Knowledge transaction between offsite and onsite interfaces

Interface discrepancies continue to cause buildability problems when incorporating offsite elements/products into onsite construction. One important challenge in this regard is related to effective knowledge exchange across structural and organisational boundaries to coordinate and manage the interface discrepancies. Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA), with its focus on the knowledge transactions between social and technical systems, allows the analysis of knowledge exchange in the offsite and onsite interfaces. A case study of roof-hanger buildability incident is presented. The data are collected in the one case project in the UK through direct observations on-site, semi-structured interviews, and documents and emails. Three main phases were identified in the incident: The transition, response to the discrepancies, and reactive measures. The analysis shows that there was a decrease in coordination and knowledge exchange in all three phases. It is concluded that viewing the knowledge transactions in the incident from a socio-technical perspective made it possible to determine who knows what at a given time. This ultimately makes it possible to show knowledge interdependence in the project system.