A Graph-Based Approach to the Modeling of Changes in Construction Projects

The implementation of changes in construction projects often causes deviations from the objectives of the project client. One of the causes of this problem is that the tools currently used in projects do not support the identification of the consequences of a change before it is implemented in the project. The objective of the present research is to develop a model which facilitates an automatic identification of proposed changes which may have a significant impact on the objectives of the project client. The present research adopts a graph-based approach to the modeling of construction projects. A graph-based model was found to provide a simple but informative representation of the structure of projects, which can facilitate an 'order of magnitude' approximation of the impact of proposed changes. Graph theory provides a wealth of concepts, tools and algorithms, which were used in the present research for an analysis of the impact of proposed changes.