BIM Adoption Research Articles

Exploring the environmental influence on BIM adoption for refurbishment project using structural equation modelling

ABSTRACTBuilding information modelling is perceived as a remarkable innovation in the built environment sector with a handful of expectations towards refurbishment of existing buildings. Despite the motivations and acceptance of BIM within Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), this promise seems to be hampered by less consideration of environmental factors which might also impact BIM adoption for refurbishment projects. The aim of this study is to empirically examine the potential environmental factors that influence refurbishment stakeholders’ attitude or decision to adopt BIM by conducting structural equation modelling. This study describes an empirical testing of a structural model of environmental factors that influence decisions to adopt BIM for refurbishment of complex building. The study is based on response of 105 New Zealand construction professional who have participated in refurbishment project and have BIM experience. Several factors were identified and developed, and a final path model was determined that fit the data best. Overall, we find strong support for policies predicting the attitude towards BIM adoption, including having impact on information sharing, retrofit tools, culture of organisation and client expectations. The model provides empirical insights into how environmental factors can positively or negatively impact refurbishment project stakeholders to adopt BIM in the context of New Zealand construction industry.

Adoption of building information modeling in Chinese construction industry

Purpose Building information modeling (BIM) is recognized as a major innovation in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Understanding the factors that influence the AEC’s adoption of BIM will benefit the research and practice of BIM. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This study provides empirical evidence for the accumulated knowledge of BIM adoption by examining the context of Chinese construction industry. Based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework in the innovation diffusion literature, the authors develop a research model that integrates the critical success factors related to the technology of BIM, the construction company and the environment in Chinese construction industry. The authors collected two different data sets from engineering consulting firms and construction firms in China, and conducted rigorous analyses using a sophisticated statistical approach. Findings The authors found that the relative advantage of BIM was a major factor that enabled BIM adoption, while the complexity of BIM was an inhibiter. In addition, management support was also a significant antecedent of BIM adoption. However, organizational readiness was significant for engineering consulting firms but not for construction firms. Surprisingly, the authors did not find consistent significant impacts of any environmental factors. Last, younger firms were more likely to adopt BIM. Originality/value One of the first to apply the TOE framework to integrate three groups of factors that may explain BIM adoption in China. Such a comprehensive framework provides a much broader perspective of BIM adoption to evaluate the impacts of different antecedent factors. The authors conducted an empirical study based on survey data collected from two different types of companies, i.e., engineering consulting firms and construction firms, representing the two parties in the principal-agent relationship of a construction project. One of the first to apply a sophisticated statistical approach, i.e., partial least squares, to analyze the data in the BIM literature.

Studying the Interrelationship amongst Various Barriers in Adoption of BIM in Developing Countries using ISM Methodology

Studying the Interrelationship amongst Various Barriers in Adoption of BIM in Developing Countries using ISM Methodology

Teses e dissertações brasileiras sobre BIM: uma análise do período de 2013 a 2018

Este trabalho identifica e analisa teses e dissertações disponíveis no Catálogo de teses e dissertações da CAPES que foram defendidas no Brasil entre 2013 e 2018 e tratam da Modelagem da Informação da Construção ou Building Information Modelling (BIM). Objetiva apresentar um panorama sobre os principais temas abordados nestas pesquisas, assim como identificar onde foram realizadas. Ainda, é feito um recorte sobre aqueles trabalhos que discutem questões sobre o ensino de BIM buscando contribuir com a implantação desta modelagem nos cursos relacionados com a Arquitetura, Engenharia, Construção e Operação de edificações (AECO). A Análise de Conteúdo foi o método de pesquisa qualitativa adotado para realizar tanto a seleção quanto a análise dos trabalhos. Dentre os resultados obtidos, destaca-se que: (a) já existem trabalhos sobre BIM nas diversas fases do ciclo de vida da edificação, mas a maioria deles trata da etapa de projetação; (b) 78,3% das pesquisas encontradas foram produzidas no eixo sul-sudeste do país e em instituições de ensino sediadas nas capitais e grandes cidades, indicando a necessidade de interiorização e difusão do BIM em outras regiões; (c) existe uma diversidade de temas já pesquisados relacionados com o BIM que encaminham questões sobre a modelagem e podem auxiliar na sua adoção tanto em instituições de ensino quanto no mercado de trabalho. Finalmente, este artigo contribui para adoção desta modelagem no país, na medida em que sistematiza informações já disponíveis, auxiliando tanto aqueles que buscam se capacitar quanto aqueles que promovem formações ou pretendem trabalhar com BIM.

