Abstract
Construction industry players are now realising the need to implement Building Information Modeling (BIM) at the preconstruction planning stage to allow spatial data of the site to be incorporated into the BIM. Incorporating spatial data in BIM as early as possible in the building lifecycle poses a new challenge to industry players, particularly to the consultants who collect and provide these data. The aim of this study is to identify important factors for incorporating spatial data into the BIM at the preconstruction planning stage. Three rounds of the Delphi method were employed to obtain a consensus among twenty construction industry experts, selected through purposeful sampling. The findings revealed seven consolidated factors, with Technology, Client Demand, and Added Value as the top three, followed by Regulations, Skilled Staff, Management Commitment and Data Management. Experts were significantly in agreement with each other, as indicated by the Kendall’s W Coefficient = 0.6505 significant at < 0.005. The findings highlight the requirements for utilizing spatial data in the BIM at the preconstruction planning stage and help the respective professional bodies to identify the prerequisites for BIM application and subsequently, improve the existing training for the professional development of their members.
Highlights
The construction industry is challenged to adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) to improve its performance and to achieve sustainability in the industry (Arayici et al, 2011)
The findings highlight the requirements for utilising spatial data in BIM at the preconstruction planning stage and help the respective professional bodies to identify the prerequisites for BIM application and subsequently, improve the existing training for the professional development of their members
The Delphi method was employed for the following reasons: (a) there is a lack of studies that have identified the factors necessary for the successful integration of spatial data into BIM at the preconstruction planning stage in developing countries; (b) the required information and knowledge can be obtained from the industry experts; (c) the Delphi method allows industry experts to introduce new factors that are relevant to the study; (d) the Delphi method allows the primary purpose of our study to be examined in detail; and (e) a collective decision made by several individuals who were selected by the Delphi method is less likely to be wrong compared to a decision made by a single individual (Hasson et al, 2000, Livesey, 2016)
Summary
The construction industry is challenged to adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) to improve its performance and to achieve sustainability in the industry (Arayici et al, 2011). Examples of spatial data collected during surveying work are data on topography, terrain and site obstacles for neighbouring buildings, overhead powerlines, and underground pipelines. These data, which are absent in the current BIM models, are valuable for determining the position of a building or facility on the site, the building height, width and length, and the main building materials of the external structures (Peckiene and Ustinovičius, 2017, Ma and Ren, 2017). The integration of spatial data and BIM can help in site planning for temporary structures, which could reduce accidents on construction sites (Kumar and Cheng, 2015). The discussion far underscores the importance of incorporating spatial data into BIM at the preconstruction planning stage
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