A Facilitated Construction Robot Programming Approach using Building Information Modelling

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a revolutionary stride of technology in the orthodox construction and procedures in conventional Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry which is stressed upon for its delay on embracing new technologies. The strength of BIM has been disvalued in the eyes of many professionals, to think of BIM as just another ‘software’ which is in reality, a ‘process’ of attaining an outstanding collaboration among each and every stakeholder throughout a project’s life cycle. Hence, the philosophy of Supply Chain Management (SCM) in a construction project can be achieved effectively with the BIM’s promise of flexible and transparent interaction among Construction Supply Chain (CSC) contributors. However, the complexities in CSC of a conservative setup has been more composite with the intervention of BIM. Consequently, the BIM project stakeholders have encountered complications on the effective application of BIM on CSC while reaching the envisioned goals of BIM. Thus, the intention of this study is to develop a foreseeable information flow model related to construction supply chain in a BIM aided project. In order to attain the aim, an extensive literature synthesis was piloted to develop a conceptual informational flow model among CSC stakeholders of a BIM project. This contemporary research outlines that the CSC of a BIM project is much interactive and flexible with its collaborative effort of stakeholders when compared to the clashes among professionals in traditional setups. In a practical context, the roles and duties of BIM project stakeholders identified in BIM standards, have slightly differed due to real-world complications in construction industry. Besides that, BIM standards have laid down charismatic arrangements on information flows among BIM project stakeholders, which is in reality, a complex and random setup. Hence, the research outcome has successfully answered the complications by laying down guidelines for any outsider to the BIM field to recognise what would be the contribution of each stakeholder throughout the BIM project’s life cycle.

Development of a Building Information Modelling Asset (BIMAsset) value realisation model

Enabling Building Information Modeling (BIM) Practices in the Canadian Construction Industry: A case for an academic programIn today’s construction industry, we are seeing a growing number of complex and high qualityconstruction projects all around the world using the BIM process. In order to get the most benefitout of BIM, there is a dire need for standards and efficient educational programs and courses totrain skilled professionals to support the implementation of BIM in the construction industry.Based on a preliminary environmental scan, there is a huge gap between industry BIM needs andavailable training/educational programs to facilitate effective implementation of BIM.Construction education needs to fill the gaps in BIM training for industry to remain current,responsive and relevant. Although an increasing number of educational institutions offeringarchitecture, engineering and construction programs have initiated to offer BIM related courses,there is no comprehensive curriculum developed by local academia to address the BIM relatedtraining needs of the construction industry in Alberta. Several researches and case studiesadvocate that industry stakeholders can use BIM technologies to save time and cost, whileimproving building quality. Integrating BIM collaboratively among stakeholders will also boostcompetitiveness and productivity in the building industry.BIM enables team collaboration, assisting project managers to more reliably communicateproject’s intent to all stakeholders in a timely fashion. It is therefore important for industry andacademic institutions to work collaboratively in order to understand the level and skillsetrequired for effective implementation of BIM practices in the industry.The paper aims to review the current state of BIM training programs; consult and solicitfeedback with various stakeholders with respect to training; and recommend appropriate trainingprograms that provides industry professionals with the fundamental skills and knowledge ofprinciples, terminologies, tools, and techniques related to BIM practices. The research utilizes aqualitative methodology to capture stakeholder’s experiences and understanding differentperspectives on BIM practices in the industry. The study suggests that a BIM certificate will helptraining our professionals better to address the needs of BIM practices in the constructionindustry. There is a dire need for a certificate program that provides the required skillset toproduce career ready professionals for enabling BIM practices in the construction industry. Thestudy findings would be of interest to BIM experts, construction professionals, and facultyinvolved with BIM education.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the current trend in the construction industry globally, and Malaysia, is not an exception too. BIM has been in Malaysia for the past ten (10) years, and in the future, BIM will be an industry standard, instead of an optional service. Even though BIM is already in the industry for ten (10) years, many developers are still reluctant to implement it because they could not see the benefits of BIM especially in monetary terms. This paper aims to explore the understanding developers of BIM and its impact on Return on Investment (ROI). A literature review is carried out to review the linkage between BIM and ROI. The study engages qualitatively with four (4) respondents who held the title of BIM managers in their respective companies that have experience in BIM. Data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interview sessions and was analysed using qualitative content analysis techniques. From the findings, the respondents do understand BIM and that BIM is not a tool for visualisation only. It is, in fact, able to help them in project control. The findings show that BIM had impacted on the ROI of both the project and organisation. At present, these findings support the argument that BIM does have an impact on the ROI both positively and negatively. However, the findings prove that BIM is worthy of its pricey initial investment. It is, therefore, suggested that Malaysian developers invest in BIM though the initial investment may seem pricey.