A cyber-physical system approach for building efficiency monitoring

Abstract Digitalised models can play a key role in the management of building life-cycle. This paper focuses on the challenges connected to the operation phase of buildings, when the adoption of BIM can make information retrieval and management easier and more efficient. More specifically, a BIM-based cyber-physical system for the automated monitoring of buildings during their regular operation is proposed and tested by means of a customised simulator. The system automatically works out key performance indicators based on the overall throughput effectiveness (OTE) metric, assessing both the overall efficiency and the efficiency of every sub-system integrated in the building. Thus, assessments of the contribution of every sub-system to the operation of the building are performed in real-time. In addition, the metric proposed can help manage multi-objective real-time control. The system is self-reconfigurable thanks to the self-similarity assumption of the computational structure that is designed as a holarchy of holonic systems. The first application reported in this paper shows that when intelligence is embedded at both lower and higher levels, it is possible to generate information that is then used to update the digital model, developed as a BIM. As a result, the digital model becomes the mirror of the physical system and stores the actual performances recorded by the building to support facility managers in making decisions.

Beginning of Real Wide us of BIM Technology in Czech Republic

As in all aspects of our lives, development and innovative solutions reveal every day. Life without progressive things, such as a mobile phone or the Internet, is unimaginable for man living in our modern age. Towards the current trend called Industry 4.0., which is the trend of data exchange and automation in manufacturing technologies, people are on the brink of big changes. Current digitization in our everyday lives helps us to enhance their quality. As many other branches, AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industry also goes through the enhanced digitization process. As an effective tool following trend Industry 4.0 in AEC industry, BIM - Building Information Modelling (or Management) Technology has proven itself. Nowadays, in many not even European Countries, the BIM Technology is in different levels of using. Connected to it, BIM is on different phases of implementation into legislation these days. In some countries, using BIM Technology for new building design is compulsory for public service contracts, building infrastructures or for all building without the difference. In order to be competitive, in the Czech Republic’s Legislation, the trend is the same. But there are many barriers for BIM implementation, or the BIM adoption. Proper solutions for many key topics is necessary to find before the introduction of BIM for widespread use. Of course, finding these solutions take a lot of time, expenditures and failures to reveal the most optimal solution of implementation. The Czech Republic is one of countries which already started with processes connected to BIM implementation and adoption. At these days, country is solving many issues connected to BIM implementation. This paper is a brief presentation of them and it reveals the reasons and ways to achieve this.

The Capability and Support of Structure Capital on BIM Innovation in SME

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry has been changing over the years with the emergence of BIM. The small and medium sized enterprises are not left out of the change, bringing distortion to their business environment and process. Extant studies have revealed that Structure Capital (SC) is an integral part of the innovative capacity of firms, this study examines the capability of SC on Architectural SME firms in Nigeria. The research was designed in three stages, empirical enquiry, analysis, and synthesis. The empirical enquiry comprised of theory formulation and fieldwork data collection. The theory formulation was achieved by proposing an evaluation framework using a systematic literature review on three SC components; system structure, infrastructure and facilities, and process and scheme. The evaluation framework constituted a set of independent variables comprising thirteen indicators categorised under these three components. The evaluation framework was used to collect data from the fieldwork. It involved a questionnaire survey and case study interviews with a sample of SME architectural firms in Nigeria. The survey involved administering questionnaires to 334 firms which yielded 217 completed questionnaires. Six case study interviews were also conducted within the same period. The survey data enabled the evaluation of the framework using a multiple regression analysis. To examine the relationship between these components and the BIM Business Value Capital (BBVC), a multiple linear regression and correlation analysis was conducted to assess whether the independent variables predict the dependent variable. The result indicated that all the three components of the SC have a significant correlation with BBVC. However, some indicators were not found to be useful in predicting BBVC, which include: flexible administrative systems and knowledge management system structures. In comparison, the availability of specific office infrastructures for BIM and the availability of in-house training were found to be useful. The research concluded that the development of the SC of SME firms in the AEC industry is essential for the business process of BIM adoption. Keywords: BIM, Structure Capital (SC), SME, Architect, BBVC. DOI : 10.7176/IKM/9-2-06

Behind the scenes: Understanding the socio-technical barriers to BIM adoption through the theoretical lens of information systems research

• A meta-analysis is conducted to summarise the empirical results from 21 studies addressing the barriers to BIM adoption. • The empirical results are presented based on a socio-technical theory framework. • Theoretical foundations from IS research are provided to enhance the understanding of the barriers towards BIM adoption. • The results indicate that social barriers of BIM are the most important barriers to its widespread adoption. • Compared to the social barriers, purely technical rooted adoption barriers are rather rare and less critical.

