INTRODUCTION

This report has been produced as an output ("Consensus report" milestone) of the DETR/BRE contract on `Knowledge Based Systems for the Construction Industry' (36/8/56 cc 1533). The success of a construction business in the competitive market place of today depends critically on the quality of the knowledge it possesses regarding its markets, products, and technologies. To maintain and improve competitiveness it is essential to identify, plan, and control knowledge assets with the same priority currently afforded to traditional tangible and intangible assets. Knowledge Management techniques offer a range of strategies for identifying and exploiting knowledge assets. Knowledge Based Decision Support (KBDS) techniques complement knowledge management by enabling the storage of knowledge assets in computer-based systems that can then be used to assist decision making. The Department of Trade and Industry Intelligent Systems in Business Programme (DTI 1998a) identified the following benefits in a range of industrial sectors resulting from the application of KBDS techniques:

• Organisational Memory - ensuring the preservation of valuable knowledge when staff move on or retire.

• Decision Support - assisting experts by evaluating and suggesting possible options. This support enables a wider range of design solutions etc. to be considered and compared on a rational basis.

• Routine Decision Automation - relieving key staff from trivial but time consuming tasks enabling them to spend more time on difficult and demanding tasks.

• Product Improvement – enabling increased differentiation from competitors' products through the addition of smart features.

Although KBDS techniques can be applied to create stand-alone applications, they may well be more effective when implemented as part of a wider system accessible throughout the organisation or the project team via networks. Encoding business processes and decision paths in company or project Intra/Extra-nets can provide additional advantages in facilitating Quality Assurance and recording experience for future re-use. The rapid uptake of such networks and, of course, the huge increase in computer processing power and availability, make it particularly important to review the technology at this time.

This report examines how businesses in the UK construction industry can obtain the benefits outlined above by embarking on a knowledge management programme. It overviews knowledge management and decision support techniques, provides casestudies to demonstrate their benefits, and recommends steps that a construction business can take now to start realising these benefits.

This report was authored by The Network of Experts in Knowledge Based Systems hosted by the Building Research Establishment and funded by the UK Government's Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The Network brought together around one hundred and fifty members from Industry and Academia to assess the Knowledge Management requirements of the construction industry and identify appropriate techniques and tools. Thanks are due to all those who contributed, either by submitting material directly or through their comments at Network meetings.