Building information modeling (BIM) has become an integral part of commercial construction processes in recent years. This article summarizes a research study undertaken to explore the frequency of BIM application, the advantages and effects of using BIM, and various other methods associated with developing and using BIM models in commercial construction. Executive, mid-management, and BIM practitioner-level employees from eighteen leading commercial general contracting firms (with regard to BIM use) were surveyed to determine how their companies utilized BIM. Thirty-two different applications of BIM use were identified for commercial construction, and those most commonly utilized included clash detection, 3-D modeling, team collaboration, constructability issues of design, and sales. Communication, scheduling, coordination, visualization, and clash detection were identified as the top advantages of using BIM. Regarding the effects of using BIM, companies reported a positive impact on profitability, time of construction, and marketing. Finally, this article discusses various processes for using BIM, how models were used internally and with trade partners, and the decisions affecting BIM use by leading commercial contractors.

Purpose The oil and gas industry form the main resource of economy in Iraq and constructing any project in such sectors requires a huge amount of expenses due to the unique requirements that oil and gas facilities required in such projects. Therefore, adopting an appropriate technological approach such as building information modeling (BIM) which is unfortunately not adopted yet in Iraq is essential to successfully deliver these projects. Thus, this paper aimed to introduce BIM to Iraq through Basra Oil Company (BOC) which is one of the biggest public oil and gas companies in Iraq. Design/methodology/approach The related literature of journals articles, conference proceedings and published reports have been reviewed. As a result, firstly: a hypothesis has been derived that is “If Basra Oil Company (BOC) adopts and applies BIM approach instead of the 2D approach currently used to manage its projects, the company can overcome several constraints in managing its projects that associated with such 2D traditional approach”; secondly: homogenous, consistence and reliable web-based questionnaire has been designed as its Cronbach’s alpha equal to 0.897 and 0.711 for BIM benefits and barriers, respectively. This questionnaire distributed to the BOC related professionals to test such hypothesis by investigating their readiness and accepting of BIM approach and to rank BIM barriers based on five-point Likert scale. Findings Based on the analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics 26 of 115 responses, almost 50% of the respondents had experience 11–15 years, while 22.6% had experience more than 15 years in oil and gas industry construction projects. Those participants were from diverse engineering majors that are: 4.3% Architectural Engineers, 31.3% Civil Engineers, 20% Mechanical Engineers, 22.6% Electrical Engineers and 21.7% from other engineering majors. The respondents’ departments demography was 16.5% of design department, 12.2% of construction department, 20.9% of Project Management Department, 12.2% of Maintenance department, 4.3% of HSE Department, 13% of Production Department and 20.9% of “Other Department.” The study resulted in 1: accepting BIM approach to be an alternative of current 2D-traditional approach used by the company to manage and construct its projects, since mean of collected data is (4.4332), Kruskal–Wallis H test significance values were 0.398 and 0.372; and ANOVA test significance values were 0.433 and 0.599 among Engineering Majors groups and Company’s Department groups, respectively. 2: Disclosed and sequenced BIM barriers in the company based on their criticality. 3: verifying reliably how BIM attributes are important to oil and gas construction projects in Iraq, 4: the company top management and company policies are the most critical potential factors to hinder or adopt and implement BIM in the company, 5: while cost is not seen a critical barrier to implement BIM in the oil and gas sector. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study is the excluding of decision makers of BOC, thus more profound future studies need to be conducted where top management and decision makers are involved, particularly the present study demonstrated that support of company top management is the most critical factor which can help the company to adopt (BIM). Originality/value The study concludes that BIM approach is valuable for managing projects in oil and gas sector in Iraq and identify the originality in output by using the research method. This noble study provides a leverage for enhanced research to adopt and implement building information modeling (BIM) in Iraq as the study originally demonstrates benefits and identifies the critical barriers in BIM implementation to push the boundaries toward adopt Digitalization and reduce CO2 emission in Iraqi oil and gas sector. The study can be used as evidence and platform to encourage professionals and practitioners to present more sophisticated tools of BIM in the oil and gas industry, especially for facility and operation management. These findings achieved via oil and gas experts, and it is first time to achieve such findings from a case study in Iraqi oil and gas sector.

