*4.8. The Selection of PDM*

According to the activity relationship in DSM, we can not only understand the current delivery method but also design a delivery method that is more suitable for project requirements based on the activity relationship. As mentioned previously, selecting PDM also needs to consider requirements and scenarios. Therefore, after considering the owner's requirements, appropriate PDM decisions can be made from the DSM.

The characteristics of the case project include many participants, but the owner was incapable of fully managing and has strong time constraints. The partitioned DSM shows that it could be integrated into one block from detailed design to construction completion which means that it can be implemented by one party. The tasks that needed to be transferred and coordinated by the owner were all completed by the contractor when the contractor carried out multi-stage work. The interaction between activities becomes the internal staff's work with the contractor which will greatly shorten the time and cost of coordination [62]. When the acceleration techniques are adopted, information exchange between personnel

and between subcontractors will become more frequent, and the advantages of integrated delivery methods will become more prominent.

Other goals of the owner included controlling investment and improving medical standards. This determines that control cannot be completely abandoned. Early evaluation of the contractor's ability and deep participation in preliminary design could achieve the owner's goal, and at the same time, it could strengthen the owner's control over the main subsystems and avoid large investment deviation and function deviation.

Therefore, according to the partitioned DSM and opinions of interviewees, this project was suitable for delivery with higher integration such as BD or CM or its variation. The project process of partitioned DSM is shown in Figure 7.

**Figure 7.** The Project Process based on the partitioned DSM.

This project adopted the EPC delivery method, which is very close to the conclusion obtained by the DSM method. The general contractor was a consortium composed of a design enterprise and a construction enterprise. Both parties participated in the bidding according to the preliminary design completed by the design enterprise entrusted by the owner, and finally won the bid and undertook the detailed design, raw material procurement, and construction. The professionals dispatched by both parties worked together on-site, which reduced the information transmission path, carried out simulation and error correction in advance, and reduced rework.

#### **5. Discussion**
