Towards a theory of construction as production by projects

This paper responds to the invitation to debate the theory of production in construction from the advocates of lean construction. In particular, it is a response to Koskela and Ballard's critiques of the theory of project management represented in the Project Management Institute's (PMI) PMBoK, and the 'economics-based approach to construction project management presented by Winch. The paper reviews the theoretical and practical contributions of lean construction before addressing the specific criticisms made. It then suggests that lean construction theory has its own limitations and requires further development in the areas of the definition of process, the concept of organization, the theorization of risk and uncertainty, and its unitary concept of value.