Web-Centric Framework for Secure and Legally Binding Electronic Transactions in Large-Scale A/E/C Projects

Typical architecture/engineering/construction (A/E/C) projects are technically, socially, and economically complex in terms of planning, management, and execution. In order to conduct day-to-day operations within the project (allocating funds and resources), the organizations involved in large-scale A/E/C projects participate in contractual transactions. Currently, these transactions are primarily conducted in the form of paper-based contracts, but there is a need to automate them, leveraging the advancements in information technology. Due to the legal weight of these contracts, electronic transactions need to be as secure and binding as paper-based transactions; the absence of a framework to achieve this has prevented large-scale automation, in spite of the presence of a host of web-based project management services. In this paper, we address the security concerns in conducting legally binding electronic transactions in large-scale A/E/C projects by developing a framework for conducting secure and legally binding electronic transactions. We also discuss the issues related to the implementation of such a framework at the decade-long $13.6 billion Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel Project in Boston, Massachusetts.