Delivery planning as a method to increase control over design costs

Abstract

Delivery planning is a method that determines which deliveries are expected to be delivered at any given time, and the dependency between different deliveries and stakeholders. This study aims to investigate whether the use of the delivery plan increases control over projects’ design costs and how Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are being used to increase the control over the project's design costs. It also identifies the benefits and disadvantages of early involvement of stakeholders in the planning process. The research is a qualitative case study with Livsvitenskapsbygget (LVB) project as the primary case. Supplementary data are collected through interviews from four Norwegian projects and one Dutch project. This study is limited to large construction projects and does not cover other types of projects.The study has documented results that indicate that delivery planning increases control over a project's design costs. The results show that using delivery planning reduces the need for iterations and increases predictability. Similarly, the proactive use of KPIs in delivery planning is found to be beneficial in controlling project design costs. Furthermore, the study identifies the benefits and disadvantages of early-stage broad involvement of stakeholders in the design phase. The researchers underline the need for further research in this area, as it indicates that it will have a positive impact on the productivity of the construction industry.