Malaysia is progressing into Industry Revolution (IR) 4.0 which emphasizes more onto digital, data and artificial intelligence where everything is expected to be automated. However, cost tends to be a major issue at the pioneer stage of embracing technology where Building Information Modelling (BIM) for example tends to be a cost tussle for the current construction industry. Yet, research has shown that BIM is arguably one of the technology platforms in combating the costing issue considering that BIM enables 3D model elements to link to cost and auto-generate quantities which potentially achieve cost-effective project. Due to the conflicting perspectives of how BIM affects project cost issues, it is imperative to investigate the cost-related issues in implementing BIM in the project and to determine how BIM in general positively influences the overall project cost. Qualitative research is adopted in this study. A semi-structured interview was conducted among four professionals who employs BIM in their project. They consist of the assistant manager, senior manager and chief executive officer. The data collected is analysed by utilising Matrix Table for better organisation. The scope of the study is in the Selangor state in which the local construction industry had applied BIM in their construction industry up to the 3D stage. The results showed that the BIM implementation cost is not too burdensome as it is only a one-time cost and does not vary throughout the project period. In addition, the BIM influence on the overall cost of the project is beneficial to the industry. It improves workflow and cost management. In conclusion, BIM is beneficial to the construction industry in the long term. It is important to resolve the cost-related issues for implement BIM and hence, encourage the usage of BIM, especially in the IR 4.0 ecosystem.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is currently being used by the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry in Malaysia. It has been introduced by the Director of Public Works Department (PWD) in 2007 to reduce construction costs and avoid design problems. BIM utilization in construction can detect any clash analysis during the design stage, improves efficiency of project scheduling, reduce costs and ensure high quality of the project as well as facilitate communication among construction players. Since it has been introduced by the PWD, several projects have been constructed and being constructed using BIM and one of the project is The National Cancer Institute (NCI). The project is owned by the Malaysian government. This paper discusses the application of BIM in the project, the first project launched by the Malaysian government. A literature review was conducted to explore previous BIM studies on the history of BIM, benefits and importance, barriers and challenges as well as existing BIM projects in the Malaysian construction industry. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were carried out with the client, consultant and contractor involved in the project. The interviews results reveal necessities and benefits of implementing BIM in completing the project. BIM is necessary for construction because its implementation can increase project quality. It is useful in assisting construction players to complete projects successfully. The results provide clear evidence of the effectiveness of implementing BIM in government projects. This paper can serve as a reference for critical studies of developing a strategy approach model for BIM implementation in the Malaysian construction industry.

Background: Implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has proven to deliver major performance improvements in Program efficiency, design quality, constructability, waste reduction, environmental performance, and capital & operational cost management of built environment projects. Yet BIM implementation in low BIM maturity markets, such as the UAE, is limited to technology applications which fail to deliver the full potential of BIM benefits to client originations. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to investigate BIM implementation from a client’s perspective and to present a case study that exhibits a level 2 BIM implementation process in a traditional procurement environment. Methods: The study has used a case study approach combined with a literature review. A critical appraisal of relevant literature is presented to highlight key issues hindering BIM implementation for client organizations, especially in developing BIM markets, such as the UAE. The research is collected using an action research approach within a case study, including project document audit, participation in project collaboration meetings and extensive communication with the project stakeholders. The case study is presented in a practice-oriented research format describing the project details, procurement approach, BIM development & management process and benefits achieved for the project client. Results: The paper presents a structured approach to strategically introduce BIM within a low BIM maturity market, creating partnering relationships, empower the supply chain partners and achieving significant BIM benefits with minimum disruption to existing work practices. The paper highlights that although BIM requires a step-change in the work practices of the construction industry, yet it is possible to successfully implement BIM with traditional procurement settings, which may be a critical feature in a certain market or a client requirement. Conclusion: There is a need for case study based, practice-oriented research work within the domain of BIM implementation. Construction clients in low maturity BIM markets are concerned about the perceived benefits of BIM and its practical implementation within existing business practices, which is addressed in this paper. Overall, the findings of this study are useful for construction industry clients and academia in redefining the existing work practices to incorporate BIM-enabled processes and applications.

