Organization and Use of Project Information

Types of Project Information

Construction projects inevitably generate enormous and complex sets of information
Effectively managing this bulk of information to insure its availability and accuracy is
an important managerial task. Poor or missing information can readily lead to project
delays, uneconomical decisions, or even the complete failure of the desired facility.
Sometimes expected delivery date that important facility components have not yet
een fabricated and cannot be delivered on time. With better information, the
problem could have been identified earlier, so that alternative suppliers might have
been located or schedules arranged. Both project design and control are crucially
dependent upon accurate and timely information, as well as the ability to use this
information effectively. At the same time, too much unorganized information
presented to managers can result in confusion and paralysis of decision making.

As a project proceeds, the types and extent of the information used by the various
organizations involved will change. A listing of the most important information sets

would include:

cash flow and procurement accounts for each organization,

intermediate analysis results during planning and design,

design documents, including drawings and specifications,

construction schedules and costestimates,

quality control and assurance records,

chronological files of project correspondence and memorandum,
construction field activity and inspection logs,
legal contracts and regulatory documents.

evolve as the project proceeds. The financial

Some of these sets of information
over the entire course of the project are an example of overall
accounts of payments
steady additions in these accounts, whereas
growth. The passage of time results in
contractor leads to a sudden jump in the
the addition of a new actor such as a

important at one stage of the

number of accounts. Some information sets are
 process but may then be ignored. Common examples include planning or structural
analysis databases which are not ordinarily used during construction or operation.
However, it may be necessary at later stages in the project to re-do analyses to
consider desired changes. In this case, archival information storage and retrieval
become important. Even after the completion of construction, an historical record
may be important for use during operation, to assess responsibilities in case of
facility failures or for planning similar projects elsewhere.

The control and flow of information is also important for collaborative work

environments, where many professionals are working on different aspects of a

project and sharing information. Collaborative work environments provide facilities
for sharing data files, tracing decisions, and communication via electronic mail or
video conferencing. The data stores in these collaborative work environments may
become very large.

Accuracyand Use of Information

Numerous sources of error are expected for project information. While numerical
values are often reported to the nearest cent or values of equivalent precision, it is
rare that the actual values are so accurately known. Living with some uncertainty is
an inescapable situation, and a prudent manager should have an understanding of
the uncertainty in different types of information and the possibility of drawing

misleading conclusions
We have already discussed the uncertainty inherent in making forecasts of project

uncertainty also exists in the

costs and durations sometime in the future. Forecast
short term. For example, consider estimates of work completed. Every project
which the final few bits of work for a task take
manager is familiar with situations in
inordinate amount of time. Unforeseen problems, inadequate quality on already
an
the most difficult work
completed work, lack of attention, accidents, or postponing
the final portion of an activity
problems to the end can all contribute to making
result is that
time and effort than expected. The net
actually require far more

often inaccurate.
estimates of the actual proportion of work completed are
Some inaccuracy in reports and estimates can arise from conscious choices made

accuracy is thought to be
by workers, foremen or managers. If the value of insuring
low or nonexistent, then a rational worker will not expend effort or time to gather or to

report information accurately. Many project scheduling systems flounder on exactly

this type of non-reporting or mis-reporting. The original schedule can quickly become

have
extremely misleading without accurate updating! Only if all parties concerned
incentives to report accurately will the data be reliable.
specific mandates or

Another source of inaccuracy comes from transcription errors of various sorts.

reading equipment, other

errors, incorrect measurements from
or
Typographical
information which are
recording and calculation errors may creep into the sets of
used in project management. Despite intensive efforts to check and eliminate such
errors, their complete eradication is virtually impossible.

