Issues created by construction information differentiation: an Australian case study

Information is one of the vital assets required for operational effectiveness in construction organizations and construction projects. If information is utilized effectively in the construction process, it will facilitate users to plan, operate, and make decisions to maximize benefits. This paper reports the information management practices amongst stakeholders during the inspection stage in a building construction project for an Australian urban-based university. The study explores how specific information was generated, recorded, disseminated, used and stored during the inspection stage of a complex construction process differentially through the roles of architects and builders and how IT played a key role in resolving contested use of construction information. Data was collected through document analysis, shadowing, observations, photography, and one-on-one interviews with builders and architects involved directly in the inspection of the building. The research shows that information was generated, stored and reused through both personal and enterprise information management practices using different IT systems; that stakeholder’s tacit knowledge played an important role affecting how the information was generated, stored and reused; and that the complexity of information and dynamic nature of procurement method used in this project had an impact on how information was utilized during the inspection process.