The research work presented in this thesis investigates the presence of waste within the information flows of construction projects in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. Building Information Modelling (BIM) was introduced to the AEC industry as a breakthrough technology aimed at improving productivity, partly through centralized information. However, the presence of waste, especially in the information flows, prevents BIM to reach its full potential. There is a growing importance in the management of information flows, and the motivation behind the research was due to the fact that little research on waste in the management of this flow is realized. A possible explanation is the fact that the notion of information flow remains poorly understood. Thus, there was a need to establish a taxonomy on the sources of waste within the information flows of construction to provide a better understanding of this flow.
Therefore, the following research question was formulated: How to manage the problem of waste in the production and exchange of information in the AEC industry? This thesis was built on a Collaborative Design Science Research (CDSR) method to address practical issues through the collaboration of professionals and researchers. The methodology had three main steps including diagnosing, developing a proposition with two sub-steps which were to develop a method and develop an artefact, and finally validating using the ShareLab approach. The ShareLab approach was used in the research as a way to develop a consensus among professionals from this AEC industry regarding the validation of the artefact.
The diagnosing provided the groundwork for the entire research the identification of the main gaps in the literature with the collection and analysis of qualitative data in the identification of issues in the information flows of construction. Accordingly, a method was developed and implemented to improve information flows in the production of BIM models. This method was designed to identify sources of waste based on an existing taxonomy designed for the work flows. This method highlighted the need for a taxonomy of sources of waste focus specifically on the information flows. Thus, by using the designed method, a proposition of the taxonomy was developed and proposed as an artefact for the general method of this research. Finally, the artefact was validated using the approval and endorsement of professional using the ShareLab approach.
To meet the thesis requirements, three articles form the body of this thesis, that have been either published, accepted for publication or submitted in peer reviewed academic journals. The first article provides the groundwork for the entire research through an observatory study on the current situation on the information flows in BIM construction projects. The second article proposes a method developed through the use of Process Mapping (PM) in a collaborative action research approach. The method is designed to improve information flows for the production of BIM models by identifying sources of waste. The third and last article implements this method through the use of a CDSR method to develop a new taxonomy based on the sources of waste in the information flows of construction projects. This taxonomy is also validated using the ShareLab approach and the approval and endorsement from professionals.
This thesis brings an original contribution to the practice and knowledge by providing a taxonomy of the sources of waste in the information flows of BIM projects. The taxonomy provides an answer to the gap in literature regarding the presence of waste in the information flows of construction projects, as the existing taxonomy focused primarily on work and material flows. Moreover, another contribution to knowledge is that of the use of a new approach to provide validation to an artefact in a Design Science Research method. Indeed, validation of the taxonomy was obtained through the approval of professionals during a ShareLab approach.
The professionals can employ the taxonomy proposed by using the method designed during this research. Indeed, the method provides the steps that the professionals need to follow in order to identify the sources of waste within the information flows of their projects. This method will in term help professionals improve their productivity. In addition, this method can be upgraded throughout the future in case new sources of waste are identified. In future work, the method can be coupled with potential solutions for each source of waste present in the taxonomy as shown in a section of this research.
Michaud, M. (Author),
Forgues (Supervisor) &
Ouellet-Plamondon (Co-supervisor),
29 Sept 2021Student thesis: Doctoral thesis › Doctorate in Engineering: Engineering