Customer-oriented design methods for construction projects

This article describes the scope and initial results of an on-going research project focused on customer involvement in building design. The project develops methods and tools to capture and to document customer needs, and to manage the conformity of technical solutions in rapid construction projects. The topics discussed are: a conceptual framework for customer-oriented design, technology transfer experiments about methods and tools fr om other industries and development of a computer-integrated prototype tool for requirements management. In parallel with developing the conceptual framework the applicability of quality function deployment and design structure matrix to construction was tested to gain an understanding of customer needs and to plan the design process. Requirements management is based on a generic conceptual model, which will be implemented as part of an integrated product modelling environment.