Building Information Modeling Knowledge Research Articles

Embedding knowledge into BIM: A case study of extending BIM with firefighting plans

Building information modelling (BIM) has revolutionized production and operations management in the construction industry. Currently, however, the BIM environment can integrate only basic static information. Expert knowledge information to guide the building activity process is lacking. Consequently, with the increasing complexity of building services, BIM has difficulty adapting to the needs of rapid collaboration in the building operation process. To solve this problem, first, we present the basic knowle-dge-embedded model. The model provides services for knowledge generation and knowledge embedding. Moreover, taking BIM-based fire emergency management as an example, the formal modelling and credibility verification of knowledge are adopted to standardize the knowledge generated from experts to reduce future input errors and interpretation. Second, to provide the capability of process knowledge representation in BIM, we embedded the knowledge of the fire emergency management process into BIM by extending the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard and providing a BIM knowledge extraction algorithm using the IFC standard, thereby extracting the control strategy from BIM to achieve the reasoning of knowledge. Finally, we prototyped BIM-Fire in a real building scenario and validated the effectiveness of the method. The automatic control of knowledge-driven BIM-based activities is realized.

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

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.

Readiness of Malaysian Small and Medium Enterprises Construction Companies for Building Information Modelling Implementation

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has shown its efficiency in helping the construction industry players. The BIM helped to achieve better integration of project information and to enhance collaboration between stakeholders and the industry players from the early phase of projects until the end. Small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) have been under-represented in studies on BIM adoption. Although the technology to implement BIM is readily available and rapidly maturing, the adoption of BIM is still slow. Malaysian government support the adoption of BIM-oriented Integrated Design (ID) approaches in their national markets, however, the implementation of BIM software support systems among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia is considered inadequate. In terms of the implementation of information technology, the construction sector in Malaysia still lags behind other sectors. To have a better knowledge of BIM in SMEs, it is important to first identify the major barriers to BIM adoption in SMEs and then examine potential solutions. Hence, the main motivation of this study is to investigate the readiness of Malaysian SMEs construction companies for BIM implementation, to determine the challenges of BIM implementation, and to develop a strategy to overcome the challenges. An online questionnaire survey was conducted and as many as 115 responses were collected. A quantitative approach was used for this research. This study uses a descriptive analysis method which comprised of structured questionnaires developed from reviews of past researches. The finding of this study indicate that BIM adoption in Malaysia is still relatively low. Many actions are needed to promote BIM adoption among construction SMEs in Malaysia.

Application of Building Information Modeling toward Social Sustainability

Building Information Modeling (BIM) emerges as one of the megatrends that will modernize the Malaysian construction industry due to its vital role in collaboration, coordination and communication in real-time among construction industry stakeholders. In 2019, the government of Malaysia has mandated the use of BIM technology for public projects worths more than 100 million. However, less than half of the construction projects in Malaysia is currently using the BIM system. In order to encourage the implementation of BIM, there is an important need to educate the construction industry players with realistic information on BIM technology. Based on previous literature, disruption of BIM toward the traditional practice of construction activities can be managed through exposure and incremental of BIM knowledge. Therefore, this study explores the current awareness of construction industry players on the application of BIM toward sustainability aspects, particularly on social sustainability. A set of questionnaire survey is used to gather the required data and a total of 133 contractors have responded to the survey. The data were analyzed using the frequency distribution to indicate the highlighted application of BIM foresees by contractors that contribute to social sustainability. The finding indicates that the level of awareness is influenced by their knowledge on BIM. Therefore, providing a better understanding and wider exposure on BIM could improve the implementation of BIM in the construction projects, which align with the government agenda.

