Benefits of On-Site Design to Project Performance Measures

Abstract

The timely and effective transfer of knowledge and information among project disciplines is of paramount importance for project success. As such, strategies aiming at the incorporation of construction expertise in the design process can significantly improve the likelihood of successful project endeavors. To date, however, the impact of on-site design—the translocation of design activities to the project site—on project performance is not yet understood. This research has identified 29 project performance measures and 50 design activities across project phases to assess the influence of on-site design on project performance. On the basis of statistical analysis of 115 capital projects data representative of $9.2 billion in total installed costs, this study reveals that projects with intensive on-site design strategies not only surpass projects with moderate or null on-site design strategies for a majority of the project performance measures but also exhibit similar levels of accomplishment for the rest of the measures. To complement these results, this study also characterizes and details the utilization of on-site design.