BIM compatibility and its differentiation with interoperability challenges as an innovation factor

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been in use in the Hong Kong Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool for more than a decade. However, the increasing usage and rapid development in both the AEC industry and academia point to the potential multiple applications, impacts and much broader potential benefits that may be generated from BIM implementation. The current frequently used BIM applications have advanced the project performances levels and consequential benefits of relevant stakeholders in different dimensions.
\nHowever, BIM development in the Hong Kong industry has not been smooth. Attention has been diverted from potential benefits to the barriers and constraints that retard BIM implementation. This has in turn limited the applications, hence not convincing industry participants of their potential benefits in quantitative terms. Furthermore, conflicts between BIM implementation and the existing project processes also retard the smooth development of BIM. A higher level of collaborative working is required for deriving more benefits from BIM.
\nThis research aims to develop possible feasible solutions to reduce the conflicts/barriers in BIM implementation and advance current BIM implementation towards more collaborative and integrated working arrangements (IWAs), with expected broader potential benefits in the context of the Hong Kong industry. IWAs in this research refer to: a) organization structures, b) information exchange mechanisms, and c) project processes. 
\nAn inter-locking set of research methods were applied in this study to achieve the research goal. Literature reviews were conducted to extract and illustrate the basic concepts in BIM and lay the foundation for proposal development. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey were conducted to explore BIM implementation scenarios in the Hong Kong AEC industry. Two case studies helped to map out BIM implementation processes in real projects in Hong Kong. Finally, a focus group meeting was held to discuss, validate and improve the relevant research findings and improvement proposals. 
\nThe main outcomes of this research are the proposed short term IWAs and long term IWAs for optimizing overall potential benefits of BIM implementation. The proposed short term IWAs consist of specific measures for participants to address the barriers and conflicts in BIM implementation within existing project processes. The proposed long term IWAs are based on a conceptual framework and processes to build an integrated working environment for BIM. The outcomes of this research can help industry practitioners to overcome current barriers and derive more benefits from BIM by developing specific measures targeting the current scenarios, as well as provide possible directions for moving further forward in the long term. The research outcomes also offer relevant contributions to knowledge by proposing fresh concepts and approaches to creating and developing collaborative working environment for BIM implementation based on relevant principles and guidelines that are in turn derived from Relational Contracting (RC) frameworks.

Building information modeling (BIM) application has the potential to revolutionize the quantity surveying practice. It appears that quantity surveyors are still lagging behind in BIM application compared to other professionals. Low adoption among quantity surveyors is due to lack of awareness of the potential of BIM application toward their profession. Quantity surveyors are still unsure of the capability of BIM in their practice. It is still generally underexplored how BIM application contributes to quantity surveyors performance improvement. This research attempts to identify the capabilities of BIM application in quantity surveying practice to increase awareness. The scope of this research limited to pre-construction stage. The potential capabilities are found through literatures and verify through interviews with eight quantity surveyors till achieve saturation. The findings indicated that there are 11 potential BIM capabilities that can enhance quantity surveyors’ performance and majorities of them are confirmed by the interviewees. These findings provide clear understanding that BIM application has the capabilities to enhance quantity surveyors’ performance where traditionally their works are known as time-consuming and error-prone.

Although building information modelling (BIM) is endowed with the potential for collaboration, the nature of the relationship between BIM application and collaboration has not been well-elaborated. This research classifies collaboration into the two dimensions of cooperation and coordination and empirically tests a model to understand not only the effect of BIM application on collaboration in construction projects but also the moderating effects of fairness perception and contract specificity. Using 296 samples from the Chinese construction industry, this research reveals the existence of a positive relationship between BIM application and collaboration. In addition, fairness perception weakens the relationship between BIM application and both collaboration dimensions of cooperation and coordination, while contract specificity strengthens the effect of BIM application on the coordination dimension only. These findings offer new insights through a nuanced understanding of the nature of the relationship between BIM application and collaboration, providing useful guidance for BIM application in the construction industry.

PurposeThe Nigerian construction industry, like in most emerging economies has been slow with technological advances such as building information modeling (BIM). More so, the application of BIM among Nigerian practitioners is rather limited to architects’ usage for schematic design and presentation of drawings. The purpose of this study is to enhance BIM’s uptake, this study explores the drivers for the implementation of BIM within the Nigerian construction industry.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretivist epistemological design was adapted to extensively manually review and search the literature on BIM implementation drivers. Based on 14 drivers for BIM implementation drivers identified, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the Nigerian construction practitioners. The data obtained is then subjected to descriptive, inferential statistics and multivariate techniques such as factor analysis.FindingsThe study, through factor analysis, categorized the 14 drivers to BIM implementation into four principal factors. The factors are construction related-drivers; process digitalization and economic-related drivers; sustainability and efficiency-related drivers; and visualization and productivity-related drivers.Practical implicationsTo effectively adopt BIM in the construction industry, it is necessary to identify the BIM implementing drivers, which can act as catalysts of change and, thus leading to sustained adoption of BIM. Therefore, the identified drivers and categorization of principal factors could provide managerial implications for better execution and adoption of BIM, as well as the creation of the required change for the BIM implementation.Originality/valueThe research provides insights into the implementation drivers of BIM in lesser studies in a developing country such as Nigeria. The study further contributes to this research sphere by using factor analysis to customize and contextualize the drivers that were previously identified.

