Fuzzy case-based reasoning for coping with construction disputes

The nature of the construction business makes the industry one of the most litigious. Most recent studies of dispute settlement assistant system have applied case-based reasoning (CBR) models to identify similar dispute cases that may be used as references in dispute settlements. Typically, either Euclidean distance (EUD) or cosine angle distance (CAD) has been employed in CBR to measure similarity. However, both EUD and CAD present inherent problems. This situation offers the opportunity to further refine and improve the CBR approach. The CBR was combined with fuzzy-set theory to establish the ‘‘fuzzy case-based reasoning model” (FCBR) for coping with construction disputes. FCBR incorporates a new similarity measurement (NSM) that fuses EUD and CAD, creating a more effective tool with which to calculate target case similarity with historical construction dispute cases. Information on cases similar to a target case assists mediators to deal effectively with construction disputes. The FCBR simulates the process of human reasoning, allowing users to not only easily review historical data, but also efficiently mine information on similar cases. Crown Copyright 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.