Staub-French, S A (2002) Feature-driven activity-based cost estimating. PhD thesis, Stanford University, USA.
Abstract
This research extends the concept of product features that is used extensively in the manufacturing industry to the domain of cost estimating for building construction. I represent the features of building product models that are important for planning construction work and hence for estimating construction costs. I relate the features of building product models to construction activities and resources to determine the construction time and resulting construction cost. Current tools and methodologies allow estimators to establish a relationship between a component in a 3D product model and a cost item in a cost estimating database to create a cost estimate. However, this relationship is incomplete because it does not account for the different types of design information that affect construction cost and the different ways that a project's activities and resources are affected by different design information. Features of building components, such as penetrations, turns, and component similarity, also affect construction costs and can limit the requirement for activities and the allocation and execution of resources in an activity. My research enriches the representation of the relationship between product and cost information by representing the features of the building product model that are important, when they are important, and how they affect construction activities and their resources to calculate construction cost. I abstracted the different vocabularies estimators use to describe the design information that affects construction costs and the different ways estimators adjust a project's activities and resources to account for them. I implemented and tested these abstractions in a software prototype called Activity-based Cost Estimating (ACE). These formalisms enable estimators to establish and maintain the many relationships between features, activities, resources, and costs. By providing a rich representation of the relationships between a project's scope (features), schedule (activities and resources), and costs, project teams should be able to avoid many of the inefficiencies that often result in cost overruns and schedule delays and better manage and control the design and construction process.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Fischer, M |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | project team; construction cost; estimating; manufacturing; estimator; cost information |
| Index terms: | construction work, design and construction, project team, construction time, penetration, vocabularies, cost estimate, cost information, schedule delay, database, construction cost, cost overrun, construction activity, estimator, methodology, estimating, building component, cost estimating, product model, manufacturing industry, prototype, building construction |
| Subjects: | market analysis, project controls, data management, building construction, industry analysis, architectural elements, accounting and finance, research methods, modelling and simulation, operations management, knowledge organization and systems, contractual arrangements, construction operations, financial and cost management, project delivery, profession |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Information Management, Cost Management, Site Management, Time Control, Design Practice, Digital Applications, Procurement, Project Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here