China’s construction industry is an important driving force for the development of society. Nevertheless, with the recent new normal of economic development, traditional construction approaches cannot meet the requirements of socialist modernization and sustainable construction. As such, the development of the construction industry needs to match the recent developmental concept of green environmental protection. Therefore, China’s construction industry needs to explore innovative development paths of transformation and upgrading. Recently, the Chinese government has been vigorously promoting building information modeling (BIM) applications. However, in the real-world construction process, BIM applications have not achieved their expected impacts. To satisfy the practical demands, this research uses the social network analysis method to analyze the key hindering factors in order to clarify the significance and influencing mechanism of each factor. The current study identified 12 key hindering factors that impede the development of BIM applications in China’s construction industry. The results show that a lack of policy guidance and the restriction of relevant laws are the most critical hindering factors. This research contributes to the research of the hindering factors of BIM applications in China and can assist decision makers in formulating appropriate strategies to promote the application and development of information BIM technology in China’s construction industry.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) emerges as one of the megatrends that will modernize the Malaysian construction industry due to its vital role in collaboration, coordination and communication in real-time among construction industry stakeholders. In 2019, the government of Malaysia has mandated the use of BIM technology for public projects worths more than 100 million. However, less than half of the construction projects in Malaysia is currently using the BIM system. In order to encourage the implementation of BIM, there is an important need to educate the construction industry players with realistic information on BIM technology. Based on previous literature, disruption of BIM toward the traditional practice of construction activities can be managed through exposure and incremental of BIM knowledge. Therefore, this study explores the current awareness of construction industry players on the application of BIM toward sustainability aspects, particularly on social sustainability. A set of questionnaire survey is used to gather the required data and a total of 133 contractors have responded to the survey. The data were analyzed using the frequency distribution to indicate the highlighted application of BIM foresees by contractors that contribute to social sustainability. The finding indicates that the level of awareness is influenced by their knowledge on BIM. Therefore, providing a better understanding and wider exposure on BIM could improve the implementation of BIM in the construction projects, which align with the government agenda.

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)

In recent years, the construction industry worldwide has shown significant interest in Building Information Modeling (BIM). This study aims to analyze the dissemination of knowledge about BIM in construction engineering applications using Main Path Analysis (MPA). The research sample comprises 3,761 papers related to BIM’s application in the construction industry, sourced from the ISI Web of Science database. Initially, we investigate trends in paper publications, conduct country and journal analyses, and examine author statistics. Subsequently, we calculate traversal counts along the search path links to reveal the development trajectory of BIM. The trajectory of BIM’s evolution in the construction industry can be divided into four stages as identified through the global key-route main path analysis: 1) BIM standardization; 2) Integration of completed building projects using BIM; 3) BIM applications in precast construction projects; and 4) BIM applications in land management. These findings provide a clear understanding of how BIM has been applied and evolved within the construction industry.

The construction industry of Malaysia is very dynamic in nature and the adoption of new technological advancements and construction methods has been a prime concerns for its key players and stakeholders. However, the adoption of BIM in such a dynamic industry is observed to be limited and its implementation has not been as successful as it should have been. The study focuses on the identification and prioritization the factors challenging the implementation of BIM in Malaysian construction industry. The data has been administrated through designed questionnaire by identifying the factors / barriers, by literature review, for implementation of BIM in construction industry. The prioritization of such factors is expected to help the major stake holders to address the issues according to their priority which will save lot of previous time and financial with smooth implementation of BIM in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in future project.

