Building Information Modelling Capabilities Research Articles

BIM to BREEAM: A workflow for automated daylighting assessment of existing buildings

By conducting an assessment of the existing building stock from the perspective of the Green Building Certification System (GBCS), it is possible to contribute to the improvement of energy utilization and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as promoted through the Renovation Wave strategy by the European Union. These aspirations will simultaneously contribute to enhancing human well-being, indoor environmental quality, and comfort. This paper describes a novel methodology for enhancing the renovation of existing buildings at the design stage using automation within the Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment. By parameterizing the requirements of GBCS using a visual programming tool, real-time insight into the number of achieved certain issue credits in the certification process is enabled. It was also created to enable designers in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) sector to continuously monitor the development of design and make modifications as early as possible in the design process. Thus, cost overruns in design projects, as well as later renovations and building maintenance, are prevented. This research has utilized the capability of BIM to perform rapid compliance simulations with Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) requirements without the need for manual calculations and/or computer simulations in other software, which would increase the time required for analysis due to additional modeling requirements. The methodology is demonstrated using the automation of the Daylighting section of the issue Hea01 Visual Comfort from the Technical Manual SD225 1.4 − BREEAM International Non-Domestic Refurbishment 2015, and the validation was performed on a BIM model of an existing building belonging to the educational sector. The application of the described methodology in the case study reduced the time required for assessing the number of achieved daylighting credits by 40%, with potential savings extending up to 80% depending on the chosen criteria for analysis. The tool is designed to be applicable to other GBCS, building types, and newly designed buildings as well.

Using Building Information Modeling to Enhance Supply Chain Resilience in Prefabricated Buildings: A Conceptual Framework

Prefabricated buildings usually involve various project participants and complicated processes of design, manufacturing, transport, assembly, and construction, which means they constantly face supply chain disruptions. As a tool to realize information integration and facilitate communication among project participants in the supply chain, building information modeling (BIM) is widely recognized as an important technology to foster supply chain resilience. However, it is unclear how BIM can facilitate supply chain resilience in prefabricated buildings. This study aims to construct a conceptual framework to better understand the influencing paths of BIM on supply chain resilience in the context of prefabricated buildings. It employs an integrative review method to identify key factors influencing the resilience of the prefabricated building supply chain and explore the effects of BIM on these factors. The role of BIM in linking these factors was verified through an empirical case. The results show that BIM resources and capabilities can enhance supply chain resilience by influencing participant factors (assembly construction capability, design capability) and partnership factors (information sharing, cooperation, coordination, and trust). This study incorporates supply chain resilience and BIM technology into a conceptual framework in the context of prefabricated buildings, providing new theoretical insights for future supply chain management.

Adopting BIM to Enhance Sustainability. The Saudi Arabia Construction Projects case study

Building information modelling (BIM) has become an efficient tool to contribute more effectively to achieving sustainability development goals. BIM utilities have progressively revealed efficient environments to share data amongst stakeholders. The present paper aims to evaluate levels of awareness around BIM capabilities amongst engineers and project managers, focusing on the Saudi Arabia construction industry. The study targeted individuals registered with the Saudi Council of Engineers until the year 2020, who were invited to engage with a questionnaire survey. The study targeted individuals registered with the Saudi Council of Engineers, who were invited to engage with a questionnaire survey. A sample of 940 participants was taken by the survey out of a total population of the study of 55776 engineers whose responses materialised in a robust statistical analysis. According to the survey, 61% (circa 572) have developed awareness of BIM, whereas 39% (368) confirmed that they had never heard of it. A descriptive Statistics framework with the aid of SPSS has been developed to complete the statistical study. Analyses of data indicated that the benefit of using BIM is significant in the broad sustainability realm, Life Cycle Cost (LCC), operations and maintenance, efficient use of energy, daylight analysis, thermal design, and transparency in cost.

Optimized decision support for BIM maturity assessment

Building information modeling (BIM) maturity models occupy a crucial role in guiding BIM-reliant stakeholders and enterprises to identify BIM capabilities and facilitate process improvements. Nevertheless, few quantitative BIM maturity models are available for the measurement and improvement of BIM utilization performance. This study designs a refined assessment system for the maturity measurement of BIM-based projects during the design and construction stages. The advocated BIM maturity model combines a probability distribution function aggregation paradigm and a large-scale group decision-making framework to provide an expert-based assessment system for evaluating project-based BIM performance. The case study of the Corning Gen 10.5 glass substrate production line workshop in Wuhan demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed model. This paper establishes a generalizable structural framework that can potentially facilitate BIM maturity analysis in a portfolio of projects or the industry as a whole and will generate fresh insight into designing quantitative BIM maturity models across various contexts.

