Scheduling with computer-interpretable construction method models

Current scheduling tools require the manual translation of design information to activities and typically do not provide dynamic links between cost estimates and corresponding schedules. To take advantage of the increasingly electronic and object-based descriptions of designs, schedules, and estimates, integration mechanisms that translate design descriptions 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 the automated generation of realistic construction schedules. Methods elaborate higher-level activities into appropriate lower-level activities to link schedules of various levels of detail. Five attributes define a construction method: domain, constituting activities, activity sequencing, constituting objects, and resource requirements. These construction method models can act as templates to capture production and scheduling knowledge specific to firms and projects. We illustrate the use and implementation of these models by scheduling the construction of a small masonry structure. These models assist architects, owners, and contractors in studying cost and schedule implications of design and construction alternatives.