BIM in off-site manufacturing for buildings

Abstract

The need to overcome challenges faced by construction industry has been at the core of many government reports. Most of the reports suggest the adoption of innovations including off-site manufacture and emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) to overcome the challenges facing the industry. Current research has largely focused on the impacts of off-site manufacture and BIM independently applied on traditional construction methods. Due to the factory-based nature of off-site manufacture, the benefits of BIM on off-site manufacture have been widely argued to be far greater than those of traditional construction. However, studies about impacts of BIM on off-site manufacture are scarce with far too many on traditional construction. This study investigates the implications of BIM systems on off-site manufacture and traditional construction methods, with emphasis on the technological potential of BIM for off-site manufacture. The specific objectives of the study are threefold. Firstly, it examines how BIM can support off-site manufacture. Secondly, the paper discusses the benefits of BIM and explains how BIM can overcome barriers hindering the uptake of off-site manufacturing. Thirdly, due to the importance to measure the benefits to support wider adoption, an examination of the published quantitative benefits of BIM on off-site manufacture and traditional construction is undertaken. A critical appraisal of the literature was undertaken to achieve the aim of this study. The main findings are the identification of qualitative and quantitative benefits of: BIM on off-site manufacture, off-site manufacture and BIM on traditional construction. The findings reinforce the argument that BIM adoption on off-site manufacturing projects is a rapid, efficient and one of the best ways to improve on the long standing challenges that have plagued the construction industry for generations.