I have been working with Ray on extending VDT to include construction work that interacts with design work and hence is quite interrelated to the number and timing of errors and changes that result from design, field problems, client changes, etc.

As you can imagine, changes are one of the largest risks for a contractor and the rest of the project team - they delay a project and cause cost overruns and claims. The management load caused by changes is a function of their number, type and timing, e.g., do they fall on or extend the critical path.

The greater the overlap of design and construction, the greater the likelihood for changes and their impacts. Our extension of VDT will allow explicit simulation of these impacts and thus would allow a manager to plan the level of management, types of contracts, types of IT tools and other issues that impact the change process. This sounds a lot like the question you are being asked, i.e., to estimate the level of management and staff support for a given project.

It certainly is more complex than using a percentage of the cost since this ignores the actual work content of managers. This is why we are doing our research.

So, the good news is that we are working on an important problem. The bad news is that we cannot give you any help at this time. Do you want to work with us on this problem?

Sincerely,

Mr. Paul Teicholz
Integrated Facilities Program

Paul Teicholz, Professor (Research) - CE Dept.    ph:  415-723-6486
Director, CIFE                                    fax: 415-723-4806
Center for Integrated Facility Engineering
mail: Terman Engineering Center              location: Building 550
      Stanford, CA 94305-4020                          Room 553K
URL for CIFE:            URL for CIFE:             http://www-leland.stanford.edu/group/CIFE