Critical factors affecting a successful BIM integrated design solution

There are arguments, that new technologies in general, which is particularly true for BIM, are an opportunity to change the work routine. On the other hand, recent research shows that successful adoption of BIM depends on allowing the team to adapt new technologies to suit existing workflows. The struggle for power and organizational change occurs when individuals, teams and organizations progressively move through changes to the risks associated with standard procedures, the interests of intellectual property, the financial risks associated with capital investment in both hardware and software, as well as to the investments needed to train and retain technologically advanced employees. So, what should be considered primary if an organization starts implementing BIM? Are non-technical (social) factors more critical than technical or vice versa? And among those who will face all the organizations that are the most critical?

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELING (BIM) ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION: INTERACTION BETWEEN BIM USERS AND NON-BIM USERS

The research introduces the combination of Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Activity Theory to investigate the process of adoption and implementation of BIM in the construction industry in Vietnam. Data was collected from three large main contractors as they are considered as innovation leading organizations. Qualitative research was employed using semi-structured interviews to analyze respondents' perspectives of their daily BIM activities. Main informants include senior managers, BIM team members and site staff. Key findings were the factors affecting the decision of BIM adoption of senior managers (i.e., non-BIM users), the factors affecting BIM implementation of site staff (i.e., BIM users), and the contradictions emerging when senior managers mandate to use BIM, and employ a BIM team as the change agent for instruction and collaboration on the construction site.

A Review of BIM Adoption in Turkey

BIM has been initiated in developing countries in recent years. It is a fact that adopting BIM has a large cost from the initiation of the implementation of the projects. This is the main reason that, in the company perspective, BIM methodology is not well-known at the beginning of a project, during the adaptation stage. Therefore, the transition to such a new system is quite costly, especially in terms of software licenses and personnel training. On the other hand, after some period of time, BIM starts to impact the progress of the projects in a positive way, such as the project becomes more transparent and more visible, as well as more manageable and controllable. So, the main outcome is the company starts to complete projects within a shorter duration and lower cost by using BIM. At the initial stage, BIM implementation investment is quite high, however in later stages these costs become more affordable. The main issue is quantifying effects and inserting to the evaluation of the investment. In this study, we proposed an interview analysis to conclude the keypoints of BIM adoption.

Examination of the Levels of Development of Building Information Models in the Nigerian Construction Industry

BIM can be used to illustrate the entire building lifecycle, from cradle to inception, design and demolition and materials reuse; quantities and properties of materials, which can be easily extracted from the model; and the scope of works, including management of project targets and facilities management throughout the building’s life. The implementation of BIM in projects or organization is in phases and building information models can be developed as 2D, 3D, 4D, 5D and 6D BIM depending on the stage of BIM implementation and level of details required. This study examined the levels of details of building information models being generated by two hundred and eighty two construction professionals in Lagos State, Nigeria using respondents driven sampling technique. Frequency distribution and percentage, clustered bar chart, mean ranking, Kruskal Wallis test and Fisher exact test were used to analyse the data obtained from the respondents. The study found that the implementation of BIM in the study area is for visualization purpose. The findings also revealed that the levels of generating 2D and 3D BIM were very high in the study area; and that 3D architectural model, 3D architectural and structural model, and 3D architectural and building services model were the most developed variants of 3D BIM. It was concluded that that the status of BIM adoption in construction industry in Lagos State, Nigeria is at the visualization phase.Keywords: BIM details, BIM, BIM development, 4D BIM, federated BIM.

