Knowledge-based decision support system for management of variation orders for institutional building projects

This paper describes the development of the knowledge-based decision support system (KBDSS) for management of variation orders for institutional buildings in Singapore. The KBDSS consists of two main components, i.e., a knowledge-base and a decision support shell for selecting appropriate controls. The database is developed by collecting data from the source documents of 79 institutional building projects, questionnaire survey, literature review and in-depth interviews with the professionals who were involved in these projects. The knowledge-base was developed through initial sieving and organization of the data from the database. The decision support shell provided decision support through a structured process consisting of building the hierarchy between the main criteria and the suggested controls, rating the controls, and analyzing the controls for selection through multiple analytical techniques. DSS is capable of displaying variations and their relevant details, a variety of filtered knowledge, and various analyses of the available knowledge. This would eventually lead the decision maker to the suggested controls for variations and assist in selecting the most appropriate controls. The KBDSS is able to assist project managers by providing accurate and timely information for decision making, and a user-friendly system for analyzing and selecting the controls for variation orders for institutional buildings.