BIM-Based Research Framework for Sustainable Building Projects: A Strategy for Mitigating BIM Implementation Barriers

Bilal Manzoor,Haşim Altan,Salem Buhashima Abdalla,Syed Shujaa Safdar Gardezi,Idris Othman

doi:10.3390/app11125397

Abstract

Although Building Information Modeling (BIM) can enhance efficiency of sustainable building projects, its adoption is still plagued with barriers. In order to incorporate BIM more efficiently, it is important to consider and mitigate these barriers. The aim of this study is to explore and develop strategies to alleviate barriers in developing countries, such as Malaysia, to broaden implementation of BIM with the aid of quantitative and qualitative approaches. To achieve this aim, a comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the barriers, and a questionnaire survey was conducted with construction projects’ stakeholders. The ranking analysis results revealed the top five critical barriers to be “unavailability of standards and guidelines”, “lack of BIM training”, “lack of expertise”, “high cost”, and “lack of research and BIM implementation”. Comparative study findings showed that “lack of research and BIM implementation” is the least important barrier in other countries like China, United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Furthermore, qualitative analysis revealed the strategies to mitigate the BIM implementation barriers to enhance sustainable goals. The final outcome of this study is the establishment of a framework incorporated with BIM implementation barriers and strategies namely, the “BIM-based research framework”, which can assist project managers and policymakers towards effective sustainable construction.

Highlights

This study found that only 13% of government and private participants use Building Information Modeling (BIM) in their organization, which is negative evidence that Malaysia remains a long way from the role it should play in implementing BIM [60]
The second phase of the study consists of collecting data from the literature review by defining the implementation barriers of the BIM and developing a questionnaire survey to be distributed among stakeholders
The ranking of BIM implementation barriers is categorized into four parts with the data analysis results using mean value: (a) overall ranking of BIM implementation barriers, (b) ranking according to contractors’ perspectives, (c) ranking according to consultants’

Summary

Introduction

Comparative study findings showed that “lack of research and BIM implementation” is the least important barrier in other countries like China, United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The final outcome of this study is the establishment of a framework incorporated with BIM implementation barriers and strategies namely, the “BIM-based research framework”, which can assist project managers and policymakers towards effective sustainable construction. It is important to use advanced digital technologies such as BIM in order to achieve the desired results effectively [4]. Since buildings are of high economic value and have a major effect on the environment and quality of life, the construction industry can be considered one of the key elements for society’s long-term growth [15].

Objectives

Methods

Results