WP039: Opportunities for Computer-Aided Design for Construction

The demand for better integration of design and construction, also called Design
for Construction (DfC), is growing. Clients demand faster delivery and higher quality, and building companies want to rationalize the building process. Many organizational approaches and technological opportunities are available or under development to improve integration of design and construction. Opportunities offered by information technology (IT) are especially promising. Only few projects, however, combine organizational approaches with state-of-the-art technologies in a systematic manner to derive the full benefits of computer-aided DfC. This paper describes a framework that helps organizations approach computer-aided DfC systematically. The framework identifies six interactions between design and construction and is based on frameworks for Design for Manufacture (DtM) and on an analysis of current building practice. DfM has proven most effective when integrated into a cyclical product development process. Our framework serves as a road map for the building industry to formalize its information flows and to integrate DfC into its linear facility delivery process and to approach a more cyclical delivery process.