Review of BIM literature in construction industry and transportation: meta-analysis

PurposeBuilding information modeling (BIM) is a process of generating and managing building data during the building’s life cycle. To increase productivity in building design and construction, BIM uses three-dimensional (3D) real-time, dynamic building modeling software. Because of its versatile features, BIM use is on the rise and researchers are exploring its application in new disciplines. The purpose of this study is to map out how BIM is used in the construction industry, while identifying and highlighting the research gaps in the literature.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the status quo of knowledge about BIM, the authors conducted a comprehensive literature review. They applied and extended a methodology for reviewing BIM-related publications through a four-dimensional meta-analysis system and its categories, which has been partially adapted previously.FindingsMajority of studies applying BIM for the construction phase of civil engineering projects were done within universities; none used BIM for the construction of intermediate railway stations.Practical implicationsTo increase the construction efficiency of intermediate railway stations, applying the BIM concept for generation and management of station data should be considered for future research.Originality/valueFurthermore, one of the main goals of this research paper is to explore the adoption of BIM in civil engineering construction projects, in particular the construction of intermediate railway stations.

BIM adoption across the Chinese AEC industries: An extended BIM adoption model

AbstractDespite strong encouragement by government guidelines and promoting efforts by the software industry, BIM is adopted at relatively slow speeds in construction industries across the world. The study presented in this paper examines the challenges to BIM adoption faced specifically in the Chinese construction industry across architecture, engineering and construction. We review recent literature addressing BIM adoption in the international context and develop a critique of common approaches to describe processes of BIM adoption. Substantiated with the analysis of detailed survey data obtained from AEC professionals in the greater Shanghai area, we propose a new, extended model to describe and assess processes of BIM adoption. Utilising this model, we evaluate temporal and collaborative dimensions of BIM adoption, and present results from detailed survey data. We further discuss how current Chinese BIM adoption in practice diverges from overseas BIM adoption strategies and examine how the extended BIM adoption model can provide a more accurate representation of BIM adoption processes observed in practice in and beyond the context of the Chinese AEC industries.Highlights BIM adoption across the Chinese AEC industries is still uneven and over reported. Chinese AEC industries' BIM adoption differs from overseas models. An extended BIM adoption model allows charting BIM adoption along AEC workflows. BIM is adapted for linear Chinese workflows rather than collaborative work.

An evaluation of the macro-scale adoption of Building Information Modeling in Chile: 2013-2016

In recent years, there has been growing public and private interest in Chile in implementing plans promoting the use of Building Information Modeling. However, the lack of local studies hinders the creation of policies suited to the particular conditions of the country. In response, we present a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the macro-scale adoption of BIM in Chile during the 2013-2016 period, based on two national surveys conducted among architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) professionals. At first glance, the overall results coincide with other countries with similar development level, but a more detailed analysis evidences unique local conditions. There are dramatic differences in BIM expertise among AEC disciplines, which in turn leads to heterogeneous, fragmented, and non-collaborative BIM practices. Although BIM users account for more than half of respondents, they are mainly occasional users that only take advantage of the most basic capabilities of the technology. The study also shows strengths and potential opportunities for improvement. In the end, this study reveals the unique conditions of the technology adoption process in Chile, and consequently, contributes to identifying specific strengths, problems, and areas of action that should be addressed by any public or private BIM promotion plans.

Exploring the linkages between the adoption of BIM and design error reduction

Exploring the linkages between the adoption of BIM and design error reduction

Adoption of BIM in architectural design firms

ABSTRACTBIM is the trend of the future. User acceptance models of new technology have been empirically investigated in the construction industry only in a small group of studies. Three models are proposed that investigate whether the fit between BIM technology and (1) design tasks, (2) the organizational competence of the design firm, and (3) designer competence affect the performance of the design firm. The data used in the study were collected by conducting a survey of architectural design professionals employed by large design firms in the U.S. The results suggest that the fit between BIM technology and (1) design tasks, and (2) organizational competence is likely to affect project cost, time, and quality positively. The outcome of the research is expected to benefit the architectural design community by advancing their understanding of the factors that affect the acceptance of BIM technology, and their impact on a design firm's performance.

A simplified relational database schema for transformation of BIM data into a query-efficient and spatially enabled database

Abstract With the rising adoption of BIM in the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner-operator) industry, BIM content is increasingly more complete and valuable. Unfortunately, the data is largely locked inside the respective BIM authoring tool with limited facility for users to perform queries beyond simple queries on objects and their properties. Even with the use of open data exchange format such as IFC (Industry Foundation Classes), getting the data out of BIM is still not an easy task. This research focuses on defining a schema and transformation rules to bring BIM data into a form that is easily queried. The schema is defined using popular relational database structure following an established star schema model that is well-defined within the data warehouse domain. The primary aim of the concept is to allow flexible and efficient queries into the BIM data using standard SQL that removes restrictions on predefined queries, effectively transforming BIM data into an open and queryable database. Another major contribution of this research is the significant potential for supporting spatial queries. This is a critical feature often neglected in the current approach to BIM-based databases. This paper presents the integration of spatial operations into standardized SQL queries making the BIM data accessible for wide ranges of query capabilities. Such feature will allow much better visibility into BIM data for better decision-making processes.

