A Proposal for Implementing Building Information Modeling (BIM) to Manage the Prerequisite Activities in Construction Projects

Abstract

The common practice of construction planning may not formulate the schedule at the appropriate level of detail. Some prerequisite activities such as material supply, plant installation, and document preparation are unorganized. Failure in managing prerequisite activities may increase the risk of delay. Thus, an improvement of the current scheduling practice is substantial which can be performed by adopting technologies. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an innovative concept that allows us to integrate the schedule and the building element with the ability to control the information systematically. Considering the implementation of BIM is still limited, this paper aims to investigate the potential of BIM to improve the project schedule by detailing the prerequisite activities. The study is started by an extensive literature review to define the status of the current studies and the research gaps. The state of BIM implementation as a tool to improve the project schedule is examined. Lastly, the potential merge between BIM and the utilization of the prerequisites activities is elaborated. The proposal is an initial step to develop a BIM-based system which can automatically assign the prerequisite activities to every building element. It enhances the scheduling practices and minimizes the risk of delay.