ABSTRACT
The paper begins by reviewing the status of
existing IT application and use in the construction
sector. We argue that although IT tools and their
utilization is highly sophisticated within construc-
tion, such technologies and practices are in the
main bounded within single organizations, rather
than spreading across the inter-organizational land-
scape of construction work. We then discuss the
role of information on construction projects, and
approaches to its conceptualization, andwe empha-
size the need to consider social and human oriented
aspects of information and information exchange,
as well as technical aspects (such as structure and
typology). We use this to introduce the philosophi-
cal foundation of organizational semiotics, which
involves considering the way that signs (any piece
of information or representation) are produced
and interpreted-a process of ‘semiosis’. We go on
to outline some of the ways OS has been mobilized
methodologically to assist in the elucidation of a
problem andmake user requirements more distinct.
