Construction projects have faced serious schedule delays caused by rework risks. However, it appears that traditional methods are of limited value in developing applicable project schedules. This study presents an analysis on construction projects schedule development under rework scenarios by a novel method named the improved critical chain design structure matrix (CCDSM). Research data are collected from a real estate development project in China. As a result, predictions of project completion duration and probability have been made. A reliable schedule considering information interactions has been developed and visualized. Rework impact areas of activities have been examined to quantitatively record the impact on project duration. To meet different demands, the method generates two more schedules setting different rework buffers. Furthermore, these activities have the potential of causing rework and have been quantified based on the calculation of two criticalities, providing an identification of rework-intensive works that should be payed close importance to, which have not be realized by previous methods. The results proved the feasibility and effectiveness of this method in developing a schedule for construction projects disturbed by rework, helping practitioners adopt measures to avoid rework-caused schedule delays and achieve sustainable development of such projects.

In order to overcome the difficulty in quantifying rework by traditional project schedule management tools, this study proposes an innovative method, namely improved Critical Chain Design Structure Matrix (ICCDSM). From the perspective of information flow, the authors firstly make assumptions on activity parameters and interactions between activities. After that, a genetic algorithm is employed to reorder the activity sequence, and a banding algorithm with consideration of resource constraints is used to identify concurrent activities. Then potential criticality is proposed to measure the importance of each activity, and the rework impact area is implicated to indicate potential rework windows. Next, two methods for calculating project buffer are employed. A simulation methodology is used to verify the proposed method. The simulation results illustrate that the ICCDSM method is capable of quantifying and visualizing rework and its impact, decreases iterations, and improves the completion probability. In this vein, this study provides a novel framework for rework management, which offers some insights for researchers and managers.