Construction Industry has been evolving since the development of Building Information Modelling (BIM). This technological process is unstoppable; it is out to the market with remarkable case studies of solving the long industry’s history of fragmentation. This industry has been changing over time; United States has recorded the most significant development in construction digitalization, Australia, United Kingdom and some other developed nations are also amongst promoters of BIM process and its development. Recently, a developing country like China and Malaysia are keying into the industry’s digital shift, while very little move is seen in South Africa whose development is considered higher and perhaps leader in the digital transition amongst the African countries. To authors’ best knowledge, Nigerian construction industry has never engaged in BIM discussions hence has no attention at national level. Consequently, Nigeria has no “Noteworthy BIM publications.” Decision makers and key stakeholders need to be informed on the current trend of the industry’s development (BIM in specific) and the opportunities of adopting this digitalization trend in relation to the identified challenges. BIM concept can be traced mostly in Architectural practices than engineering practices in Nigeria. A superficial BIM practice is found to be at organisational level only and operating a model based - “BIM stage 1.” Research to adopting this innovation has received very little attention. This piece of work is literature review based, aimed at exploring BIM in Nigeria and its prospects. The exploration reveals limitations in the literature availability as to extensive research in the development of BIM in the country. Numerous challenges were noticed including building collapse, inefficiencies, cost overrun and late project delivery. BIM has potentials to overcome the above challenges and even beyond. Low level of BIM adoption with reasonable level of awareness is noticed. However, lack of policy and guideline as well as serious lack of experts in the field are amongst the major barriers to BIM adoption. The industry needs to embrace BIM to possibly compete with its global counterpart.

As the AEC industry strives to establish integrated knowledge exchange protocols utilizing building information models (BIMs), structural engineering practices of all sizes will profit from the ability to effectively communicate with the design team supported by a strongly integrated structural design process. At Thornton Tomasetti, custom tools are developed to automate the exchange of structural design data between 2D and 3D analysis models and BIMs. These tools are unique because they allow the engineer to manage partial models and data sets as independent sub-systems of complete virtual models. These sub-systems are often described in plan or elevation, while their counter parts reside in the 3D setting of the overall BIM. Custom automation of processes at Thornton Tomasetti helps to meet deadlines, exceed expectations of clients, and increases the quality of the work product. We cite three examples illustrating custom usage of application programming interfaces (APIs) and address typical challenges met when pursuing in-house development projects. The case studies include the utilization of conventional CAD documents as basic structural information models (SIMs), the automatic assembly of structural elements of complete towers in a BIM, and efficient bent management assisting the design process of stadiumlike structures. 1. BIM METHODOLOGY IN THE AEC ENVIRONMENT Following building information modeling (BIM) methodology, members of the AEC design team communicate by exchanging knowledge through a virtual model of the project, usually referred to as “BIM.” Currently, BIM compliments the traditional information flow - drawings. The industry trend moves toward using BIM as the primary tool, and if needed, drawings can be compiled as views or reports on demand. Building information modeling methodology focuses primarily on the following two objectives: a) Visualization and Coordination: Allowing the members of the AEC design team to virtually construct a digital model of the project, very similar to the WYSIWYG concept (“what you see is what you get”) in word processing. A model has to look right, be measurable, allow an assessment of constructability, and “know” when parts

Since 2015, a 13-week core course “Integrated Building Project Development (IBPD)” was launched annually for final year students of all undergraduate programmes of the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the City University of Hong Kong. These undergraduate programmes cover most disciplines of the construction industry—architectural studies, civil and structural engineering, building services engineering, surveying, and construction engineering and management. From 2018 onwards, students are required to use Building Information Modelling (BIM) across all disciplines in the project development process of this course. A BIM project execution plan on Client’s BIM requirements, the scope of BIM implementation and the required BIM deliverables in this course is provided to students. A BIM server that supports in-campus and remote access was built for students to store, retrieve and archive their digital files so that they can practise BIM communication and data exchange on a centralised platform. This paper shares the successful execution of the BIM project execution plan, under the framework of the interdisciplinary BIM (iBIM) implementation and the BIM server architecture, by the students.KeywordsUndergraduate programmesIntegratedMultidisciplinaryBuilding Information Modelling (BIM)

