or the purpose of pro#ect %anage%ent0 the issue of i%pro+ed a+ailability is particularly i%portant- ostapplication progra%s create and ownparticular datafiles in the sense that infor%ation is difficult to obtaindirectly for other applications- Co%%on proble%s in atte%pting to transfer data bet*een such specialpurpose files are %issing data ite%s0 unusable for%ats0 and un/no*n for%ats-

&s an e,a%ple0 suppose that the "urchasing Depart%ent /eeps records of e5uip%ent rental costs on eachpro#ect under*ay- This data is arranged so that pay%ent of in+oices can be handled e,peditiously andpro#ect accounts are properly debited- The records are arranged by indi+idual suppliers for this purpose-These records %ight not be particularly useful for the purpose of preparing cost esti%ates since

So%e suppliers %ight not e,ist in the historical record-

inding the lo*est cost supplier for particular pieces of e5uip%ent *ould be e,ceedingly tedious

since e+ery record *ould ha+e to be read to find the desired piece of e5uip%ent and the cost-

;o direct *ay of abstracting the e5uip%ent codes and prices %ight e,ist-

&n alternati+e arrange%ent %ight be to separately record e5uip%ent rental costs in (1) the "urchasingDepart%ent 'ecords0 (


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ne %ight also contrast the operation of a for%al0 co%puteri!ed database *ith that of a %anual filingsyste%- or the e5uip%ent supplier e,a%ple cited abo+e0 an e,perienced purchasing cler/ %ight be ableto i%%ediately find the lo*est cost supplier of a particular piece of e5uip%ent- a/ing this identification%ight *ell occur in spite of the for%al organi!ation of the records by supplier organi!ation- Thee,perienced cler/ *ill ha+e his (or her) o*n sub#ecti+e0 conceptual %odel of the a+ailable infor%ation-This sub#ecti+e %odel can be re%ar/ably po*erful- Unfortunately0 the %ass of infor%ation re5uired0 the

continuing introduction of ne* e%ployees0 and the need for consistency on large pro#ects %a/e such%anual syste%s less effecti+e and reliable-

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14.5 $ata*ases and Appications Programs

The usefulness of a database organi!ation is particularly e+ident in integrated design or %anage%enten+iron%ents- $n these syste%s0 nu%erous applications progra%s share a co%%on store of infor%ation-Data is dra*n fro% the central database as needed by indi+idual progra%s- $nfor%ation re5uests aretypically perfor%ed by including pre7defined function calls to the database %anage%ent syste% *ithin anapplication progra%- 'esults fro% one progra% are stored in the database and can be used by subse5uentprogra%s *ithout speciali!ed translation routines- &dditionally0 a user interfaceusually e,ists by *hich apro#ect %anager can directly %a/e 5ueries to the database- igure 147? illustrates the role of an integrateddatabase in this regard as the central data store-

+igure 14! $llustration of an $ntegrated &pplications Syste%

&n architectural syste% for design can pro+ide an e,a%ple of an integrated syste%- 1


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of indi+idual building co%ponents- The design itself can be co%posed using an interacti+e graphicsprogra%- This progra% *ould ha+e the capability to store a ne* or %odified design in the database- &graphics progra% typically has the capability to co%pose nu%erous0 t*o or three di%ensional +ie*s of adesign0 to introduce shading (to represent shado*s and pro+ide greater realis% to a perspecti+e)0 and toallo* editing (including %o+ing0 replicating0 or si!ing indi+idual co%ponents)- nce a design isco%pleted and its description stored in a database0 nu%erous analysis progra%s can be applied0 such as

structural analysis0

daylight contour progra%s to produce plots of a+ailable daylight in each roo%0

a heat loss co%putation progra%

area0 +olu%e and %aterials 5uantities calculations-

"roduction infor%ation can also be obtained fro% the integrated syste%0 such as

di%ensioned plans0 sections and ele+ations0

co%ponent specifications0

construction detail specifications0

electrical layout0

syste% iso%etric dra*ings0

bills of 5uantities and %aterials-

The ad+antage of an integrated syste% of this sort is that each progra% need only be designed toco%%unicate *ith a single database- &cco%plishing appropriate transfor%ations of data bet*een eachpair of progra%s *ould be %uch %ore difficult- oreo+er0 as ne* applications are re5uired0 they can beadded into an integrated syste% *ithout e,tensi+e %odifications to e,isting progra%s- or e,a%ple0 alibrary of specifications language or a progra% for #oint design %ight be included in the design syste%described abo+e- Si%ilarly0 a construction planning and cost esti%ating syste% %ight also be added-

The use of integrated syste%s *ith open access to a database is not co%%on for construction acti+ities atthe current ti%e- Typically0 co%%ercial syste%s ha+e a closed architecture *ith si%ple datafiles or aHcapti+e0H inaccessible database %anage%ent syste%- 6o*e+er0 the benefits of an open architecture *ithan accessible database are considerable as ne* progra%s and re5uire%ents beco%e a+ailable o+er ti%e-

Exampe 14!," An Integrated #ystem $esign

&s an e,a%ple0 igure 147I illustrates the co%puter aided engineering (C&.) syste% en+isioned for the/no*ledge and infor%ation7intensi+e construction industry of the future- 13E$n this syste%0co%prehensi+e engineering and HbusinessH databases support different functions throughout the life ti%eof a pro#ect- The construction phase itself includes o+erlapping design and construction functions- Duringthis construction phase0 co%puter aided design (C&D) and co%puter aided %anufacturing (C&) aids area+ailable to the pro#ect %anager- Databases recording the Has7builtH geo%etry and specifications of a
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facility as *ell as the subse5uent history can be particularly useful during the use and %aintenance lifecycle phase of the facility- &s changes or repairs are needed0 plans for the facility can be accessed fro%the database-

