Integration of the Construction Knowledge and Expertise in Front-End Planning Eun Ho Oh 1 ; Nader Naderpajouh, M.ASCE 2 ; Makarand Hastak, M.ASCE 3 ; and Sanjiv Gokhale 4 Abstract: Traditionally, construction input is integrated after the completion of the design stage of the projects. Inadequate construction input at the predesign stage and during the front-end planning (FEP) process results in fragility of plans in terms of constructability. This paper reports on a research to investigate construction input during the FEP process. The research is based on three questionnaire surveys as well as complementary case studies. Questionnaires1 and 2 were developed to assess the status of the FEP process and select areas that require construction input, respectively. Case studies were then selected from a pool of projects and collected data were analyzed to investigate barriers to construction input. Results of the surveys and case studies suggested that lack of well-established interorganizational frameworks within project organizations, as a loosely coupled network, hinders effective construction input. Based on the results, a user-friendly decision aid, a construction input assessment tool (CIAT), was developed as a framework to facilitate, frame, and benchmark required construction input in the FEP process. Questionnaire 3 was then sent to industry experts to test and validate the tool. The results of the research (1) highlight the importance of construction input in the FEP process; (2) identify an application of structured frameworks, effective boundary objects, and established knowledge sharing at the firm level as facilitating factors to integrate the construction input in the FEP process; and (3) include a proposed tool that can be tailored and used in the industry to systematically facilitate construction input during the FEP process. DOI: 10 .1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001050. © 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers. Author keywords: Planning; Organizations; Information management; Project management; Owners; Construction management; Constructability; Project planning and design. Introduction The primary goal of investing more resources in the predesign stages of projects is to increase the success rate in terms of meeting planned objectives (George et al. 2008; Hanna and Skiffington 2010; Hwang and Ho 2012; Liu et al. 2013; Mollaoglu-Korkmaz et al. 2013). This goal is challenged by uncertainties inherent in the preliminary stages of projects (Atkinson et al. 2006) as well as lack of established frameworks to facilitate flow of the required resources. Previous studies to identify major challenges to effective front-end planning (FEP) process referred to uncertainties by suggesting factors such as inadequate scope definition and risk identification (George et al. 2008) and to a lack of a structured framework for construction input as they suggested factors such as unclear definition of roles and activities and ineffective commu- nication channels (George et al. 2008; Gibson and Bosfield 2012). Construction knowledge and expertise are the keys to address these high uncertainties (CII 1986a), while structured frameworks can facilitate effective flow of the associated knowledge and expertise (Gugel and Russell 1994; Fisher and Tatum 1997; Mollaoglu- Korkmaz et al. 2013). The Architectural/Engineering Productivity Committee of the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) argued that the difficulties experienced in typical projects were artifacts of design and construction processes including lack of cooperation and poor information integration (CURT 2004). The construction industry, as a loosely coupled system, involves operational silos between different actors including design and construction that in- hibits cooperation and innovation (Fisher and Tatum 1997; Dubois and Gadde 2002; CURT 2004). Therefore, research on effective FEP process requires analysis of the integration of construction knowledge and expertise during the predesign stages and effective frameworks to facilitate flow of construction input among involved actors. The literature on FEP in the construction industry already in- cludes reports on reducing the uncertainties associated with the FEP process through identification of critical activities (CII 1994a, b, 2006b; George et al. 2008), establishment of benchmark- ing metrics (CII 1996, 1999; Yun et al. 2012), and provision of frameworks for organizational structure (CII 1993, 1997, 2005). Considering the importance of construction input to mitigate uncertainties at the predesign stages of a project, this study aims to continue the previous efforts with the focus on study of construc- tion input in the FEP process. The main objective of this research is to investigate existing methods and processes, and develop best practices to maximize the value of construction input, specifically during the FEP process. It aims to (1) identify and prioritize practices that take a holistic approach in optimizing the integration of the construction knowledge and expertise (in-house versus consultant, contracting 1 Research Specialist, Construction Management and Economy Re- search Division, Dept. of Construction System Innovation Research, Korea Institute of Construction Technology, 1190 Simindae-Ro, Ilsanseo-Gu, Goyang-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 411-712, Republic of Korea. E-mail: uno1988@ kict.re.kr 2 Visiting Assistant Professor, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051 (corresponding author). E-mail: nnp@purdue.edu 3 Professor and Head, Construction Engineering and Management, Purdue Univ., 550 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47906-2051. E-mail: hastak@purdue.edu 4 Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN 37235. E-mail: s.gokhale@vanderbilt.edu Note. This manuscript was submitted on December 11, 2014; approved on June 25, 2015; published online on August 10, 2015. Discussion period open until January 10, 2016; separate discussions must be submitted for in- dividual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Construction Engineer- ing and Management, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9364/04015067(12)/$25.00. © ASCE 04015067-1 J. Constr. Eng. Manage. J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2016, 142(2): 04015067 Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by RMIT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY on 11/08/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.