Although a considerable amount of research has addressed the use of building information modelling (BIM) in facilities management (FM) within the past years, there is limited systematic review on investigating the potentials of BIM within the operation and maintenance (O&M) life cycle phase. Yet, this phase could account for approximately 60% of the total life cycle costs of assets. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review on the application of BIM in the O&M phase to identify current research trends, research gaps and future directions. This study achieves the aforementioned purpose by adopting the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P). It employs qualitative and quantitative techniques to analyse the articles from a combination of three multi-disciplinary research databases, namely—Scopus, Web of Science and Engineering Village, which also comprises Compendex, InSpec, GeoRef and GeoBase sub-databases. After an in-depth review of 196 selected journal articles, this study systemically presents: (1) bibliometric analyses of the literature in BIM and O&M; (2) research patterns and trends; (3) drivers and barriers to BIM–O&M integration; and (4) research gaps mapped into a standard project management lifecycle to guide future research directions. The content analysis reveals that BIM has mainly been integrated under seven functions: information management (IM), advanced technology (AT), maintenance and asset management (MAM), indoor management (IM), performance assessment (PA), visualisation (V), and lean management (LM). Findings of the study reveal that the UK, USA and China are the top ranked countries with regards to research outputs on BIM–O&M integrations. The majority of BIM integrations within O&M falls under the information management function, whereas the least research output was recorded under lean management. In addition, the majority of studies focused on institutional and infrastructure facility types, but residential, industrial and commercial buildings were underrepresented, despite their disproportionate physical dominance within most societies. Findings also show that potential drivers and barriers for BIM integrations within O&M can be classified into three main categories—technical, organisational, and legal/contractual. It is then concluded that the application of BIM within O&M is still emerging, which further emphasises the need for more studies that address value realization in the context of BIM in O&M, with particular focus on the specific O&M principles for different building types.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a new paradigm in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry in Malaysia. In the literature, there are numerous reviews of BIM implementation on new buildings, while the BIM application in retrofitting existing buildings is rather disregarded yet. Only limited research has investigated the use of the potential of BIM in residential retrofit projects. This study seeks to investigate the current status of implementation of BIM for retrofitting residential buildings practicality. The research used the questionnaire as a quantitative method to collect data in the current study. One hundred twelve professionals were chosen for this study, and the response rate was 49 percent (55 respondents). The sample of the questionnaire survey consists of the academic experts and construction engineers and architects, BIM software designers, and construction organizations in Malaysia. The data collected through the respondents are analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS Version 22). The results revealed that most of the respondents (47.3%) have a low level of awareness about BIM, and the majority of the respondents (29.1%) do not use BIM in their projects. Based on the investigation, the adoption of BIM residential buildings is timely. The most common obstacles to the BIM adoption for residential retrofit are the lack of customer demand, high initial investments, and lack of standards. In conclusion, this research provides information about the feasibility of BIM adoption for retrofitting the existing residential building. It is expected that this knowledge could be useful for BIM development and tackle barriers regarding BIM adoption in the Malaysia construction sector.

Abstract. Sustainability is one of the main scientific and public topics of today. This includes the sustainable transport and infrastructure. One of the ways how to achieve higher level of sustainability is through the implementation of BIM (Building Information Modelling) into the road design process. However, to create a safe road network, which is also necessary for achievable sustainability, it is essential to consider the Road Safety Audit (RSA) principles throughout the BIM applications. The paper discusses the possibilities of involving the RSA in the process road design in I-BIM (Infrastructures Building Information Modelling). Within the individual phases of the preparation of a transport project and the application of the safety audit tools in BIM applications, it is possible to achieve a significant increase in the level of safety. This approach is shown within the paper on the implementation and use of supplementary road safety devices, specifically the road restraint systems. Currently, the individual components are defined by their main parameters in specific libraries. However, their definition is only as a general object where many of the supplementary parameters or fundamental design characteristics, such as working width or minimal length, are not included. This may lead to potential design flaws or safety hazards which have to be subsequently corrected in further phases. The objective of the paper is to identify the current deficiencies, primarily the missing road safety perspective within the BIM process. The aim is to enable appropriate selection of safety equipment during the design or to provide sufficient information for the mandatory RSA.

This paper examines the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in construction industry. Various initiatives and approaches are used in different countries to promote the BIM implementation in their construction industries. The real implementation and use of BIM remains a major concern of the construction industry. This study investigates the implantation of BIM globally, in developed countries and the percentage of implementation of BIM in constriction industry of Sindh, Pakistan. This research demonstrates 131 responses from BIM users regarding BIM implementation whose collaboration aspects produce the highest positive impact. The adopted methodology is an online questionnaire survey and literature review which was conducted to find out the implementation of BIM in construction industries of developed countries. This research reveals that BIM implementation is increasing continuously over the past few years. A Number of developed countries are emerging successful BIM implementation strategies, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France are generally leading the way. However, according to our study findings, only 11% of industries have implemented BIM in Sindh, Pakistan.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been increasingly integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions to automate building construction processes. However, the methods for effectively transforming data from BIM formats, such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), into formats suitable for AI applications still need to be explored. This paper conducts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following the PRISMA guidelines to analyse current data preparation approaches in BIM applications. The goal is to identify the most suitable methods for AI integration by reviewing current data preparation practices in BIM applications. The review included a total of 93 articles from SCOPUS and WoS. The results include eight common data types, two data management frameworks, and four primary data conversion methods. Further analysis identified three barriers: first, the IFC format’s lack of support for time-series data; second, limitations in extracting geometric information from BIM models; and third, the absence of established toolchains to convert IFC files into usable formats. Based on the evidence, the data readiness is at an intermediate level. This research may serve as a guideline for future studies to address the limitations in data preparation within BIM for AI integration.

Building Information Model (BIM) was initially proposed by Autodesk in 2002. Currently, BIM has been widely recognized in the industry worldwide, baced on its great value. The concept of BIM has been gradually well-known in construction industry in China, and it’s a good prospect for development and application of BIM. But its application and promotion is still in start-up phase in China. It should be actively promoted in whole society. It was suggested in the paper: application and promotion of BIM technology should be implemented step by step, and precursed to apply in construction phase, ultimately achieved overall industrial application. This paper analyzed characteristics and advantages of application and promotion of BIM technology in construction phase, and discussed implementation sschemes and steps. Finally, it proposed BIM should be grandly guided to achieve comprehensive application in project’s whole-life.