An intelligent Internet-based system for communication in the construction industry

This paper focuses mainly on the modeling of communication in the construction industry where myriad problems such as exchanging and transferring information and knowledge among processes and organizations exist. This paper intends to introduce a general communication model in which a new concept called the "smart document (SD)" is developed. Along with this concept that is considered the cornerstone for the proposed communication model, other tools and concepts have been developed such as the document life cycle, document route map, communication objects, project document database, communication channels, and the smart communication check port. All these developments have proved to streamline communication in the construction industry and will help facilitate the use of the Internet as a common platform, and that will eventually lead to great efficiency in this industry.