A view-based approach for construction process modeling

A number of process modeling methods are used for modeling construction projects. These methods are often rigid and cannot be modified to meet specific requirements. The generic construction process modeling method (GEPM) has been developed to overcome the deficiencies of the existing methods, such as scheduling, IDEF0, and simple flow methods. GEPM has borrowed some features from the above methods and thus, users can interact with a GEPM model through partial models or views that represent scheduling, IDEF0, and simple flow. These views are of particular importance to industry practitioners. A well-documented construction project was used as a test case material for the evaluation of GEPM and for finding out conversion rules between the methods. More modeling power is obtained for construction process modeling because a GEPM model represents more features of real systems than the other methods. In addition, a procedure for creating a project-specific model from a reference model, defined as an IDEF0 model, has been suggested.