BIM–GIS Integrated Utilization in Urban Disaster Management: The Contributions, Challenges, and Future Directions

In the 21st Century, disasters have severe negative impacts on cities worldwide. Given the significant casualties and property damage caused by disasters, it is necessary for disaster management organizations and the public to enhance urban disaster management. As an effective method, BIM (Building Information Modeling)–GIS (Geographic Information System) integration can significantly improve urban disaster management. Despite the significance of BIM–GIS integration, there is rarely the adoption of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management, which significantly hinders the development of the quality and efficiency of urban disaster management. To enhance urban disaster management and reduce the negative impact caused by disasters, this study is developed to perform a systematic review of the utilization of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management. Through the systematic review, the capabilities of BIM–GIS integration in disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery are reviewed and analyzed. Moreover, the data acquisition approaches, interoperability, data utilization and analysis methods, and future directions of BIM–GIS integrated utilization in the disaster management process are also discussed and analyzed. Through this study, the public and urban disaster managers can effectively familiarize themselves with and utilize the capabilities of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management, thereby improving the urban disaster management efficiency and the survival rate of disaster victims worldwide. For BIM and GIS software developers, this study can support them to familiarize themselves with the methods and trends of BIM–GIS integrated utilization in urban disaster management and thus optimize the development of software for BIM and GIS.

An interactive design change methodology using a BIM-based Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Changes in design and construction constitute variations from the original design prepared by a design team and are inevitable. Despite the fact that rework has been identified as having adverse effects on performance, there have been limited studies on how to mitigate rework in design changes. Despite improving change management, Building Information Modeling (BIM) is insufficient in mitigating rework. However, the convergence of the capabilities of BIM, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR) are integrated solutions to reduce the impact of rework in design change. In this research, we improve the requirements for reworking design changes, which include redesign, information flow, and delivery for users with no experience with BIM. For interactive design change with BIM in VR and AR, the proposed methodology integrates BIM, as-built data from web sources, and VR and AR functions using game engines and programming. In VR and AR, BIM objects are used to create multiple variants that are matched with BIM databases that provide options for design changes. The interactive design change platform is validated in a VR and AR environment and presented multiple design change options for wall elements based on a set required change factor of a building project. This paper highlights the need for a change platform that reduces the rework of design changes in BIM through VR and AR in three main areas redesign, maintaining the flow of information and delivery of solutions for design changes. The VR and AR proposed solution to design change improves rework collaboration and communication among stakeholders of a building project.

BIM-Based Timber Formwork Design and Modeling

Building information modeling (BIM) is one of the most promising new technological developments that can be used to facilitate design and construction automation. Prior BIM research has primarily focused on permanent building components; temporary structures such as scaffolding and concrete formwork have received little attention. The design and planning of concrete formwork systems, however, would substantially benefit from the capabilities of BIM. Formwork design is repetitive and can be very time-consuming due to the need to analyze multiple parameters of individual permanent components, the latest formwork design guidelines, methods, and procedures, and the available materials. In this study, a BIM-based tool is developed and proposed to assist designers and builders in planning, designing, and generating concrete formwork design models for planning purposes. By integrating the design procedures recommended by the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the streamlining tool automates the design and modeling process for timber concrete formwork through an application programming interface (API) in Revit. The workability of the proposed tool was demonstrated through a case study. The study also employed the survey method to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed tool and its potential for improving worker safety and health from the perspectives of formwork professionals. Using the tool, form designers and planners will be able to determine the most applicable formwork design based on the permanent facility structure along with the availability of construction materials, site conditions present, and worker safety and health considerations. The study also provides contractors with a new tool for planning concrete operations and expands the scope of BIM design.

