Comparing non-structural fuzzy decision support system and analytical hierarchy process in decision-making for construction problems

Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a commonly used decision-aiding tool for resolving multi-criteria decision problems. However, users sometimes find it difficult to ensure a consistent pairwise comparison between voluminous decisions. The cause of which is that the Consistency Ratio (CR) is produced after the evaluation process and its global acceptance criteria is limited. When the derived ratio reports some inconsistency, it requires a long process to locate and rectify the problem. The major aim of this study is to look for an alternative decision-aiding tool to AHP, helping to avoid the above problem. The alternative approach proposed in this study is the Non-Structural Fuzzy Decision Support System (NSFDSS). The application of the system is illustrated with a worked example. The results generated by NSFDSS are compared against those generated by the conventional AHP that shows the effectiveness and some unique advantages of the proposed tool over AHP.