Structuring Construction Projects for Integrated Delivery

Licentiate thesis, 2026

The construction industry continues to struggle with low productivity, fragmented processes, and challenges in integrating design and production. While digitalisation efforts, particularly Building Information Modelling (BIM) have improved certain aspects of coordination, they have not fundamentally resolved the underlying structural fragmentation of project information. This thesis argues that the core issue lies not primarily in technology, but in how information is structured and understood across project stages. Current approaches operate at mismatched levels of abstraction: BIM provides an overarching representation of the built asset, while classification systems offer highly detailed coding schemes. Between these levels, a critical structuring gap remains largely unarticulated, making it difficult to identify, analyse, and ultimately resolve fragmentation in practice. To address this gap, the study adopts a Design Science Research approach to develop and evaluate a novel Spatio-Temporal Breakdown Structure (TBS) that integrates temporal (production-based) and spatial (location-based) dimensions into a unified information structure. By linking design information, production planning, and organisational responsibilities within a shared structure, the TBS enables a more explicit alignment between what is designed, how it is built, and who is responsible for delivery. Empirically grounded in two primary construction projects and drawing on practices like takt planning and BIM-based workflows, the research demonstrates how fragmentation emerges across information, organisation, and production logic. Rather than being a formal case study design, these project environments are used as testbeds for artefact development and evaluation within a Design Science Research approach. The findings show that existing structuring principles are insufficient for supporting flow-oriented production and interdisciplinary coordination. In contrast, the proposed framework introduces a more detailed yet coherent conceptualisation of project structure, making previously hidden interfaces and dependencies visible. The contribution of this thesis is twofold. Theoretically, it advances the understanding of construction information as a socio-technical system, bridging BIM, breakdown structures, and classification standards within a production-oriented paradigm. Practically, it provides a concrete and applicable structuring method that enables improved coordination, transparency, and predictability in project delivery. By positioning itself between high-level digital models and detailed classification systems, this research provides the industry with a practical way to identify and resolve fragmentation.