One method of indicating the relative accuracy of numerical data is to report ranges

deviations of an estimate or measurement. For example, a

or expected
be reported as 198 ft. + 2 ft. There are two common
measurement might
range (such as+2) might be chosen so
interpretations of these deviations. First, a

In the case above,

that the actual value is certain to be within the indicated range.
196 and 200 feet with this
the actual length would be somewhere between
of the
convention. this deviation might indicate the typical range
Alternatively,
estimate or measurement. In this case, the example above might imply that thereis,

say, a two-thirds chance that the actual length is between 196 and 200

Computerized Organization and Use of Information

Numerous formal methods and
required for project management.
possible organizations exist for the information
and
discussing the details of computations
Before

useful to describe a record keeping

information representation, it will be
the practical concerns in design and
implementation, including some of
we shall describe a computer
based system to
implementation. In this section,
from the point of
construction and warehouse management information
yard
provide
databases
view of the system users. In the process, the usefulness of computerized

can be illustrated.

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A yard or warehouse is used by most construction firms to store equipment and to

provide an inventory of materials and parts needed for projects. Large firms may
have several warehouses at different locations so as to reduce transit time between

project sites and materials supplies. In addition, local "yards" or "equipment sheds"
are commonly provided on the
job site. Examples of equipment in a yard would be
drills, saws, office trailers, graders, back hoes, concrete
pumps and cranes. Material
items might include nails,
plywood, wire mesh, forming lumber, etc.
In typical construction warehouses, written records
kept by warehouse derks to
are
record transfer or return of
equipment to job sites, dispatch of material to jobs, and
maintenance histories of particular pieces of
equipment. In turn, these records are
used as the basis for billing
projects for the use of equipment and materials. For
example, a daily charge would be made to a project for using a concrete
pump.
During the course of a month, the concrete pump might spend several days at
different job sites, so each project would be
charged for its use. The record keeping
system is also used to monitor materials and equipment movements between sites
so that equipment can be located.

Organizing Information in Databases

Given the bulk of information associated with construction projects, formal
organization of the information is essential so as to avoid chaos. Virtually all major
firms in the arena of project management have computer based organization of cost
accounts and other data. With the advent of micro-computer database managers, it
is possible to develop formal, computerized databases for even small organizations
and projects. In this section, we will discuss the characteristics of such formal
databases. Equivalent organization of information for manual manipulation is
possible but tedious. Computer based information systems also have the significant
advantage of rapid retrieval for immediate use and, in most instances, lower overall
costs. For example, computerized specifications writing systems have resulted in
well documented savings. These systems have records of common specification
phrases or paragraphs which can be tailored to specific project applications.
Formally, a database is a collection of stored operational information used by the
management and application systems of some particular enterprise. This stored
information has explicit associations or relationships depending upon the content
and definition of the stored data, and these associations may themselves be

considered to be part of the database.

A manager need not be concerned with the details of data storage since this internal

representation and manipulation is regulated by the Database Manager

Program (DBM). The DBM is the software program that directs the storage,
maintenance, manipulation and retrieval of data. Users retrieve or store data by

to the DBM. The objective of introducing a DBM is to free

issuing specific requests
the user from the detail of exactly how data are stored and manipulated. At the same

of needs the same database

time, many different users with a wide variety can use

DBM will be available to a user by means of a

by calling on the DBM. Usually the
DBM to report on all
special query language. For example, a manager might ask a

scheduled to be underway on a particular date. The desirable

project tasks which are
to the
properties of a DBM include the ability to provide the user with ready access
the data. Numerous
stored data and to maintain the integrity and security of
be readily adopted
commercial DBM exist which provide these capabilities and can

to project management applications.

information in a database will depend upon the

While the actual storage of the
machine and storage media employed, a Conceptual Data Model exists
particular
with an idea or abstract representation of the data
which provides the user
information in the
overall configuration of the
organization. (More formally, the
be
For example, a piece of data might
database is called the conceptual schema.)
of a data file. In this conceptual model,
a
viewed as a particular value within a record
consists of a series of records with pre-defined
datafile for an application system
sequence of variable values, which
record is simply a
variables within each record. A
one of the earliest and
characters or numerals. This datafile model is
may be text
structures. But other views of data organization
most important data organization
describes one such general
The next section
exist and can be exceedingly useful.
model
model, called the relational
 Relational Model of Databases
As an example of how data can be organized conceptually, we shall describe
the relational data model. In this conceptual model, the data in the database is

Viewed as being organized into a series of relations or tables of data which are

associated in ways defined in the data dictionary. A relation consists of rows of data
with columns containing particular attributes. The term "relational" derives from the
mathematical theory of relations which provides a theoretical framework for this type
of data model. Here, the terms "relation" and data "table" will be used

interchangeably.

