Promoting good design management practices in colombian construction projects

Managing the design of Architectural/Engineering/Construction (AEC) projects has usually been portrayed as a complex activity by many recent international research articles. Despite of the increased worldwide interest, there have not been found any design management investigation in Colombia. Thus, the main objective of this on-going study is to generate a conceptual design-management framework for a local engineering design firm. The study has been divided in two stages, diagnosis and implementation, and only the diagnosis phase is reported in this document. This stage includes an analysis of the particular design processes set by the company, establishing good practices, highlighting areas of improvement, and proposing recommendations. The research was conducted through two case studies. It has been found that this particular design firm has implemented good practices in terms of establishing long-term relationships with some of its clients, and developed a knowledge management information system. However, supply chain integration, client requirements management, risk management, and constructability reviews are the major suggested areas of improvement. As a consequence, it is clear that the main barrier to overcome these design difficulties, is the interaction with the external corporate environment. Therefore, the design-management framework proposed is based on recommendations directed towards creating multidisciplinary design teams and promoting a better relationship with clients and final users.