Integrated Design of an Automation System

Building production process have a complex nature due to the characteristics of project type productions, i.e., number of participants, organizational patterns, multi-phased production etc. One of the basic project-based problems that architects encounter through the design process is to keep the construction cost under the limit given by the client of the project and to enlighten the client about the impacts of the decisions on building cost. Calculation of the impacts of alternative decisions on building cost must be a continuous activity through the design (and sometimes in construction) stage(s) and the models developed for the architectural practices and construction firms should also provide this sort of tools that provide an integration and continuity through the building production process for the architectural offices and construction firms. In certain organizational patterns and contracts the information that is the output of cost planning and estimation function in design stage may be needed for the cost estimating, planning, and control function in tender and construction stages too. Some of the currently available information system solutions in both conceptual and practical dimensions try to provide an integration and continuity through the subphases of building production process in terms of cost planning/estimating/control functions. This paper presents an integrated design of computer-based office automation system (MITOS) that basically comprises three relational database models; ASAP (Automation System for Architectural Practices); ASCC (Automation System for Construction Companies); ASCE (Automation System for Cost Estimation) that may work independently or integrated to solve the problem of integration and continuity of cost management functions and the problem that stems from the traditional database structures through the subphases of building production process by proposing an interactive and dynamic structure of databases in these models.