Construction Management Supported by BIM and a Business Intelligence Tool

Abstract

The construction sector generates large amounts of heterogeneous and dynamic data characterized by their fragmentation throughout the life cycle of a project. Immediate and accurate access to that data is fundamental to the management, decision-making and analysis by construction owners, supervisors, managers, and technicians involved in the different phases of the project life cycle. However, since construction project data are diverse, dispersed, uncorrelated, and difficult to visualize, a reliable basis for decision-making can rarely be established by the management team. Aiming to bridge this gap, a methodology for data management during building construction by means of Data with BIM and Business Intelligence (BI) analysis tools was developed in this study. This methodology works by extracting data from 3D parametric model and integrating it with a BI tool, through which data are visualized and interrelated with the same database, the BIM model. To demonstrate the applicability of the methodology, a study case was carried out. It was shown that this methodology provides a collaborative platform for accurate data analysis to the construction management and supervision teams, allowing project stakeholders to access and update data in real-time, in permanent linkage with the BIM model. Additionally, improving the reliability of the decision-making process and ensuring project deliverability, the developed methodology contributes to a more sustainable management process by decreasing errors and resource consumption, including energy. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to present a methodology for data analysis with BIM models integrated with BI for sustainable construction management.