Delay Analysis Selection Model for a Construction Project

The decision to use static, dynamic, additive, or subtractive delay analysis is critical because making the wrong decision may have serious undesired consequences. As a response to this problem, a delay analysis selection (DAS) model was developed that identifies the most appropriate type of delay analysis for a target case. The model constitutes the first step of a two-step process to perform delay analysis. It involves a case-base that is populated by 3,776 possible cases developed by using combinations of 26 attributes that were found in the literature to influence the selection of the most appropriate type of delay analysis. The 26 attributes were organized in 7 categories. The weights of the attributes and the categories were calculated using the entropy method. The DAS model finds the best match between a target case and one of the cases stored in the case-base by performing weighted case similarity assessment. The type of delay analysis that is indicated in the matched case is adopted for use in the target case. This study is the first attempt to automate the selection of the most appropriate type of delay analysis. Once the most suitable type of delay analysis is identified in the first step, it is immediately performed in the second step.