Choosing by Advantages (CBA) Used as a Qualitative Assessment Methodology in Lean Construction

Abstract

Decision making is part of the daily duties of researchers, engineers, and consultants, and taking the right decisions requires quantitative assessment which usually needs data and analysis. In construction industry, data collection or detailed analysis are practically complicated that cannot drive the right results. This fact leads to the common use of qualitative assessment where the numbers are not available, and the evaluation involves various criteria from diverse perspectives. As a Lean tool, Choosing by Advantage (CBA) is used predominately in the Design process. This paper's characteristics and contributions to the existing body of knowledge presents the CBA practice as a qualitative assessment tool in construction phases in the Lean Construction implementation in infrastructure projects, proposing equations through the technique which determines exactly how to assess the percentage advantage for each factor for qualitative factors with different grades or different ranks. The flexibility of CBA as a multicriteria decision-analysis (MCDA) model helped overcome the differences between criteria, categories, and value-based analysis. This paper describes the experience of selecting the option that considers advantages from various criteria in an extensive assessment.