Productivity oriented analysis of design revisions

This paper presents a structured, two-pronged approach to the development of a framework for assessing the severity of occurrence of design revisions and determining the causes of these revisions. The development of the framework involves the identification of a causal taxonomy consisting of categories of the causes of design revisions and the formalization of a set of indices for measuring and comparing the magnitudes of designer-times expended on design revisions. The framework could be used both as a diagnostic instrument to determine the health of the design phase and also as a forecasting tool for the estimation of designer resources required for a construction project. The framework was tested using data obtained from twelve building projects in China. The category that caused the maximum expenditure of designer time on design revisions in the building projects surveyed was found to be owner-initiated changes.