How to Choose the Best Media to Implement the Choosing by Advantages (CBA) Tabular Method

Choosing by Advantages (CBA) applications in the construction industry have been growing over time and teams need to decide which tools they will use to facilitate and document a CBA decision. This paper aims to determine which criteria should be considered when deciding on the tool/media to apply the CBA Tabular method? Researchers analyzed four different tools: (1) analog, (2) spreadsheet, (3) digital whiteboard, and (4) CBA decision-making software. These four tools were selected based on direct experience of the authors on four case studies. Researchers also conducted a survey to expand experiences, collect information on alternatives, and identify factors and define criteria to help users to select the tool. The conclusion is that there is no-one-size fits-all solution, and the authors therefore encourage teams to choose the best tool that suits their context. This paper aims to help teams be aware of multiple alternatives and of the consequences that come with each tool.