A proposed open infrastructure for construction project document sharing (original) (raw)

Integrated construction project document management (ICPDM)

Behesti, M.; Zreik, K. edts. Advanced …, 1993

The emphasis in research concerning methods for computer integrated construction has recently been on advanced data base techniques (product models) and AI applications. Another type of computer-aid for integration which could have a significant impact on practice in a ...

Flexibility and Effectiveness in Building Project Document Management

Building projects are expressed through a variety of documents presenting different aspects of the building in question. Web-based project management systems are increasingly used as environments for organizing and managing these documents. However, a common problem of such systems is that they either offer only a loose organization of the project documents or, on the contrary, impose a rigid structure. We propose a methodology for increasing the organizational effectiveness of such a system without imposing a fixed frame of reference. By composing a hierarchical structuring of the categories assigned to documents, a richer relatedness of these documents can be achieved. Decomposing documents by content corresponding to these categories further relates these documents. We present a prototype implementation of this methodology in XML and discuss the integration of this approach into an EDMS in order to improve the EDMS's performance.

Development of an Ontology for the Document Management Systems for Construction

Complex Systems Concurrent Engineering

This paper describes the development of an ontology for the AEC/FM projects' documentation management that allows the classification of the documents along the lifecycle of AEC/FM projects. This ontology is aimed at reducing the interoperability and information exchange problems, inherent nowadays in AEC/FM projects, establishing a hierarchical structure of the different areas that conform the lifecycle of AEC/FM projects and an interrelationship system between them. Therefore, all the documentation created along a project could be classified in the different areas of the project lifecycle and related to them by this hierarchical structure. Moreover, metadata like identifier, creation date,… have been incorporated to documents in order to be completed and modified by the author to facilitate users' understanding. Therefore, this ontology is the first step to improve the Document Management Systems in AEC/FM projects and their interoperability limitations.

Information technology-enabled BPR in the construction industry

Knowledge and Process Management, 1998

The paper gives a comprehensive overview of the European ESPRIT Condor project. The project aims at bridging the gap between current information systems and future ones, and provides a migration path from document-based, to model-based approaches to information representation and structuring. After a brief overview of the project's aims and objectives, the paper gives the state of the art of electronic document management (EDM) systems in the construction industry, followed by a description of the three legacy EDM systems used within the Condor project. A strategy towards the integration of these systems is then given. The paper presents the overall Condor system architecture and discusses how distributed object technology (through the use of the architecture) can be used as a powerful instrument to potentially facilitate the re-engineering of business processes within the construction industry. The project is ongoing and supported by a user interest group, which involves representatives from a variety of non-construction industry companies all over Europe.

Information and Document Management System for Construction Sites

W102 - Special Track - 18th CIB World Building Congress May 2010 Salford, United Kingdom, 2010

Each construction project is unique in terms of how specialist professionals manage and use project documents. Construction sites use and generate a large body of documents containing valuable information across project participants. Therefore, the efficient deployment of construction projects depends partly on effective communication among project participants. This communication, however, is hindered by the large amount and wide variation of the project information and documents involved and the spatial dispersion of construction sites. This paper presents an intranet-based information and document management system that facilitates project information and communication management within a large construction company. The system implementation and testing have shown that it can provide structured and reliable information, quick and remote access, and prompt updating capabilities of stored documents.

Electronic document management in construction-research issues and results

Electronic Journal of Information Technology in …, 2003

SUMMARY: Electronic document management (EDM) technology has the potential to enhance the information management in construction projects considerably, without radical changes to current practice. Over the past fifteen years this topic has been overshadowed by building ...

Types and Documents: Structuring Building Project Information

We describe a methodology for integrating a number of design documents of different formats within a single information structure. When this integrated structure is highly related, it provides support for effective searching and browsing of this information. To achieve such relatedness, we consider a notion of types from architecture as a semantic structure for project document management in the AEC industry. We discuss specific techniques to support this use of types with respect to EDMS's and Web-based project management systems. We describe a prototype application, a presentation tool for architectural analyses that combines these techniques.

An information management model for concurrent construction engineering

Automation in Construction, 1996

in the construction industry are increasingly characterised by large numbers of actors working concurrently at different locations and using heterogeneous technologies. In order to support this kind of collaborative engineering, project information needs to be conceptually modelled throughout its lifecycle, along with the events that impact upon it by causing state changes. There exists, therefore, an urgent need to provide a flexible framework in which the highly interleaved and interactive events and transactions inherent in complex construction projects can be managed effectively. This paper addresses these issues by proposing such a conceptual framework consisting of four levels of abstraction and functionality governed by the COMMIT (Construction Modelling and Methodologies for Intelligent inTegration of information) Information Management Model (CIMM). A comprehensive presentation of the CIMM (which tackles issues such as versioning, notification, object rights and ownership) is given. The CIMM also facilitates the recording of the intent behind construction project decisions, thereby providing a complete project history. Finally, the model is illustrated through two proposed scenarios dealing with selected objects' lifecycles during design stages and actor transaction management.