A multidimensional information model for managing construction information

With the increasing scale of construction projects, coupled with their complexity, information management in the construction process becomes more complex and trivial. Moreover, the communication among project participants is hindered by the large amount and scattered structure of the information involved in the construction process. Most present studies on the information management of construction focus on the special needs of construction sectors rather than a total information integration of general aspects. This paper presents a multidimensional information model that combines Workflow, Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) and Time factor to manage information based on process control. Unlike previous researches, the present work puts emphasis on process control to enhance the communication process. The proposed information model uses the WBS and Time factor to manage information in the spatial and time dimension and control the process information of each work package during project execution through the workflow technology. In order to test the proposed information model, a web-based project management system (WPMS) was developed using the three layer architecture. The system structure realizes the invisible logic of the information model through the business logic layer and the data access layer. The system has been applied to a construction project of an underground cavern group in a hydropower project in the southwest of China. The application has shown that it achieves managing information based on process control and provides structured information.