Model‐Based Planning: Scaled‐Up Construction Application

Abstract

Construction planning and scheduling is a complex process involving the design process, activity sequencing, resource allocation, and timing. The problems are compounded by the multidisciplinary nature of the architecture‐engineering‐construction industry and a multitude of factors capable of interfering with any predetermined schedule. This paper addresses the problems inherent in the detailed design‐to‐construction process and describes an integrated system that incorporates the technology of computer‐aided design and computer‐based scheduling software, but has at its heart the detailed model of a specific project as an instantiation of a large general model. The Object, Action, and Resource Plan (OARPLAN) system uses a method of representation based on the definition of a project activity as the intersection of its constituents action, object, and resource, and this provides the basis for a powerful engineering modeling and reasoning methodology. The applicability and scalability of the system is demonstrated by its experimental use in the planning of an existing substantial National Aeronautics and Space Administration building, and some of the problems encountered in the process are discussed.