Analysis of Skills Needs for Future Architecture Graduates of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Malaysia: A Thematic Review Paper

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become an essential tool for improving construction methods in delivering projects. Yet, much BIM-related expertise is needed to achieve the performance quality of the projects. The Malaysian Construction Industry Transformation Plan (CITP) 2016–2020 under the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) highlights that the government is beginning to follow the BIM for level 2 by 2020. The move was to improve the adoption and implementation of BIM among the practitioners in the construction industry. The government initiatives have raised the importance of BIM skills and knowledge among practitioners to facilitate successful implementation of BIM-related projects. This paper reports the findings of a thematic review analysis of skills that need to be harnessed from architecture graduates in preparing them to undertake BIM-related projects. Publications from 2010–2020 were analysed by means of a thematic review. Findings from the code-to-document review using ATLAS.ti 8 identified the BIM skills needed from an employee. This paper contributes to analysing the BIM skills indicated from the published papers hence the avenue for future studies on BIM graduates' preparation prior to entering the labour market in Malaysia.

Developing an integrated framework for optimization of spatial requirements of construction equipment

PurposeThis study aims to develop a framework for optimizing the spatial requirements of the equipment in a construction site using a geographic information system (GIS).Design/methodology/approachAn ongoing construction project, an existing thermal powerplant in India, is considered to be the case study, and the corresponding construction activities were scheduled. The equipment spaces were defined for the scheduled activities in building information modelling (BIM), which was further imported to GIS to define the topology rules, validate and optimize the spatial requirements. The BIM simulates the indoor environment, which includes the actual structure being constructed, and the GIS helps in modelling the outdoor environment, which includes the existing structures, temporary facilitates, topography of the site, etc.; thus, this study incorporates the knowledge of BIM in a geospatial environment to obtain optimized equipment spaces for various activities.FindingsSpace in construction projects is to be considered as a resource as well as a constraint, which is to be modelled and planned according to the requirements. The integration of BIM and GIS for equipment space planning will enable precise identification of the errors in the equipment spaces defined and also result in fewer errors as possible. The integration has also eased the process of assigning the topology rules and validating the same, which otherwise is a tedious process.Originality/valueThe workspace for each activity will include the space of the equipment. But, in most of the previous works of workspace planning, only the labour space is considered, and the conflicts and congestions occurring due to the equipment were neglected. The planning of equipment spaces cannot be done based only on the indoor environment; it has to be carried out by considering the surroundings and topography of the site, which have not been researched extensively despite its importance.

Lack of implementing Building Information Modelling in the quantity surveying profession

Quantity surveyors possess an inherent traditionalism when it comes to Building Information Modelling (BIM), preferring to follow current trends and methods rather than taking a proactive approach towards its implementation. This implicates that there is still a lack of understanding of the potential uses and benefits that BIM software will provide the profession. Within this context, the purpose of the research was to determine the reasons why professional quantity surveyors (PrQS) are not utilising BIM to improve their day-to-day tasks and functions. To conduct the research, a qualitative study was carried out using semi-structured interviews with PrQSs from various QS firms situated in Port Elizabeth. This method of data collection allowed for a more in-depth understanding of why these professionals are not utilising BIM in Port Elizabeth. The research investigated the reasons behind these PrQSs not utilising BIM to improve current methods of managing construction costs on projects. The results revealed that there are challenges that QSs face in the construction industry in terms of their working methods. The results also identified the potential of BIM to help mitigate these challenges with interviewees mentioning several benefits that the BIM software will provide for the QS. Despite BIM’s potential in the QS profession, the results showed that there are still several barriers holding professionals back, the most prominent being the lack of senior leadership support, knowledge of BIM, a lack of full team integration and the cost of implementing BIM. The main limitation of the study was that the number of responses was limited due to the fact that very few quantity surveyors were experienced in, or, had knowledge about BIM. As degrees of regional sentiment, and industry development also had influence on participants’ answers, the findings may not be suitable or be generalised to other provinces in South Africa. The findings will assist all stakeholders in the QS profession, as they will be more informed about potential benefits and challenges to BIM implementation, which will provide them with greater knowledge of how it works and precisely what it is capable of doing.

