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Civil-Comp Proceedings
ISSN 1759-3433
CCP: 17
KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS FOR CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Edited by: B.H.V. Topping
Paper V.2

Application of Expert Systems Techniques to the Decision Making Process in Contract Strategy

K.O. Sodipo

Department of Building and Civil Engineering, Stockport College of Further and Higher Education, Stockport, England

Full Bibliographic Reference for this paper
K.O. Sodipo, "Application of Expert Systems Techniques to the Decision Making Process in Contract Strategy", in B.H.V. Topping, (Editor), "Knowledge Based Systems for Civil & Structural Engineering", Civil-Comp Press, Edinburgh, UK, pp 127-134, 1993. doi:10.4203/ccp.17.5.2
Abstract
Problems and failures have been experienced in the construction industry with respect to the placing and management of Civil Engineering Contracts. These have been attributed to the lack of thorough assessment of the feasible alternatives and poor project decision making. Contract Strategy has evolved as a discipline in Project Management to address these issues. This paper reports on an expert system model developed that aids in the contract strategy decision making process. The design methodology implemented allows a range of contractual arrangements to be assessed for a given project. In addition it gives the merits and implications of using the different contract strategies. This paper concentrates on the knowledgebase required to make explicit to the user the inferences made during consultation. The mere reporting of rules fired during consultations, common in most expert systems when the system is queried, was considered inadequate. A different approach was adopted in structuring this part of the model's knowledgebase which proved invaluable when tutoring applications of expert systems was contemplated.

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