Making Sense of Multi-Actor Social Collaboration in Building Information Modelling Level 2 Projects: A Case in Malaysia

Raja Nor Husna Raja Mohd Noor,Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim,Sheila Belayutham

doi:10.5130/ajceb.v21i4.7829

Raja Nor Husna Raja Mohd Noor, Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5130/ajceb.v21i4.7829

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Abstract

Despite the diversity of thinking among the scholars on building information modelling (BIM) collaboration, there is a paucity of studies that capture the dimension of social collaboration in BIM projects. This study attempts to develop a comprehensive understanding on the key attributes of multi-actor social collaboration in BIM projects through the experience of practitioners in BIM-Level 2 construction project. The success of multi-actor social collaboration has been investigated through structured interviews with 22 BIM practitioners in a BIM-Level 2 project based on an established theoretical framework of social collaboration. The findings indicted that relationship-oriented attributes; relational contracts BIM execution plan; guideline, standard and work process manual approaches; employer information requirement (EIR); understanding roles and leadership; commitment from top management; resources; training, team building workshop and awareness program; coordination; and understanding on the theoretical knowledge of BIM are of importance towards multi-actor social BIM collaboration. This study acknowledges that the success of multi-actor social collaboration was influenced by the consolidation of many attributes, and it extends the dominant relationship between related attributes for multi-actor social collaboration based on the "best practice approach", which includes dominant-centric attributes (i.e., behaviour formation, procurement model and support principles). This research contributes to the body of BIM knowledge in the construction domain by focusing on what it takes to achieve greater social collaboration in BIM Level 2 projects.

Highlights

In recent decades, most studies have found that the construction industry underperforms (Hossain and Nadeem, 2019), putting additional pressure on the industry to improve project delivery efficiency (Elmualim and Gilder, 2014)
This study provides an overview of the key attributes (KAs) influencing multi-actor social collaboration in building information modelling (BIM) projects from the perspective of Malaysian practitioners
This study assessed the importance of the KAs in nurturing the social collaboration practise based on the systematic literature review (SLR), questionnaire survey, and in-depth interview with established of 22 BIM experts of BIM-Level 2 projects

Summary

Introduction

Most studies have found that the construction industry underperforms (Hossain and Nadeem, 2019), putting additional pressure on the industry to improve project delivery efficiency (Elmualim and Gilder, 2014). The fragmentation process, adversarial culture, complexity of the decentralized for coordination and interoperability, ineffective communication and planning are some of the major factors that have contributed to the declining efficiency in project delivery (Alreshidi, Mourshed and Rezgui 2017). The aforementioned issues further hinder the effective collaboration (Merschbrock et al, 2018), resulting in multidisciplinary actors being unable to collaborate effectively to deliver projects (Blay, Tuuli, and FranceMensah, 2019). To address existing issues and concerns surrounding the social collaborative practice, Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been introduced as a predominantly capitalised technology that can facilitate more positive cooperative and collaborative behaviour among BIM actors in multidisciplinary teams (Merschbrock et al, 2018; Babalola et al, 2021)

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