Reducing The Liklihood Of Construction Disputes Using An Expert System

This study has attempt to shed a great deal of light on the problem of construction disputes in the Egyptian construction industry. First, the main causes of construction disputes were clearly identified through direct interviews with many field experts. Investigation of the available disputes documents in some construction projects were also considered. Next, based on a careful analysis of the collected data, the main features that can be considered as dispute indicators were also identified. Such indicators were categorized into project factors, people factors and process factors.Finally, the study has attempt to provide a sound solution to the construction disputes problem. This will be through the development of an expert system that can materially help to reduce the likelihood of construction disputes. The output of the proposed system is a reliable prediction for the expected causes of disputes for any future project . Based an this prediction, suitable precautions can be taken at a suitable point of time to reduce such dispute. The main inputs of the proposed system are some parameters that can adequately describe the project environment. As previously stated, these parameters were classified into project factors, people factors and process factors.The study provide a detailed explanation for the data collection process. The main steps involved in the development of the expert system were also discussed, showing the computer software that was used as a development environment. The study provides also a detailed discussion on how to operate the proposed system, showing the different capabilities of the system. Finally, the validity of the proposed expert system was evaluated using five case study applications.