Communication Workflow Approach to CIC

Construction is a fragmented industry and its integration has been the goal of research efforts in building management and construction IT. Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) is, after decades of work, still a goal to be achieved. Mainstream methods to achieve this goal were the product and later the process models. Recently the attention has shifted towards workflow oriented approaches. In this paper the author will argue that in particular the communication based workflow (as opposed to activity based workflow) could be a promising approach to CIC research. Communication workflow paradigm can be used to scientifically address and examine the most propulsive modern information technologies, such as the Internet, mobile communication and the future integration of the two. An ontological framework is proposed that unifies communication workflow paradigm with more traditional product and process based paradigms. Introduction Construction is often regarded as low-tech, IT extensive professions. And jet, when compared to other kinds of engineering or even business, where else can more complex, fuzzy and inextricable situations be found. Products and processes are unique; the virtual company, that builds the product, consisting of investors, design firms, contractors and subcontractors is unique; the level of IT expertise varies... It is because the business processes in construction are so complex that the penetration of IT tools is smaller than in other industries. These industries design a product to be sold in a million copies, in a process that will run in controlled, factory environments. And therefore there is a lot of time to design the product and plan the Communication workflow approach to CICComputing in civil and building engineering / sponsored by the Committee on Coordination Outside ASCE of the Technical Council on Computing and Information Technology of the American Society of Civil Engineers ... [et al.]. Reston, Va. : American Society of Civil Engineers, cop. 2000. – ISBN 0-7844-0513-1. – Pg. 1094-1101Ilustr. Assoc.Prof., University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, Jamova 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, http://itc.fgg.uni-lj.si/~zturk/ process very carefully. Construction, on the other hand, cannot afford so much precision and compensates that with the improvisation and intense communication among the parties involved. IT support for that has not been studied much. Computer integrated construction One of the main tasks of the construction information technology research has been the integration of the fragmented profession using computers thus achieving "Computer Integrated Construction" (CIC). It has been believed that the agreement on the standardized product models and information exchange protocols is the way to achieve the integration. More than thirty years ago, Champion (1967) wrote: "One of the problems which is important in relation to the use of computers generally in the building industry is that of finding a satisfactory coding system for information. Whereas individual firms can quite easily devise their own coding systems, the use of computer techniques throughout the industry as a whole will depend to a large extent on all parties agreeing on one generally accepted coding system." In other words, a common language for construction is required and western tradition has a very old example, how important such a language is (Figure 1). Figure 1: Construction project, believed to fail due to communication problems. Today, after decades of research in construction IT, this problem remains on the research agenda, in spite of the IAI and STEP standard developments. Turk (1998) argued that these problems are not solvable, relying on the critics of artificial