Other Conceptual Models of Databases

While the relational model offers a considerable amount of flexibility and preserves
considerable efficiency, there are several alternative models for organizing
databases, including network and hierarchical models. The hierarchical model is a
tree structure in which information is organized as branches and nodes from a

particular base. The hierarchical model has the characteristic that each item has a

single predecessor and a variable number of subordinate data items. This structure

is natural for many applications, such as the equipment cost information described
construct similar hierarchies for each
above. However, it might be necessany to
for each piece of equipment to record
project to record the equipment used or

possible suppliers.

Centralized Database Management Systems

the use
management system is adopted,
or database
Whichever conceptual model
and some
has a number of advantages
of a central database management system
A data file
to the commonly employed special purpose data files.
costs compared
and defined for a single application system.
consists of a set of records arranged
between records is not explicitly
items in a record or
Relational information between
For example, a file of project
described or available to other application systems.
be assembled and
manipulated by a
durations and scheduled times might
activity
project scheduling system. This data file would not necessarily be available to the

accounting system or to corporate planners.

A centralized DBM has several advantages over such stand-alone systems:

.Reduced redundancy good planning can allow duplicate or similar data

stored in different files for different applications to be combined and stored

only once.
Improved availabilityinformation may be made available to any application
program through the use of the DBM
Reduced inconsistencyif the same data is stored in more than one place,
then updating in one place and not everywhere can lead to inconsistencies in

the database.
Enforced data security authorization to use information can be centralized.

For the purpose of project management, the issue of improved availability is

particularly important. Most application programs create and own particular datafies
in the sense that information is dificult to obtain directly for other applications.
Common problems in attempting to transfer data betweern such special purpose files
are missing data items, unusable formats, and unknown formats.

As an example, suppose that the Purchasing Department keeps records of

equipment rental costs on each project underway. This data is arranged so that
payment of invoices can be handled expeditiously and project accounts are properly
debited. The records are arranged by individual suppliers for this purpose. These
records might not be particularly useful for the purpose of preparing cost estimates
since:

.Some suppliers might not exist in the historical record.

Finding the lowest cost supplier for particular pieces of equipment would be
exceedingly tedious since every record would have to be read to find the
desired piece of equipment and the cost.
.No direct way of abstracting the equipment codes and prices might exist.
 An alternative arrangement might be to separately record equipment rental costs in

(1) the Purchasing Department Records. (2) the Cost Estimating Division, and (9) tne

Company warehouse. While these multiple databases might each be designed tor

the individual use, they represent considerable redundancy and could easily result in

inconsistencies as prices change over time. With central DBM, desired views for
each of these three users could be developed from a single database of equipment
Costs.

A manager need not conclude from this discussion that initiating a formal database

will be a panacea. Life is never so simple. Installing and maintaining databases 1S a

costly and time consuming endeavour. A single database is particularly vulnerable to
equipment failure. Moreover, a central database system may be so expensive and
cumbersome that it becomes ineffective; we will discuss some possibilities for
transferring information between databases in a later section. But lack of good
information and manual information management can also be expensive.

One might also contrast the operation of a formal, computerized database with that
of a manual filing system. For the equipment supplier example cited above, an
experienced purchasing clerk might be able to immediately find the lowest cost
supplier of a particular piece of equipment. Making this identification might well occur
in spite of the formal organization of the records by supplier organization. The
experienced clerk will have his (or her) own subjective, conceptual model of the
available information. This subjective model can be remarkably powerful.
Unfortunately, the mass of information required, the continuing introduction of new
employees, and the need for consistency on large projects make such manual
systems less effective and reliable.

