Schedule compression using Fuzzy Set Theory and contractors judgment

This paper presents a new method developed for schedule compression of non-repetitive construction projects. The method accounts for uncertainties associated with crash cost and it considers contractors' judgment. It allows contractors to: (1) perform risk analysis for different schedule compression plans; and (2) perform different scenarios expressing vagueness and imprecision of estimated crash cost using a set of measures and indices.The method combines Fuzzy Set Theory and contractors' judgment in setting priorities for the compression process of project schedules. The developed method is implemented in MS-Excel, and it can be easily used as an add-on utility to other scheduling software systems. To illustrate its capabilities, an example project drawn from the literature was analyzed.