An Innovative Time-Cost-Quality Tradeoff Modeling of Building Construction Project Based on Resource Allocation

Abstract EN

The time, quality, and cost are three important but contradictive objectives in a building construction project.

It is a tough challenge for project managers to optimize them since they are different parameters.

This paper presents a time-cost-quality optimization model that enables managers to optimize multiobjectives.

The model is from the project breakdown structure method where task resources in a construction project are divided into a series of activities and further into construction labors, materials, equipment, and administration.

The resources utilized in a construction activity would eventually determine its construction time, cost, and quality, and a complex time-cost-quality trade-off model is finally generated based on correlations between construction activities.

A genetic algorithm tool is applied in the model to solve the comprehensive nonlinear time-cost-quality problems.

Building of a three-storey house is an example to illustrate the implementation of the model, demonstrate its advantages in optimizing trade-off of construction time, cost, and quality, and help make a winning decision in construction practices.

The computational time-cost-quality curves in visual graphics from the case study prove traditional cost-time assumptions reasonable and also prove this time-cost-quality trade-off model sophisticated.