BIM-CAREM: Assessing the BIM capabilities of design, construction and facilities management processes in the construction industry

BIM adoption has accelerated worldwide since it is an important enabling technology for digitalisation in the construction industry. Adopting BIM requires transforming the traditional building life cycle stages (planning, design, construction and facilities management) into BIM-integrated project deliveries. Assessing the BIM capabilities of these stages helps organisations to identify gaps in their BIM uses and improve them. There is a lack of a comprehensive model in the literature for assessing the BIM capabilities of individual building life cycle stages and their processes. Existing assessment models focus on assessing the BIM maturity of construction projects and organisations which do not inform the required BIM improvements for individual stages and their processes. Hence, we iteratively developed the Building Information Modelling (BIM) Capability Assessment REference Model (BIM-CAREM) and demonstrated its usability through multiple explanatory case studies performed with two international design and engineering companies and two general contractors in Turkey. We assessed the BIM capabilities of design, construction and facility management processes of various buildings i.e. residential, stadiums, hospitals and airports. The results showed that the BIM capability levels of design, construction and facility management processes vary within and across the companies.

Underlying Factors and Strategies for Organizational BIM Capabilities: The Case of Iran

Building information modeling (BIM) has a significant role in the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation (AECO) industries. Most BIM benefits have not been grasped due to the lack of organizational BIM capabilities (OBIMCs). Accordingly, organizations must develop intuitive strategies to support BIM implementation and to fulfill the promised benefits. This study investigates the impact of different capability factors on OBIMC and the underlying strategies to improve OBIMC in Iran. Particularly, this study builds a structural equation model to explain the links between the capability factors and strategies linked to OBIMC in Iran. A systematic literature review of twenty-six papers and semi-structured interviews with fifteen BIM specialists identified nineteen capability factors and fourteen strategies. A survey of 126 BIM professionals was used to assess the importance of the capability factors and strategies. To analyze the collected data, first, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed. Then, Partial Least-Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed. The EFA generated two constructs for the capability factors: OBIMC and organizational capabilities (OCA). Furthermore, it categorized the strategies into two constructs: BIM capability requirement (BIMCR) and organizational culture (OCU). The structural equation model demonstrates that BIMCR and OCU enhance OCA and OBIMC. These two elements are also positively impacted by BIMCR. Industry professionals and policymakers can use these findings to develop strategic plans and to prioritize efforts. The significant contribution of this study is to illuminate the interrelationship between capability factors and strategies related to OBIMC in Iran.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) Capabilities in the Design and Planning of Rural Settlements in China: A Systematic Review

With rural revitalization being established as the national policy in China, the environmental quality and residential comfort of rural settlements has received widespread attention from the whole society in China. However, due to the over-exploitation of resources and the uneven development between urban and rural in China, the environmental conditions and residential experience in rural settlements in China are still relatively backward. To prompt the environmental quality and residential comfort of rural settlements in China, it is necessary to optimize the planning and design of rural settlements in China. As a multi-function method, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can significantly contribute to the planning and design of rural settlements in China. To optimize the environmental quality and residential experience in rural settlements in China, this study is developed to perform a systematic literature review of the BIM capabilities in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China. To achieve this aim, the PRISMA protocol was used to perform this systematic review. The review and discussion of this study were conducted between June 2022 and September 2022. In this study, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as the main databases, and 189 articles were reviewed. Through this systematic review, it can be identified that BIM capabilities have significant advantages in the following aspects of the design and planning of rural settlements in China: Data storage and management; 3D modeling and visualization; Disaster prevention and environmental analysis; Cost estimation and optimization. Furthermore, through the discussion and analysis of research results, it can be concluded that BIM capabilities can perform their benefits in the rural settlements’ design and planning through their following characteristics: knowledge management, simulation, and modeling. Based on the research results, it can be identified that knowledge management capabilities in BIM can effectively provide information support and knowledge assistance throughout the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China. BIM’s simulation and modeling capabilities can simulate and demonstrate the rural environment and their internal structures in rural settlements’ design and planning phase to achieve their environmental optimization, residential comfort improvement, clash detection, disaster prevention, and expenditure reduction. Moreover, the challenge and future directions of BIM capabilities in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China are discussed and analyzed. This study can effectively promote and optimize the BIM utilization in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China, to better enhance their environmental quality and residential experience.

