Whilst many methods for product development exist and are applied successfully in different industrial sectors, e.g. in mechanical engineering, these methods are widely unused in civil engineering and construction. The application of several methods in the planning of buildings and building parts is generally possible and reasonable, e. g. in terms of quality management and design for sustainability. Problems occur in implementing these methods into the planning process, which is often, especially in small and medium sized projects, unorganised and characterised by “information cuts” between planning, realisation and utilisation. Due to the predomination of small architecture firms and building companies, where modern forms of design (e.g. teamwork) are rarely exercised and research concentrates on solving immediate problems rather than creating general solutions for multiple projects, the implementation of methods turns out to be a difficult change project. To address the problems mentioned above, a strategy for implementation is presented. Process optimisation and the integration of methods into the design process are crucial pre-requisites for the use of methods.     «

Whilst many methods for product development exist and are applied successfully in different industrial sectors, e.g. in mechanical engineering, these methods are widely unused in civil engineering and construction. The application of several methods in the planning of buildings and building parts is generally possible and reasonable, e. g. in terms of quality management and design for sustainability. Problems occur in implementing these methods into the planning process, which is often, especial...     »