Prototype Integrated Cost and Schedule Control System

Abstract

Effective management of construction projects depends on good access to and control of data, especially data pertaining to cost‐ and schedule‐control functions. Long recognizing the need to integrate these interrelated functions and to improve the quality, integrity, and timeliness of data, researchers have proposed conceptual models to achieve this purpose. However, the proper design and development of an automated solution that would support the needs of integrated cost and schedule control and acquire and store quality data in a timely manner has been lacking. Aware of these deficiencies, we designed and developed a successful prototype of an automated cost‐ and schedule‐control system that is based on the work‐packaging model and that uses bar coding in its data‐acquisition component. The purpose of this paper, then, is to discuss the prototype's capabilities and components and to illustrate how the system is used in controlling cost and schedule of a study case based on an actual construction project.