+igure 14!3 Co%puter &ided .ngineering in the Construction $ndustry('eprinted *ith per%ission fro% fro% L- has/i and - u/i%o0 HCo%puter7&ided .ngineering

in the Construction $ndustry0Hngineering with Computers$ %ol& '$ no& ($ ')*+&

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14.6 Information Transfer and +o7

The pre+ious sections outlined the characteristics of a co%puteri!ed database- $n an o+erabundance ofopti%is% or enthusias%0 it %ight be te%pting to conclude that all infor%ation pertaining to a pro#ect
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%ight be stored in a single database- This has ne+er been achie+ed and is both unli/ely to occur andundesirable in itself- &%ong the difficulties of such e,cessi+e centrali!ation are

Existence of mutipe firms or agencies inoed in any project..ach organi!ation %ust retain

its o*n records of acti+ities0 *hether or not other infor%ation is centrali!ed- Geographicdispersion of *or/ e+en *ithin the sa%e fir% can also be ad+antageous- 2ith design offices

around the globe0 fast trac/ pro#ects can ha+e *or/ under*ay by different offices


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+igure 14!5 &pplication of an $nput "re7processor

Exampe 14!3" +ina %ost Estimation8 #c&eduing and onitoring

any fir%s %aintain essentially independent syste%s for final cost esti%ation and pro#ect acti+ityscheduling and %onitoring- &s a result0 the detailed brea/do*n of the pro#ect into specific #ob relatedacti+ities %ust be co%pletely re7done for scheduling and %onitoring- y pro+iding a %eans of rolling,overor transferring the final cost esti%ate0 so%e of this e,pensi+e and ti%e7consu%ing planning effortcould be a+oided-

Exampe 14!5" $esign -epresentation

$n %any areas of engineering design0 the use of co%puter analysis tools applied to facility %odels hasbeco%e pre+alent and re%ar/ably effecti+e- 6o*e+er0 these co%puter7based facility %odels are oftenseparately de+eloped or encoded by each fir% in+ol+ed in the design process- Thus0 the architect0structural engineer0 %echanical engineer0 steel fabricator0 construction %anager and others %ight all ha+e

separate co%puter7based representations of a facility- Co%%unication by %eans of reproduced facilityplans and prose specifications is traditional a%ong these groups- 2hile transfer of this infor%ation in afor% suitable for direct co%puter processing is difficult0 it offers ob+ious ad+antages in a+oidingrepetition of *or/0 delays and transcription errors- & de facto standard for transfer of geo%etricinfor%ation e%erged *ith the do%inance of the &UTC&D design syste% in the &M.MC industry-$nfor%ation transfer *as acco%plished by copying &UTC&D files fro% user to user0 including uses onconstruction sites to +isuali!e the design- ore fle,ible and e,tensi+e standards for design infor%ationtransfer also e,ist0 such as the $ndustry oundation Classes ($C) standard de+eloped by the $nternational


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&lliance for $nteroperability (See httpMM***-iai7international-orgMiaiPinternationalM) and the Hully$ntegrated and &uto%ated "ro#ect "rocessesH de+eloped by $&T.C6 (see httpMM***-fiatech-orgM)

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14.19 -eferences

1- &u0 T-0 C- 6endric/son and &- "as5uale0 H$ntroduction of a 'elational Database 2ithin a Cost.sti%ating Syste%0H -ransportation .esearch .ecord1:>:0 pp- >I7?


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3- Suppose that a general contractor *ished to /eep a historical database of the results of bidco%petitions- Suggest (a) the infor%ation that %ight be stored0 and (b) a possible organi!ation ofthis infor%ation-

4- or your suggested database fro% "roble% 30 i%ple%ent a prototype syste% on a spreadsheetsoft*are progra%-

>- Describe a relational database that *ould be useful in storing the beginning0 ending and allinter%ediate stages for bloc/*orld robot %o+e%ents as described in "roble% ? in Chapter A-

?- Describe a relational database that *ould be appropriate for %aintaining acti+ity schedulinginfor%ation during pro#ect %onitoring- e e,plicit about *hat relations *ould be defined0 theattributes in each relation0 and allo*able ranges of +alues-

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14.12 +ootnotes

1- See D-- 'ogge0 HDelay 'eporting 2ithin Cost &ccounting Syste%0H"/C 0ournal of Constructionngineering and Management$Nol- 11:0 ;o-


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1:- This organi!ation is used for the central data store in an integrated building design en+iron%ent- Seeen+es0 S-0 U- le%%ing0 C- 6endric/son0 - aher0 and G- Sch%itt0 H&n $ntegrated Soft*are.n+iron%ent for uilding Design and Construction0HProc& of the 1ifth "/C Conference on Computingin Civil ngineering0 1A=I ac/

11- or a discussion0 see D-'- 'eha/ and @-&- @ope!0 Computer "ided ngineering Problems and

Prospects$Ci+il .ngr- Syste%s @ab-0 Uni+- of $llinois0 Urbana0 $@0 1A=1- ac/

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organization and use of project information

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