Cost‐ and Schedule‐Control Integration: Issues and Needs

TLDR

Cost and schedule control are critical functions in construction, yet current research focuses on improving their effectiveness, addressing data quality, integrity, and timeliness, and proposing integrated data models to solve prevailing project problems. This paper reviews cost‑ and schedule‑control functions, defines the desired control cycle, and identifies the problems and needs of these functions. The authors discuss existing integrated data models, highlight the work‑packaging model as the most promising existing approach, and present a relational‑conceptual foundational data model for control. The recommended design adopts the conceptual structures of the work‑packaging model.

Abstract

Cost control and schedule control are two of the most important management functions in the construction industry. Major research efforts are focused on developing procedures for improving the effectiveness of cost and schedule control. As a result, researchers are concerned with the quality, integrity, and timeliness of data that flow through such control systems. A number of data models have been proposed to integrate cost‐ and schedule‐control functions, because such integration is viewed as the, solution to the many problems facing construction projects today. This paper provides an overview of cost‐ and schedule‐control functions, defines the desired control cycle, and discusses the problems and needs of cost‐ and schedule‐control functions. A number of integrated cost‐ and schedule‐control data models, which represent the state of construction research in this area, are discussed. The work‐packaging model is briefly described and is suggested as the most likely existing model to achieve the desired cost and schedule integration. Finally, the conceptual design of a foundational data model for control, based on relational concepts, is provided. The recommended design adopts the conceptual structures of the work‐packaging model.