ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how collaborative business processes can be enhanced, harmonised, eventually standardised and re-used with the help of formalised business process patterns for initialising and operating construction projects. On the basis of that analysis an overall modelling framework is suggested for modelling and instantiating collaborative processes for Virtual Organisations (VOs) in the building industry. The information and communication exchange-in particular the management of workflows-for the collaborative processes in operation phase of construction VOs is insufficiently supported. Particularly with regard to inter-organisational business processes modelling paradigms are missing. The Process Matrix developed in the ICCI project gives an example for predefined, generic processes in the building industry. This library is the basis for a framework to support collaborative business processes. Information in a process is received from one or more predecessors, created and exchanged within the process, and passed over to subsequent processes.
