An Overview of the Marketed Functionalities of Web-based Construction Collaboration Extranets

Web-based Construction collaboration extranets (CCEs) are adopted for improving information management, communication and collaborative working in the construction industry. Previous studies have demonstrated their development, evolution and implementation. The benefits, barriers and success factors surrounding the use of CCEs are also discussed. However, although the general functionalities of CCEs have been identified and described, there is still a lack of systematic analysis of the functionalities provided by different systems. To bridge this gap, this research selected some sample products and adopted a quantitative method, to investigate the distribution and availability of functions and associated features in the products, to identify the difference in functionality between products, and to classify the available functions and features. The result may be useful to system vendors, customers and researchers involved in the development and implementation of CCEs.