This research was designed to assess the significance of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) standards to enhance efficiency in the Qatari construction industry. The need for more efficient processes arose in part from the Qatari government’s increased level of investment in infrastructure and the accompanying desire to secure the country’s 2030 vision. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data from the Qatari construction industry. Three questions guided this research: (i) What are the current challenges facing the Qatari construction industry in the smooth deliverance of projects?” (ii) “What strategies does the industry use in the promotion of an integrated business model that is technological centric?” (iii) “What are the possible challenges that the industry would face if it were to adopt BIM as a standard for all projects in the Qatari construction industry?” The outcome of the research shows that using BIM as a standard could not reduce the inefficiencies faced by the industry. While the respondents to the survey had realised that the industry had challenges, the implementation of BIM seemed not to be in line with the difficulties experienced in the industry. This finding was supported by a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.001 for many survey questions. While the industry could be using BIM in general, it still does not form part of the strategy to promote collaborative working. The research did not emphasise the process of implementing BIM standards because most contracts did not require the use of BIM; neither do regulators. The research highlights the challenges of implementing BIM as a standard in a modern construction industry that is facing inefficiency. Even though clients have the capacity to apply innovative strategies, they are stifled by complex business structures and processes. Inefficient delivery of facilities raises questions about the management structures used by the industry. With a large expatriate workforce, Qatar needs systematic tools and approaches such as BIM for managing construction processes regardless of the level of experience and exposure of its managers. Adopting BIM could significantly improve working relations on projects. The research shows that the construction industry would require a standardised BIM process if companies were to deliver on their targets. There is value in adopting tools and techniques that would enhance collaborative tendencies by professionals working in the industry. However, the overall strategy to implement a standardised BIM approach would initially exacerbate current problems before it could bring forth improvements to the construction process.

Purpose: To explore the evolution of Facility Management (FM) in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) process. The research aimed to establish Critical Success Factors (CSF) which help deliver successful BIM projects, and to present these in a ‘FM-BIM Mobilisation Framework’. Background: Inefficiencies, poor collaboration and a focus on short-term costs in the construction industry, combined with a lack of innovation and digital competency when ordering projects, have resulted in a failure to deliver assets which have sustainable outcomes over their whole-life. Methodology: A mixed methods concurrent convergent design, incorporating side-by-side narrative text analysis was adopted to merge qualitative/quantitative findings. Critical Success Themes (CST) from literature were then used to establish CSF through; 19 interviews with FM/BIM experts, and a questionnaire to gauge FM industry awareness of BIM (using UK and international inputs). The final merged CSF were incorporated into a framework. This was validated using a two-stage process with a focus group using some of the same FM/BIM experts. Key findings: 10 CSF Main-Themes (MT), with a 100 Sub-Themes (ST) were identified covering important digital skills, knowledge and competences people require to contribute to the BIM process. Clients and Facility Mangers (FMs) must engage early if the full benefits of BIM are to be realised in the operational phase. They must clearly define their information requirements to align with business processes, and collaborate with the delivery team to ensure information is captured/transferred into the relevant management systems. Originality/value: The comprehensive end-to-end framework combines FM and BIM CSF into one online interactive tool which provides a wealth of useful knowledge, sources, benefits and practical examples. Although based on the UK BIM Framework, the alignment with ‘ISO 19650’ ensures it will also benefit an international audience. Keywords: Facility Management (FM), Building Information Modelling (BIM), ‘FM-BIM Mobilisation Framework’, digitalisation, information requirements.

The construction industry has made significant improvements in adopting and integrating emerging technologies. One example is the wide use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), which offers numerous benefits to the construction industry. BIM assists project teams in achieving better quality with lower risk, shorter timeframes, and reduced costs. Meanwhile, the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) defines the required discipline to meet stakeholders' needs. PMBOK aims to facilitate the achievement of predefined project deliverables and improve project goals through effective communication and decision-making processes. This paper presents a questionnaire-based investigation to measure whether BIM implementation enhances the PMBOK in projects and whether BIM positively affects Project Management Knowledge Areas (PMKAs) on a global scale. The questionnaire consisted of 7 general questions, 37 PMBOK-oriented questions, and 4 questions targeting BIM advantages and obstacles. 95 experts participated in the survey based on the LinkedIn search and survey invitation. The results showed that BIM dramatically influences the quality of execution of PMKAs, specifically in Project Integration Management. Additionally, the study examined the effect of BIM on the product lifecycle that BIM improves project coordination and discovers clashes during the engineering phase. In the construction phase, BIM facilitates as-built drawings and enhances communication, and during the post-construction phase, BIM enhances facility and components’ lifecycle management. The research also found that the most significant obstacles to implementing BIM are the lack of experts, value propositions, and efficient training.