Dapeng Town Industrial Park, Tongshan District, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China
As a vital component of modern architecture, the collaborative management of structural design and construction in steel structures holds significant importance for ensuring project quality, enhancing construction efficiency, and safeguarding building safety. Within steel structures, this collaborative management encompasses not only technical coordination but also encompasses multiple aspects including management, communication, and information sharing. The following explores collaborative management between structural design and construction in steel structures from various perspectives.
I.The Importance of Collaborative Management in Structural Design and Construction
The structural design of steel buildings forms the core of the entire construction, with its quality directly impacting structural safety, construction efficiency, and performance. The construction phase, meanwhile, transforms design into physical structure, where quality control and management directly determine the final building quality. Consequently, collaborative management between structural design and construction serves as a vital means to ensure building quality, enhance construction efficiency, and safeguard project safety.
In steel structures, collaborative management extends beyond technical coordination to encompass information sharing, communication, and process optimisation. Establishing effective collaborative mechanisms enables seamless integration between design and construction, mitigating issues arising from information asymmetry or communication breakdowns. This approach ultimately elevates project quality and construction efficiency.
II.Key Aspects of Structural Design and Construction Coordination Management
During the design phase, structural design must fully consider construction feasibility and practicability. Designers should maintain close communication with construction personnel to understand practical issues and requirements encountered during construction, promptly adjusting design proposals to ensure both design rationality and construction viability. Concurrently, the design phase must prioritise clarity, standardisation, and compliance with specifications in drawings to facilitate construction personnel’s comprehension and execution.
The design phase must also emphasise comprehensive process management, encompassing preliminary data collection, scheduling of design timelines, and quality control. Establishing dedicated design project teams with clearly defined roles for designers, proofreaders, and reviewers ensures controllable design quality.
During construction, personnel must execute works according to design drawings and construction plans, ensuring quality compliance with design specifications. Throughout construction, quality control must be strengthened, rigorously overseeing critical stages such as materials, fabrication, installation, and welding to guarantee compliance with standards.
Dynamic management during construction is also vital, employing real-time monitoring, quality inspections, and acceptance procedures to promptly identify and resolve issues, thereby ensuring controllable construction quality.
In steel structure construction, the timely and accurate transmission of information is crucial for collaborative design and construction management. Establishing effective communication mechanisms—such as regular meetings, site inspections, and information-sharing platforms—ensures unimpeded information flow between design and construction teams, thereby reducing construction issues stemming from information asymmetry.
Advancements in information technology have introduced digital collaborative management platforms as novel tools for steel structure construction coordination. Utilising BIM technology and digital platforms enables integrated information sharing across design, construction, and management phases, significantly enhancing collaborative efficiency.
III. Challenges and Countermeasures in Structural Design and Construction Coordination Management
The collaborative management of structural design and construction for steel structures faces numerous challenges, such as information asymmetry between design and construction teams, poor communication, quality issues during construction, and difficulties in progress control. Furthermore, the complexity of steel structures, extended construction cycles, and the need for multi-disciplinary coordination further increase management complexity.
To address these challenges, the following countermeasures should be implemented:
Enhance Communication and Coordination: Establish regular communication mechanisms, convene periodic design-construction coordination meetings, promptly resolve issues arising during construction, and ensure alignment between design and construction.
Optimise Design and Construction Workflows: Improve design constructability through streamlined design processes to minimise construction-phase problems; enhance construction efficiency and quality by optimising construction procedures.
Apply Information Technology: Utilise BIM technology, digital platforms, and other IT tools to achieve collaborative management between design and construction, enhancing information sharing and coordination efficiency.
Strengthen Quality Control: Implement rigorous quality control measures to ensure construction quality meets design specifications and minimise quality-related issues during construction.
The collaborative management of structural design and construction in steel structures is a vital means of ensuring building quality, enhancing construction efficiency, and safeguarding project safety. By strengthening the coordination between design and construction, optimising design and construction workflows, and improving information sharing and communication efficiency, the construction quality and management standards of steel structures can be effectively elevated. In the future, with the advancement of information technology and continuous improvements in management approaches, collaborative management in steel structure construction will become increasingly efficient and intelligent, providing robust support for the high-quality development of the construction industry.
