Considering functional dimensioning in architectural design

This paper presents an overview of the functional dimensioning (FD) concept applied to the construction sector. FD addresses the issue of tolerance; construction involves several trades working together while each trade has its own construction tolerances. To investigate this problem, three case studies are investigated. The first one describes a classic case of a window in a bay and the way constructors solved the resulting tolerance problems. The second case study describes the notion of chain dimension. The last case study presents the notion of wedge as a solution to solve problems related to tolerance gap accumulation. This paper is of interest to the scientific community that is working to industrialize the construction sector and also to architects (in the design), construction managers (onsite), and manufacturers (construction trades).