Establishing Lessons for Ireland's BIM Policy Through a Systematic Review of International BIM Programmes

BIM usage is accelerating rapidly across the globe, driven by the major private and government owners who want to embrace the benefits of faster, more certain project outcomes. The support of central government for BIM implementation can be regarded as the key driving force leading to higher utilisation of BIM. To further understand how international governments have supported their BIM programmes, the BIM Innovation Capability Programme (BICP) research team in Ireland completed a comprehensive Global BIM Study in 2017. An explicit ingredient of this article involved conducting a comprehensive literature review of global BIM adoption initiatives, with a particular focus on successful enablers in international regions. This helped inform the publication of the Digital Transition Roadmap published by the National BIM Council (NBC) of Ireland in late 2017. This article details the findings of an examination of BIM progress in eight countries of particular interest to the NBC given their relative advancement in their BIM journey. Whilst the results showed a variation of approach, evidence suggests that this was best achieved through the establishment of a central resource funded by government to drive digital transition. This article is particularly timely as Ireland releases its own Digital Construction Transition Roadmap 2018-2021. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how Ireland's Roadmap reflects best international practice and why international knowledge sharing and collaboration will be an ongoing priority for Ireland's transition programme.

HBIM CHALLENGE AMONG THE PARADIGM OF COMPLEXITY, TOOLS AND PRESERVATION: THE BASILICA DI COLLEMAGGIO 8 YEARS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE (L’AQUILA)

Abstract. In December 2012 ENIservizi (the Italian multi-national energy agency operating in many countries), after the Earthquake that occurred in April 2009, decided to undertake the project ‘Re-start from Collemaggio’ with the aim of giving new hope to the L’Aquila community, funding around 14 million Euro to restore the Basilica di Collemaggio. The Superintendence Office carried on the restoration project with the scientific support of the Università degli Studi de L’Aquila and the Università La Sapienza di Roma, under the coordination of the Politecnico di Milano. ENIservizi, aware of the BIM potential in the complex building and infrastructure domain in the world, required an advanced HBIM from the laser scanner and photogrammetric surveying to support the diagnostic analysis, the design project, the tender and the restoration itself, today still on course. Plans and vertical sections were delivered (2012) starting from the surveying campaigns (February and June 2013), together with the first HBIM advancement from the end of 2012 in support of the preliminary-definitive-executive steps of the restoration design project (2013-14-15). Five years later, this paper tries to make a synthesis of the different lessons learnt, in addition to the positive and critical aspects relating HBIM feasibility, sustainability and usefulness to the challenging restoration work. In particular, the Collemaggio BIM experience anticipated the new Italian Public Procurement Legislation (D.Lgs 50/2016, Nuovo Codice degli Appalti pubblici) aligned with to the EUPPD 24/2014: the EU Directive on Public Procurement asked all the 28 EU countries to adopt building informative modelling by February 2016 in order to support the whole LCM (Life Cycle Management), starting from the project and the intervention, through rewarding scores or mandatory regulations. Many analyses foresees to save from around 5% to 15% of the overall investment by adopting mature BIM (Level 3 to 5), particularly 4D remotely controlled BIM in support of the LCM, as in the case of maintenance and management process. The tender for Basilica restoration was published in 2015: the process was not developed enough to introduce selective criteria based on BIM adoption by the Construction Industry due to the lack of legislation at that time and the lack of BIM skills among the companies. Nevertheless ENIservizi also separately funded aside the HBIM of the Basilica to tackle an advanced BIM able to address decision-making processes in the heritage domain among the different actors: to support operators, architects, structural engineers, economic computation, construction site management and restoration, the theoretical and practical approach adopted by the HBIM, overcame the current logic based on sequential LoD (from simplex to complex, from the preliminary to the executive design) that is typical of new constructions in favour of a complex LoD approach that could guarantee management of the richness, unicity and multiplicity of each component and the maximum degree of knowledge in order to derive the decisions from the starting phases of the project. On the lesson learnt from this experience, the process of updating the current codification criteria (UNI11337-2009) was started with a draft proposal stimulating a debate for the future of HBIM adoption.