Sensitivity of construction activities under design uncertainty

In the quest to shorten project delivery time, construction professionals have the option of overlapping design and construction activities. Although time savings can be achieved by overlapping, conducting design and construction operations in a nonnatural sequence can carry significant risks. To mitigate these risks and make more appropriate overlapping decisions, concurrent engineering concepts can be used to classify upstream design activities in terms of design evolution and downstream construction activities in terms of sensitivity to upstream design changes. The focus of this work is to determine the factors that contribute to the sensitivity of construction activities. A series of semistructured interviews with experienced construction professionals show that the level of transformation, lead time, modularity, and the interaction of built components are some of the factors that determine the amount of sensitivity in construction activities to upstream design changes. These determinants provide for a quick assessment of an activity's sensitivity, which can help practitioners limit risk when planning the overlapping of design and construction activities.