Ž . Automation in Construction 8 1999 633–642 www.elsevier.comrlocaterautcon Good practice in briefing: the limits of rationality P.S. Barrett ) , J. Hudson, C. Stanley Research Centre for the Built and Human EnÕironment, UniÕersity of Salford, UK Accepted 29 October 1998 Abstract This paper identifies briefing as a persistent problem area for the construction industry and suggests that little development has occurred in briefing practice in 30 years. A research project is then described which aims to address the problem and lead to real improvements in briefing. Using techniques derived from grounded theory, initial results indicate that the issue is not simply a matter of good practice not being implemented—it is deeper than this, often involving the human dimension. This leads to an analysis of the problem in terms of human error theory and a discussion of the limits of the application of a rationalistic approach to briefing. Conclusions are drawn, pointing towards the need for new, richer perspectives to be taken if improvements in briefing are to be achieved in practice, or indeed in theory. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Briefing; Good practice; Impact; Case studies; Grounded theory 1. Introduction Since the 1960s a considerable body of work on the problems of briefing for construction projects has emerged. This has ranged from academic research wx reports such as Newman et. al. 6 and Mackinder wx and Marvin 3 through to practical guides for practi- wx wx tioners such as Salisbury 9 and Pena et al. 7. Despite this work briefing continues to be high- lighted as a weakness in the construction process. For example, Sir Michael Latham’s recent report on wx the construction industry 2 comes to similar conclu- sions on the need to improve briefing as those made wx by the Banwell report 5 produced some thirty years previously. This paper describes an initial investigation of the reasons for the persistence of the briefing problem. It ) Corresponding author used the grounded theory approach to develop knowledge of the difficulties of briefing as under- stood by those participating in real projects. The work was carried out as part of a larger joint indus- tryracademic research project based at the Univer- sity of Salford and funded under the DoErEPSRC LINK IDAC programme. The overall objectives of this project were to identify best practice in briefing, to stimulate innovations leading to better practice and to set the findings within the context of the experience of other industries. 2. Project description and methodology A multiple case study approach was adopted for w x this study 13 . An initial pilot study of five case studies was carried out to test the robustness of the research methods and to identify the overriding is- 0926-5805r99r$ - see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII: S0926-5805 98 00108-3