Making Effective Use of Construction Lessons Learned in Project Life Cycle

Abstract

Expert knowledge and lessons learned in the construction phase of a project are not systematically incorporated into the design and construction phases of subsequent projects. The advancement of construction since ancient times has been predicated on the communication of lessons learned. Although past efforts have focused on the design phase, opportunities for the collection and utilization of lessons learned exist in all phases of a project life cycle. Constructability, the early integration of construction knowledge into all phases of a project, can be improved by effective use of lessons learned. This paper identifies feedback channels in a project life cycle and describes previous and current efforts to develop lessons-learned systems. Next, the paper describes the design and implementation of a constructability feedback prototype called interactive knowledge-intensive system (IKIS) for constructability improvement (IKIS-Constructability). Finally, the paper highlights the operation of this system and its potential benefits.