This paper reports on work funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council and undertaken in the Construction Study Unit (formerly at Brunel University but now at Bath University) to develop an expert system to advise on procurement strategy, i.e. contractual and organisational arrangements to be entered into by the construction client. A brief description of the background to the research and development is given in order to familiarise the reader with the salient features of the domain studied.

A critical appraisal of the project highlights the main decision points in the research process and the alternatives considered. Problems encountered and strategies for overcoming these are discussed. Of particular interest are the use of a rapid prototyping strategy, knowledge acquisition and representation and the use of shells and their adequacy. Research staff appointment is also briefly discussed.

A description of the final system and its mode of operation is included as are criteria for testing the system. It is hoped that test results will be available for presentation at the conference. The paper concludes with a discussion of a scenario for development of future systems.

purchase the full-text of this paper (price £20)

go to the previous paper
go to the next paper
return to the table of contents
return to the book description
purchase this book (price £34 +P&P)