Databases and Applications Programs

The usefulness of a database organization is particularly evident in integrated design
or management environments. In these systems, numerous applications programs
share a common store of information. Data is drawn from the central database as
needed by individual programs. Information requests are typically performed by
including pre-defined function calls to the database management system within an

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application program. Results from one program are stored in the database and can

be used by subsequent programs without specialized translation routines.

Additionally, a user interface usually exists by which a project manager can directy

make queries to the database.

An architectural system for design can provide an example of an integrated

the role of storing a library of information on

system. First, a database can serve

These standard
standard architectural features and component properties.
into
be called from the database library and introduced
a new
components can

also store the description of a new design, such as the

design. The database can

number, type and location of individual building components. The design itself can

have the
be composed using an interactive graphics program. This program would

to store new or modified design in the database. A graphics program

capability a
dimensional views of
typically has the capability to compose numerous, two or three

to introduce shading (to representshadows and provide greater realism to

a design,
a perspective), and to allow editing (including moving, replicating, or sizing individual
database,
components). Once a design is completed and its description stored in a
numerous analysis programs can be applied, such as:

structural analysis,
in each
daylight contour programs to produce plots of available daylight
room,

a heat loss computation program

quantities calculations.
a r e a , volume and materials

Production information can also be obtained from the integrated system, such as

dimensioned plans, sections and elevations,

component specifications,
construction detail specifications,

electrical layout,
system isometric drawings,
bills of quantities and materials
 The advantage of an integrated system of this sort is that each program need only
be designed to communicate with a single database. Accomplishing appropriate
transformations of data between each pair of programs would be much more dificult.
Moreover, as new applications are required, they can be added into an integrated
system without extensive modifications to existing programs. For example, a library
of specifications language or a program for joint design might be included in the

design system described above. Similarly, a construction planning and cOst

estimating system might also be added.
The use of integrated systems
with open access to a database is not common for
construction activities at the current time.
Typically, commercial systems have a
closed architecture with simple data files or
a "captive" inaccessible database

management system. However, the benefits of an open architecture with an

accessible database are considerable as new
programs and requirements become
available over time.

Information Transferand Flow

The previous sections outlined the characteristics of a computerized database. In an
overabundance of optimism or enthusiasm, it might be
tempting to conclude that
all information pertaining to a project
might be stored in a single database.
This has never been achieved and is both unlikely to occur and undesirable in itself.
Among the difficulties of such excessive centralization are:

Existence of multiple firms agencies

involved in any project. Each
or

organization must retain its own records of activities, whether or not other
information is centralized. Geographic dispersion of work even within the
same firm can also be advantageous. With design offices around the globe,
fast track projects can have work underway by different offices 24 hours a

day.
Advantages of distributed processing. Current computer technology
suggests that using a number of computers at the various points that work is
performed is more cost effective than using a single, centralized mainframe

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 computer. Personal computers not only have cost and access advantages
they also provide a degree of desired redundancy and increased reliability.
the lever or
Dynamic changes in information needs. As a project evolves,
detail and the types of information required will vary greatly.
it becomes
Database diseconomies of scale. As any database gets larger,
less and less efficient to find desired information.
single data organization
Incompatible user perspectives. Defining a

and application systems.

involves trade-offs between different groups of users

for another.
A good organization for one group may be poor

set of untidy information which

In addition to these problems, there will always be a

for storage in a
cannot be defined formalized to the extent necessary
easily or

database.
desirable to
it is also apparent that it is
While a single database may be undesirable,
measurement
or databases so that
structure independent application systems
and communication between the
recorded once
information need only be manually
of
data base might exist. Consider the following examples illustrating the desirability
or databases. While some
communication between independent application systems
and existing mechanisms for
progress has occurred, the
level of integration
and large, information
information flow in project management is fairly primitive. By
talking, written texts of reports and specifications and
flow relies primarily on

drawings.