KNOWLEDGE DISSEMINATION TRAJECTORY OF BIM IN CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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 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.