8D BIM Model in Urban Rehabilitation Projects: Enhanced Occupational Safety for Temporary Construction Works

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a relevant booster to the modernization of construction. The adoption of digital technologies positively contributes to more agile and integrated processes in all phases of the building life-cycle, namely with regard to project management activities. The implementation of BIM has been predominant in new building projects, but the current market cycle of the rehabilitation or refurbishing of existing buildings offers new opportunities of application to be explored. This paper explores such opportunities, namely with regard to the temporary construction works involved in urban rehabilitation projects with the preservation of the façades of the original buildings. It specifically addresses the impacts of the modeling efforts of steel frames and structures needed to temporarily support façades, after the demolition of the old buildings, and until the original façade is reintegrated into the structural elements of the new building. In a BIM context, an 8D model is created to explore BIM capabilities in enabling more efficient occupation safety and health coordination and management activities in building rehabilitation projects, namely in improving and validating the demolitions and construction methods and sequencing, the scheduling of construction works, and the mandatory occupational risk prevention documents for the construction site. The development of the research was supported on the use of the available BIM software: Revit, to model the façade and the temporary steel structural system; Microsoft Project, to schedule the construction works; Navisworks, to perform clash detection analyses and enable visual simulations for occupational risk, and its identification and mitigation. The study intends to contribute to the dissemination of BIM capabilities to improve occupation safety and health in construction, namely in rehabilitation projects involving temporary structures while contributing with innovative perspectives toward higher maturity in BIM implementation and use in the construction sector.

A FRAMEWORK TO INTEGRATE BIM WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING-BASED PROPERTY VALUATION METHODS

Abstract. Property valuation is of extreme importance since variations in the real estate market enormously influence people’s life. The main goal of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs) is to calculate the market value of a large number of properties with an acceptable accuracy. The Hedonic Price Model (HPM) is the most widely used AVM for the valuation purposes. Despite its simplicity, ease of use and straightforwardness, HPM lacks the capability to address the non-linear relationships between different value-related factors. Hence, researchers have developed other state-of-the-art property valuation methods based on the advancements in computer science including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), computer vision and deep learning. Design, development, and validation of such advanced AVMs require establishment of a database including data on the different influential factors. Two types of factors are used in the literature, including textual and visual features. Reliable data sources are required for the implementation of AVMs since the accuracy of the provided valuations is definitely linked to the reliability of the used real estate databases. Building Information Modelling (BIM) provides precise information on different components of properties. Although some scholars have tried to use BIM for property valuation, BIM benefits in different valuation procedures have not been fully investigated. Hence, this paper provides a framework that consider BIM capabilities to be integrated with different stages and processes in property valuation, especially in relation to advanced AVMs based on AI and ML.

BIM Capabilities towards Better Safety Climate in the Malaysian Construction Industry

The Malaysian construction industry are dealing with numerous cases of permanent injuries and death of workers in construction sites. This has caused lack of productivity and also losses of human resources. The urging working condition aiming for on time completion has led to unsafe working behaviour due to the top management pressure. This is where Building Information Modelling (BIM) came into view to increase the safety on site environment and through design phase by using technology to overcome human inconsistency behaviour. However, the lack of BIM implementation in Malaysia also causes even lesser implementation of BIM in safety of construction. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the BIM capabilities towards better safety climate in the Malaysian construction industry. A qualitative approach was used through semi-structured interviews and discussion with selected representatives from both private and government sectors. All the interviewed data were then analysed using content analysis technique which correlated the findings with the literature review to support the findings. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that (1) Visualisation for Safety, and (2) Simulation for Safety are the most potential BIM capabilities to be implemented in the construction industry for improving safety climate by using BIM technology. Significantly, the study provides insights towards outlining potential BIM capabilities on policy or Safety Rules and Procedure implementation by the government authority or organizations’ top management.

Creation of a Mock-up Bridge Digital Twin by Fusing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Data into Bridge Information Model (BrIM)

Passage of overweighted commercial vehicles is one of the significant causes of damage to the pavement and structural components of bridges. Weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems can currently detect real-time traffic data; however, these data are stored in standalone databases. Building information modeling (BIM) has transformed the construction industry by injecting “information” into the building model and integrating different databases. BIM capabilities for bilateral exchange of data led to the inception of digital twin. This research investigates the feasibility of developing a digital twin of a mock-up bridge by integrating WIM data into a bridge information model (BrIM). The system was validated by first creating a mock-up bridge with affixed weight sensors attached to microcomputers and then developing a BrIM model and passing scaled vehicles over in real time with varying weight capacities. This study showed the feasibility of creating digital twins, ultimately enabling future research.

