Claims negotiation plays an important role in construction claims settlement and disputes resolution. However, claims negotiations are normally conducted inefficiently. Although many research projects have been undertaken on human behaviours in negotiation (e.g. negotiation planning, documentation and negotiation strategies) and computer-aided negotiation, there is not an effective approach to solving such problem. The development of multi-agent systems provides an innovative approach to facilitating claims negotiation, where intelligent agents can negotiate with each other for the real world parties that they represent. The significance of multi-agent systems lies in the fact that they match the fragmented nature of the construction industry. This thesis describes the work of developing a multi-agent system for construction claims negotiation (MASCOT). The objectives are to create an architecture for the agent system, and develop a negotiation mechanism for agent interaction. A conceptual MASCOT model is designed based on a thorough analysis of the nature, characteristics and problems of construction claims negotiation, multi-agent systems negotiation mechanisms, and negotiation theories. A modified Monotonic Concession protocol and the related negotiation strategies which are based on the integration of Zeuthen's risk evaluation model and Bayesian learning model were developed. A prototype was built using the ZEUS agent building toolkit and Java. The system was then assessedin terms of the quality of the negotiation mechanisma nd prototype using critical evaluation criteria and prototype evaluation. The result revealed that the MASCOT system could significantly enhance the efficiency of construction claims negotiation. Furthermore, it is recognised that multi-agent systems have a great potential to solve the fragmentation problem in other construction areas such as scheduling, concurrent engineering; and collaborative design, particularly when the project team members are geographically distributed. This research not only contributes to the improvement of construction claims negotiation, bdt also provides an effective approach for the development of multi-agent 'system negotiation mechanism.

This thesis is focused on the claims in company Jetcon Ltd. Today is no company which would not have to manage and analyze claims. Construction sector is a field where there is currently a very tough competition. What are the Jetcon Ltd claims? What is their structure and amount? How the company deals with and prevents irrecoverable claims? These are some of the questions that this thesis is responsible.

Due to the inherent risks and increasing complexity of modern construction projects, delays and cost overruns have become common facts in the industry. Researchers and practitioners have used many techniques to assess project delays and apportion delay responsibility among the parties involved. Windows delay analysis has been recognized as one of the most credible techniques for analyzing construction delays. Despite its benefits, windows analysis can produce different results depending on the window size, it does not consider owner and contractor acceleration, it does not systematically consider the impact of several baseline updates made due to changes in the duration and logical relationships of the activities, and it does not consider the impact of the progress events on resource over-allocation and its consequent delays. This study proposes a computerized schedule analysis model that considers multiple baseline updates and resource over-allocation. The model uses a daily window size in order to consider all fluctuations in the critical path(s) and uses a legible representation of progress information to accurately apportion delays and accelerations among project parties. To facilitate its use, the model has been incorporated into a computer tool, EasyPlan, which integrates estimating, scheduling, resource management, and project control. A simple case study has been implemented on the proposed delay analysis model in order to demonstrate its accuracy and usefulness.

Due to the inherent risks and increasing complexity of modern construction projects, delays and cost overruns have become common facts in the industry. Researchers and practitioners have used many techniques to assess project delays and apportion delay responsibility among the parties involved. Windows delay analysis has been recognized as one of the most credible techniques for analyzing construction delays. Despite its benefits, windows analysis can produce different results depending on the window size, it does not consider owner and contractor acceleration, it does not systematically consider the impact of several baseline updates made due to changes in the duration and logical relationships of the activities, and it does not consider the impact of the progress events on resource over-allocation and its consequent delays. This study proposes a computerized schedule analysis model that considers multiple baseline updates and resource over-allocation. The model uses a daily window size in order to consider all fluctuations in the critical path(s) and uses a legible representation of progress information to accurately apportion delays and accelerations among project parties. To facilitate its use, the model has been incorporated into a computer tool, EasyPlan, which integrates estimating, scheduling, resource management, and project control. A simple case study has been implemented on the proposed delay analysis model in order to demonstrate its accuracy and usefulness.

Many factors such as unforeseeable events, managerial or financial problems of Contractor, insufficient technical capacity of Engineer&#039 / s site team and so on may lead to delays in construction projects. Proper analysis of compensability and quantum of a delay event is very important. Any delay analysis application can be considered as a result of the combination of contract documents, scheduler, record keeping mechanism at site, communication among project participants, delay analyst and delay analysis methodology. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the shortcomings frequently encountered in implementation of delay analysis applications and propose an integrated solution which synthesizes the solution methods for each. For this purpose seventeen (17) shortcomings were identified and solution methods were suggested for each. Moreover, these shortcomings were attributed to the previously identified elements of delay analysis applications such as contract documents, scheduler etc. Furthermore, an integrated approach is developed which synthesizes the suggested solution methods at different stages of delay analysis applications in order to obtain accurate and reliable results. In order to test the validity of the proposed integrated approach on a real project, a resource and cost loaded construction schedule with approximately four thousand (4000) activities is created by using Primavera software which is currently being used to monitor &quot / Construction of One Reception Center and One Removal Center Project in Erzurum&quot / . In the case study, the necessary events are created in order to be able to compare the results of the proposed integrated approach and the likely result of erroneous delay analysis applications. It was apparently figured out that the proposed integrated approach has yielded accurate and reliable results and a comparison table was prepared showing the difference between the results of the proposed integrated approach and the likely result of an erroneous application.