The demands put on actors within the context of industrialised building differ from those demands which are commonly associated with traditional on-site construction. Within the industrialised construction context the clients are for example facing a new situation where deadlines are of great importance for the contractor and failure to meet those deadlines are associated with substantial costs for all parties. Earlier experiences possessed by the clients, and knowledge within the construction area concerning such things as methods and principles for agreements, are not easily translated to the industrialised construction context. Therefore, even though contractors in industrialised construction companies can present attractive opportunities for their clients when it comes to, for example, improved investment estimations, quality management and follow-ups, the insecurity associated with the industrialised building context and its demands still may be a main issue for the client in the investment decision act. Also, in order for the contractor to be able to offer the earlier mentioned opportunities, the demands of the industrialised construction process becomes even more evident as well as the contractor’s need to reduce uncertainty.

The purpose of the project “the role of the construction client in industrialised construction (in wood)” is to translate these insecurities (defined as the difference between information needed to make a decision and information available when the decision is being made) into assessable risk, and also to develop means of control for the industrial construction process.

In order to translate insecurities into assessable risks the needed information must first be identified and understood. The interaction and flow of information in between the client and the constructor, preceding the decision of investment, is then of great interest. What (When? How? Why?) does the client need to know and what does the contractor need to know? Are there constraints that are unknown to any or all of the parties, and are there parameters being related in unknown or undefined ways? What happens when changes occur during the process of production and how can the consequences of certain demands, i.e. choices or changes concerning different parameters, be communicated in an effective and efficient way?

The aim for me in this course is therefore to learn more about how parametric design and UML language can be used in order to model the interaction- and information exchange process between the construction client and the contractor. A tentative vision is to lay the foundation to some kind of selling support tool (…?!?).

During the week at Stanford I noticed that I could relate to several of the other projects, so maybe I will be able to find one or more “close partners” during this course?!? I am starting out by myself though.

1. Read up on UML (“UML 2.0 In a nutshell”)
2. Probably revise the plan…
3. Start data collection to identify relevant parameters, starting with the more explicit ones and from that proceed with (as far as possible) the more implicit parameters. (
4. Use UML and diagrams (“how”, hopefully I will be able to elaborate more on that after 1. and 2. as presented above) to map parameters, constraints and relations between parameters
5. Hopefully get some feedback from others in the wiki
6. Probably revise the plan…
7. Face to face discussion with Erik (perhaps also with additional “process modellers”) to exchange “findings and ideas”
8. Probably revise the plan…
9. Present UML-diagrams showing constraints, (key) parameters, relations, (rankings?) that maps out the interaction between the client and the constructor with focus on demands on “both sides”

test_av_bild.pdf

offertfoerfragan.pdf

utredning.pdf