Green Building Construction: A Systematic Review of BIM Utilization

As a multi-function method, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can assist construction organizations in improving their project’s quality, optimize collaboration efficiency, and reduce construction periods and expenditure. Given the distinguished contributions of BIM utilization, there is a trend that BIM has significant potential to be utilized in the construction phase of green buildings. Compared with traditional buildings, green buildings have more stringent requirements, including environmental protection, saving energy, and residents’ comfort. Although BIM is deemed an effective method to achieve the abovementioned requirements in the construction process of green buildings, there are few systematic reviews that explore the capabilities of BIM in the construction phase of green buildings. This has hindered the utilization of BIM in the construction of green buildings. To bridge this research gap and review the latest BIM capabilities, this study was developed to perform a systematic review of the BIM capabilities in the construction phase of green buildings. In this systematic review, the PRISMA protocol has been used as the primary procedure for article screening and review. The entire systematic review was performed from January 2022 to April 2022. In this process, 165 articles were included, reviewed, and discussed. Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as the databases. Through this systematic review, it can be identified that BIM capabilities have significant advantages in project quality improvement, lifecycle data storage and management, collaboration optimization, planning, and schedule management optimization in the construction phase of green buildings. Through the discussion, it can be concluded that BIM utilization can be adopted from the pre-construction phase to the post-construction stage in the green building construction process. Besides these, the barriers to BIM utilization in the green building construction phase are also revealed in the discussion section, including the non-uniform data format, insufficient interactivity, ambiguous ownership, insufficient BIM training, and hesitation toward BIM adoption. Moreover, the challenges and future directions of BIM utilization in green building construction are identified. The findings of this study can facilitate construction personnel to be acquainted with BIM capabilities in the construction of green buildings to promote the utilization and optimization of BIM capabilities in the green building construction process.

Key Assessment Criteria for Organizational BIM Capabilities: A Cross-Regional Study

Building information modeling (BIM) is an emerging process for managing the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a facility. While BIM has developed in diverse aspects, the lack of organizational BIM capabilities remains a barrier to its implementation across the global architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Accordingly, AEC organizations need to understand their organizational BIM capabilities and those of other organizations to realize the benefits of implementing BIM. This study examines the key criteria for assessing organizational BIM capabilities across two countries—Malaysia and Iran. For this purpose, the study compares the assessment criteria for BIM capabilities among the two countries based on the following elements: (1) criticality of the criteria; (2) degree of centrality of the criteria; and (3) underlying groups of the criteria. A systematic literature review of 26 articles and semi-structured interviews with BIM professionals provided nineteen criteria. A total of 121 and 126 BIM professionals evaluated the criticality of the criteria through a survey in Malaysia and Iran. The collected data were analyzed using the contextual disparities test (Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test, and rank agreement factor), network analysis, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The leading key criteria in both countries are “the company has the necessary infrastructure to implement BIM”, “the company has a good attitude towards new technology”, and “the company understands its expertise”. However, the subsequent key criteria differ between countries. Furthermore, while the level of agreement on the ranking of the criteria is at a neutral level, the Mann–Whitney U test indicates that the level of criticality significantly differs between countries for most criteria. There are also changes in the level of criticality of the criteria between countries. Finally, criteria with a high degree of centrality differ between countries. On the contrary, although the criteria slightly differ between countries, the overarching groups of the criteria are similar (i.e., the criteria are related to organizational BIM capabilities and organizational capabilities). Understanding these criteria can help researchers and industry practitioners develop the optimal tool for assessing organizational BIM capabilities for the local industry.

Building Information Modelling Industry Centre of Excellence (BIM ICoE) for Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA (KKTM), Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a recent digital technology replacing traditional methods that assist the revolution of the construction industry into a digitised model full of information and an integrated computerised framework. The lack of BIM tertiary education and training in Malaysia leads to the need in developing BIM syllabus and training module for the establishment of BIM education knowledge and capabilities. Therefore, the BIM Industry Centre of Excellence (ICoE) for Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) (KKTM) places an endeavour to be established as the first BIM in Pasir Mas Kelantan. The aim of this paper is to examine the critical success factors (CSFs) of the development and implementation of the BIM ICoE for KKTM. This review paper employed scoping from the other researchers of BIM to the ICoE. The result reveals that the industry must introduce the BIM as soon as possible to encourage rapid improvement in the BIM adoption. Besides that, this BIM ICoE will be beneficial to industry players by enhancing more collaborations with MARA, which is eventually supporting the MARA Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) strategic planning.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) Capabilities in the Operation and Maintenance Phase of Green Buildings: A Systematic Review

