Quantifying uncertainty and equivocality in engineering projects

Engineering work is intangible and difficult to measure and manage. Engineering project tasks entail various degrees of uncertainty and equivocality (U&E). Quantifying U&E of project tasks helps understand and manage engineering work. This study developed an assessing questionnaire from five sources of U&E and tested it on a large subway design project. Questions were answered by nine discipline managers of 58 tasks and the quantified U&E scores reflect reality. It was found that uncertainty is higher than equivocality for most tasks. The U&E reduction test shows that task U&E decrease over one year and different reduction patterns exist. Task-possessed information contributes the largest decrease. This means information from planning, past projects or experiences is very important to performing new projects. The developed questionnaire can be a useful tool to help managers better understand and plan project tasks.