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Read spotlightRESEARCH SPOTLIGHT · 2024
A Fuzzy Expert System for Contractor Screening
The approach can help owners screen contractors without pretending that every qualification criterion is perfectly measurable.
The question
Owners must compare contractor cost, quality, experience, safety, and performance even when the evidence is incomplete or expressed through expert judgment. The project asked how that uncertainty could be represented more consistently.
What we did
Questionnaires identified the main criteria, subcriteria, and starting fuzzy numbers. The researchers built hierarchical fuzzy systems in MATLAB, tested alternative operators, defuzzification methods, and membership functions, and compared model scores with observed contractor scores.
What we found
- The selected configuration combined hierarchical criteria with a fuzzy expert system.
- Validation showed 85–90% similarity between the model evaluation and actual scoring.
- The model turns qualitative expert judgments into a repeatable prequalification structure.
Why it matters
The approach can help owners screen contractors without pretending that every qualification criterion is perfectly measurable. It makes the logic more transparent while preserving the judgment that complex procurement decisions require. Read together, the question, method, and findings show how this publication fits within Tafazzoli’s broader program of connecting built-environment evidence with practical decisions. The page intentionally separates documented results from interpretation and directs readers to the complete paper for methodological detail. The study also illustrates a recurring principle across this research portfolio: a useful result must be understood in its original setting before it is transferred to another project, organization, population, or policy context.
From expert judgment to contractor score. This original synthesis graphic is based on the study’s documented question, method, or principal contribution; consult the paper for complete figures, labels, units, and uncertainty.
Original website synthesis based on the cited publication.
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A hierarchical fuzzy expert system for contractor prequalification
Published · 2024 · Journal article
Tafazzoli, M., Hazrati, A., & Namian, M. (2024). A hierarchical fuzzy expert system for contractor prequalification. Journal of Legal Affairs and Dispute Resolution in Engineering and Construction, 16(3), 04024076. https://doi.org/10.1061/JLADAH.LADR-1089
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