An Application of Genetic Algorithms to Time-Cost-Quality Trade-off in Construction Industry

Time, cost and quality are used for measuring proje ct success. So, they are considered the most import ant objectives in construction projects. Project manage rs should deliver their project on time with minimu m cost and at a certain quality level. To get these conflictin g objectives, project managers introduce many possi ble methods of execution (modes) for each activity in the proje ct. This paper presents an optimization model that supports project managers and decision makers in performing this challenging task and leads to identification o f the best solution. Developed model is based on Genetic Algorithms which have many advantages over traditional optimization techniques and considered suitable for more than one objective function. The developed Ge netic Algorithms model considers target function, design variables affecting that target, and problem constr aints. Through application to two projects, the model feas ibility is examined. The results show that the prop osed approach can help the practitioners in considering different modes for activities and easily find mini mum cost for a certain project time meeting the quality requirem ents. The model can easily reach the best solution from huge number of solutions in reasonable running time. In addition, the results tell that the present method can be used in generating a group of optimal solutions.