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Developing a general model for construction problem solving for an engineering consulting firm

  • Construction Management
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a lessons-learned-based general construction problem-solving model, namely GCPM, within an engineering consulting firm to assist construction engineers in finding the preliminary solution for a construction problem. The proposed GCPM is developed using an induction method based on 631 historical lesson-learned files collected from a leading engineering consulting firm in Taiwan. Elements of the Construction Project Management Body of Knowledge (CPMBOK) of the Project Management Institute (PMI), Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and Data Mining (DM), are adopted so that the Management Parameters (MPs) and Problem-Solving Principles (PSPs) are defined and derived. Finally, a Construction Problem-Solving Matrix (CPSM) is obtained comprising of two types of MPs and a set of 76 PSPs. After tested with 54 real world cases, the proposed GCPM is verified to achieve 96.5% overall successful application rate. It is concluded that the proposed GCPM provides a promising tool for construction engineers of engineering consultants to direct appropriate problem-solving principles regardless of the complexity and diversity of construction problems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CECI Engineering Inc., Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    Pei-Lun Chang

  2. Chung Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C.

    Wen-der Yu

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  1. Pei-Lun Chang
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  2. Wen-der Yu
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Correspondence to Pei-Lun Chang.

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Chang, PL., Yu, Wd. Developing a general model for construction problem solving for an engineering consulting firm. KSCE J Civ Eng 20, 2143–2153 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-016-0346-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-016-0346-3

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