BIM's Impact on the Success Measures of Construction Projects

Abstract

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is described by many as a solution to a number of inefficiencies in the construction industry. BIM is considered a new IT tool that implements new processes based collaboration between stakeholders. However, BIM’s adoption has been slow due to the ambiguity surrounding its definition, purpose and business value. A survey of 202 Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals was administered to gain an understanding of the prevalent definition of BIM and to identify BIM’s perceived impact on the success measures of construction projects. Overall, the survey results showed that BIM was most frequently perceived of as a tool for visualizing and coordinating AEC work and avoiding errors and omissions and improving the productivity, schedule, safety, cost and quality of construction projects. The results of chi-square tests showed that the combination of an individual’s professional affiliation (defined by the survey group) and specific aspects of the individual’s age, education and organizational role had a statistically significant relationship. Additional chi-square test showed that the perception of BIM’s impact on one success measure (i.e. productivity, schedule, safety, cost or quality) was significantly associated with the perceptions of the other success measures. In particular, BIM was found to have the strongest perceived positive impact on the quality, cost and schedule of construction projects. The study’s findings assist in clarifying the ambiguity surrounding BIM and identifying the mutual benefits from adopting BIM. This in turn supports the required stakeholder collaboration essential for BIM’s long-term success.