Integration of the construction knowledge and expertise in front-end planning

Traditionally, construction input is integrated after the completion of the design stage of the projects. Inadequate construction input at the predesign stage and during the front-end planning (FEP) process results in fragility of plans in terms of constructability. This paper reports on a research to investigate construction input during the FEP process. The research is based on three questionnaire surveys as well as complementary case studies. Questionnaires1 and 2 were developed to assess the status of the FEP process and select areas that require construction input, respectively. Case studies were then selected from a pool of projects and collected data were analyzed to investigate barriers to construction input. Results of the surveys and case studies suggested that lack of well-established interorganizational frameworks within project organizations, as a loosely coupled network, hinders effective construction input. Based on the results, a user-friendly decision aid, a construction input assessment tool (CIAT), was developed as a framework to facilitate, frame, and benchmark required construction input in the FEP process. Questionnaire 3 was then sent to industry experts to test and validate the tool. The results of the research (1) highlight the importance of construction input in the FEP process; (2) identify an application of structured frameworks, effective boundary objects, and established knowledge sharing at the firm level as facilitating factors to integrate the construction input in the FEP process; and (3) include a proposed tool that can be tailored and used in the industry to systematically facilitate construction input during the FEP process.