Multicriteria Assessment of Selected Solutions for the Building Structural Walls

AbstractOne of the most difficult problems in construction is to take objective decision, especially for selection of technology and material solutions. Decision making process is very complicated and time consuming (due to the complex nature of construction projects). Many experts, with extensive knowledge of Construction Industry, take subjective decisions, related to verbal methods of decision making. Difficulties are related mostly to the creation of relevant criteria set, answering the decision maker questions. Set of proper criteria and mathematical tools could significantly improve objective decision making. Assessment of different types of investments and their complexity is particularly difficult and the most common issue in engineering practices. Authors present case study – selection of the best materials variant for building structural walls – detailed calculations of AHP method. Mathematical and thus objective methods that support the decision-making process in construction are undoubtedly helpful in everyday work of a construction manager. The AHP method allows for selection of an optimum solution among the defined alternatives (evaluation problem) or identification of the preferred alternative among the potentially infinite, suggested set of alternatives, defined from the perspective of the set of restrictions (design problem). The support of decision-making processes provides many advantages which are described in the paper