In recent years, green buildings have gradually become a worldwide trend. Compared with traditional buildings, green buildings have advanced requirements and standards in their operation and maintenance phase. In such a context, some studies proposed that building information modeling (BIM) is an effective method to improve green buildings’ operation and maintenance quality. The aim of this study is to perform a comprehensive review of the BIM capabilities in the operation and maintenance phase of green buildings through a systematic literature review. To achieve this aim, the PRISMA protocol was used to perform this systematic review. The whole systematic review was conducted between January 2022 and April 2022: 128 articles were included. In the process of study, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as bibliographic repositories. Through this study, it can be determined that BIM capabilities can be utilized in the facility management of the green building in the following aspects: safety and emergency management, maintenance and repair, energy management, security, retrofit and renovation, space management, and asset management. Secondly, these BIM capabilities were discussed, and the challenges and shortcomings of BIM capabilities in the operation and maintenance phase of green buildings were reviewed. Finally, a comprehensive overview of BIM capabilities in the facility management of green buildings was developed, and suggestions for future study were provided.

Understanding the Effect of BIM Capability Imbalance on Opportunistic Behavior: The Case of the Chinese Construction Market

Although building information modeling (BIM) is believed to have the potential to curb opportunistic behavior, opportunism is observed in some BIM-enabled projects surprisingly often. One possible reason is that, in current practice, the BIM capabilities of project participants are often imbalanced. This study proposes a theoretical framework to understand the impact of BIM capability imbalance on opportunistic behavior and to identify the boundary conditions. Two influential factors, BIM application scope and trust, are considered as moderators. Based on data collected from 296 responses to an electronic questionnaire survey sent to construction companies in China, the effect of BIM capability imbalance on opportunistic behavior was examined from the perspective of the Chinese construction market, and the moderating roles of BIM application scope and trust were explored. The survey results revealed that (1) BIM capability imbalance is positively related to opportunistic behavior (both strong-form and weak-form); (2) BIM application scope can enhance the positive effect of BIM capability imbalance on opportunistic behavior (both strong-form and weak-form); and (3) trust weakens the positive effect of BIM capability imbalance on opportunistic behavior (both strong-form and weak-form). This research contributes to the existing literature on the application of BIM by investigating the effects of BIM capability imbalance on opportunistic behavior and its boundary conditions, which helps to provide a better understanding of the opportunistic risk brought by BIM. This study also enriches the existing literature of information technology application and governance, as it provides empirical evidence in a construction project context for the moderating role of technology application scope and trust. Moreover, this research offers managerial suggestions for parties involved in BIM-enabled construction projects to better govern such projects by choosing partners with balanced BIM capability, determining an appropriate scope for BIM application, and implementing trust mechanisms.

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS BASED ON BIM ROLES AND BIM LEVELS USING MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES

Abstract. Application of Building Information Modelling (BIM) within the AEC industry has been evolving. With new developments and increasing capabilities, BIM is reshaping the design, construction, and operation, and maintenance processes and revolutionizing the entire functions of building life cycles. To maximize BIM benefits and take advantage of its capabilities, it is imperative that project stakeholders define specific roles and responsibilities within projects; to employ professionals with high levels of BIM proficiency, expertise, and knowledge. This study aims to classify the construction firms into different clusters based on their BIM capabilities, implementation, BIM levels, and type of BIM roles they employ for construction projects. It will further predict and classify BIM levels at company level according to its usage. The methodology was based on a survey design which consisted of application an online questionnaire that was distributed to AEC professionals in the industry. 61 suitable responses were analysed, using different supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms, including Cluster Analysis, K-Nearest Neighbours algorithm (k-NN), Random Forest, and Gradient Boosting. The findings showed most firms were not applying BIM on their projects and the majority of those that did were not utilizing it in its full potential. Firms were further classified in terms of BIM levels and types of BIM applications they utilize on construction projects. The results showed that Random Forest had the highest performance and the most accuracy, comparing with KNN and Gradient Boosting, even though the performance and predictions results produced by all models were in proximity of one another.