Information classification systems and the Australian construction industry

Abstract

The built environment is the most salient physical product of human society, requiring enormous collaborative effort. Collaboration on this scale entails extensive exchanges of information between large numbers of people for extended durations. Depending on their role, each participant has different information needs and responsibilities at different times during the construction process. Even the most rudimentary project relies on the participants being able to create, communicate and find relevant information at the appropriate time. The larger the scale of the project, and the greater the number of participants, the more essential it becomes to use methods and systems able to handle the associated complexities of information exchange. Classifying information in a consistent way, agreed by all participants, facilitates clear communication of intent and reduces the incident of misunderstanding, conflict, and wasted resources – this is particularly important in the construction industry because the parties involved usually change from project to project.