A formalised process model of current Finnish design and construction practice

There is a need for improved co-ordination to enhance the performance of the building process. The process involves many parties and the communication and interfaces need special attention. Conventionally, the processes of parties are carried out independently, each discipline having its own activities and limits. As a precursor to improving the overall process, formal process modelling may be used to clarify the activities, information flows and the responsibilities of the different parties. The model presented in this paper divides the Finnish construction process into six main stages: briefing, programming, global design, detailed design, construction and hand-over. In developing the model, all these stages were covered - the main focus being on the functions and flows of the process since these were found to be the most critical in the development of the building procedures. The IDEF0 method was used as the modelling technique. It is shown how the developed reference model can be subjected to various view-dependent examinations and that the modelling approach supports process re-engineering and improvement efforts as well as a new means of building process management, especially when combined with modern computer-aided applications.