For the development of the preliminary design of a dry dock, the present design methods are based on information from experience and manuals. Dry docks are not as frequently designed and built as other maritime structures and due to this many information is lost in time. To improve the process for the preliminary design of dry docks this thesis has investigated the implementation of existing and new design methods for the creation of the preliminary design of dry docks. In the design process of dry docks the first design stages: sketch design, conceptual design and preliminary design are of interest for a DSS, in these phases the design is still on main elements. For these phases engineering firms uses the design manuals on dry docks and experience from designers for the design. In this research the new techniques System Engineering (SE), Decision Support System (DSS) and Building Information Modelling (BIM) are used. SE is used to create in a systematic and structured way a parametric design that can be used for the DSS. The DSS determines the first estimation of the design for a dry dock in a quick and objective manner. To create the preliminary design of a dry dock following SE, the first step is the creation of the basic specification for a dry dock. The basic specification is based out of firstly the Functional Flow Block Diagram, from this diagram all the functions of a dry dock are mapped. To fulfil to these functions from the diagram, objects need to build. These objects are described by the object decomposition. From this object decomposition it becomes clear that the walls, floor and gates needs to be designed for the preliminary design of a dry dock. Finally the requirements are described, the requirements consist out of functional requirements and technical requirements. The technical requirements are used to check which objects are possible for the specific project and to create a parametric design for these objects. The functional requirements are used to rank the possible types within a trade-off matrix. The design of the DSS is created in Excel and with the guidance of the literature study on DSS and the design rules. The DSS gives guidance on which option for construction method, wall type, floor type and gate type are possible and preferred in the preliminary design of a dry dock. The capability to use an alternative is checked by comparing the technical requirements for the different types with the project specific situation. When the types that are possible are determined, these types are weighted against the functional requirements by means of a trade-off matrix, from where they are ranked. To investigate if this generic design method for the preliminary design of a dry dock is implementable a verification and validation is performed. The verification determined if the calculations made in the DSS are correct. This is done by checking the embedded anchored walls and concrete calculations with verified computer programs. For the embedded anchored walls the program D-Sheet piling is used and for the concrete calculation SCIA engineering is used. The validation checks the outcome of the DSS is realistic, by comparing the design of the DSS with the design of a case study from Arcadis. Despite the oversimplification the DSS gives a quick preliminary design for the main objects of a dry dock. This design is inline with the case study, however it is only validated with one case study.