Collaboration between Design and Construction, Addressing the Challenges of Bridging the Knowledge Gap

Abstract

In the current construction process, many issues encountered during the production phase of a project can be traced to quality issues in design development. This study aims to analyze the current processes for transferring knowledge and information during the handover of a project from the design phase to the production phase in a large Swedish construction company. This, in order to identify how the current knowledge- and information sharing processes affect the project. At the studied company, the majority of the knowledge and information exchange is conducted through three managers; the Design manager in charge of the design phase, the Project manager that has the overall responsibility of the project, and the Site manager in charge of the production phase. The current process, in the design phase, tries to increase collaboration and exchange of knowledge and information through co-location of the consultants. The research was conducted as an inductive, qualitative, case study with three cases, where the three roles mentioned above were interviewed in each case. Lean philosophy is used in this study as the basis for identifying tools and processes that provide solutions for transferring knowledge and information. The study shows that there is a need for increasing the collaboration and communication between the three roles in order to decrease the boundaries between the two phases. This in order to diminish the amount of issues transferred from the design phase to the production phase. It is identified that there are three main areas that affect the project process negatively. (1) The different interpretations of the different roles, regarding their responsibilities and obligations leads to misunderstandings and differences in prioritization during the project. (2) An unwillingness to attend or collaborate through design meetings decreases the possibility for transferring knowledge and information. (3) Knowledge and information regarding issues encountered in the production phase is lost before the post-production review meeting.