Abstract

This thesis presents a computer model for quantifying the adverse impact of change orders on construction productivity. In order to provide an in-depth analysis of change orders and develop a reliable model, a comprehensive field study was carried out. The field study was conducted at a Montreal based firm, specialized in project management and construction claims. A total of 117 actual projects, constructed in Canada and the USA between 1990 and 1998, were initially analyzed for possible use in the developments made in this thesis. Only 33 work-packages from these projects were utilized in the development of the present model. These work packages have an original total value of more than $110M, planned direct hours of 1,023,583 for the original scope of work and a total of change orders direct hours of 166,002. Additional cases, obtained from the literature, were used to supplement the collected data in order to improve the reliability of the developed model. The analyzed cases are used to model the timing effect of change orders as well as the work type on productivity losses. The data collected was used in the development of ten neural network models for predicting percent productivity loss. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)