269 publications from this institution
Construction litigation has become commonplace in numerous construction projects, particularly in large contracts. Miscommunication, inadequate plans and specifications, rigid contracts, changes in site conditions, nonpayment, catch up profits, limitations on manpower, tools, and equipment, improper supervision, notice requirements, constructive changes not recognized as such by owner, delays, and acceleration measures provoke claims and often result in disputes. A boosted decision tree system was used to predict the outcome of construction litigation. The study was conducted by using the same 114 Illinois court cases that were used in earlier prediction studies conducted with artificial neural networks in 1998 and case-based reasoning in 1999, augmented by an additional 18 cases that were filed in 1990–2000. All cases were extracted from the Westlaw on-line service. The best prediction result obtained with boosted decision trees was 90%. The boosted decision tree model appears to be a promising tool to help create a dispute-free construction industry.
For construction management students completing the construction planning and scheduling course to meet work expectations and provide effective benefit to their employers, the course curriculum should accurately reflect the needs of industry. The objective of this research is to identify the scheduling knowledge/expertise/proficiency that practitioners expect to see in a new hire and to compare this with what is currently offered in construction planning and scheduling courses. First, the syllabi of planning and scheduling courses offered in 55 construction management programs were collected and evaluated. Then, 35 critical topics and six student learning outcomes were identified by inspecting the accreditation requirements and the literature at large. Two survey questionnaires were developed and administered to instructors and industry practitioners to record the priorities they attached to those 35 topics and six students learning outcomes. The levels of importance and the degree of association reported by instructors and practitioners were analyzed. The result indicates that instructors' and practitioners' priorities concerning scheduling topics and learning outcomes are not in sync. Recommendations are provided to help instructors who teach construction planning and scheduling to design their syllabus accordingly, to improve their curriculum by understanding what practitioners expect from professional schedulers, and to encourage practitioners to update their knowledge and expectations.