Building Information Modelling in Indonesia: Knowledge, Implementation and Barriers

This article aims to identify the status of construction industry practitioners in Indonesia in terms of their knowledge and current practices as well as the barriers for implementing Building Information Modelling (BIM). This study utilises a questionnaire survey, aimed at the construction industry practitioners in Indonesia. The result shows that BIM is still a novelty for the construction practitioners in Indonesia. This is backed with the finding that more than 60% of the respondents was not familiar with BIM terminology or did not have proper knowledge of BIM terminology. More than 70% of the respondents' projects have implemented BIM Level 1, mostly in transportation service, energy production and distribution, roads and bridges, and the building infrastructure category. The five highest ranks of barriers to BIM implementation are lack of BIM training, lack of BIM experience and capability, no client demand, high cost in software and hardware acquisition, and inadequate information technology (IT) facilities. The recommended strategy should be initiated by the government, by conducting a comprehensive familiarisation programme covering BIM knowledge, BIM advantages and BIM implementation in the industry. At the same time, the government should prepare regulations and standards as guidance to BIM implementation in Indonesia.

Current State of Building Information Modelling in the Nigerian Construction Industry

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been applied to various aspects of construction processes in developed countries but Nigeria is yet to realize the full potentials of BIM. It has greater relevance for the commercial and public subsectors as it enhances construction productivity. This study examines current state of BIM in the Nigerian construction industry. The study adopted quantitative research approach by eliciting primary data through questionnaire which was administered to 150 respondents, of which 90 were returned and considered valid for further analysis. The data were analysed using mean item score and correlation. It was revealed that BIM awareness level is only high at the design stage of a building life cycle while it is extremely low at the construction and facility management stages. Also, the commonly used BIM compliant software packages in the Nigerian construction industry were identified to be: Autodesk Quantity Takeoff, Revit Architecture, and SketchUp. The study however recommends that: stakeholders of the construction industry should be educated on how to use BIM complaint software packages throughout the life cycle of a building and its benefits; Government should invest heavily on BIM related research so as to enhance the body of knowledge of BIM in Nigeria and develop a suitable framework for BIM implementation; federal Government should enact policies that will encourage the implementation of BIM in Nigeria.

Examining critical perspectives on Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption in New Zealand

PurposeThis research aims to explore the perspectives of the key actors in the New Zealand construction industry towards BIM adoption. Specifically, four themes are examined, including what BIM is; BIM knowledge and understanding; benefits of BIM adoption; and challenges/barriers to BIM adoption.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach using 21 semi-structured interviews with industry experts was adopted.FindingsThe results raise a question concerning whether the New Zealand construction industry needs a unique definition of BIM to achieve a clear and consistent understanding amongst construction practitioners. It was found out that most of the construction practitioners in New Zealand are not well aware of BIM, especially the contractors, QSs, supply chain companies and the SMEs. Fourteen potential benefits and ten barriers/challenges to BIM adoption were identified. Individually, time-saving was considered as the most benefit of BIM adoption while BIM understanding was suggested as the most significant barrier by all the interviewees.Originality/valueThe research provides valuable insights into BIM understanding as well as recommendations regarding BIM adoption in New Zealand. The results could be considered baseline information for the companies and government to have effective strategies towards BIM adoption. Furthermore, it confirms that characteristics such as benefits and barriers to BIM adoption amongst different countries could be similar. Therefore, it could be useful to analyse the studies, strategies and practices of the pioneer countries in BIM adoption for the implementation.

Critical risk factors for implementing building information modelling (BIM): a Delphi-based survey

Building information modelling (BIM) is one of the new technologies that, despite its perceived benefits and positive impacts towards the project objectives, has a very low level of adoption. The main problem with this issue may be attributed to several potential risk factors that disrupt the implementation of this technology. Previous research studies have identified various significant risk factors for implementing BIM technology, however, the relationships between these risk factors have not been evaluated and analyzed. This paper aims to identify and evaluate the critical risk factors (CRFs) for BIM adoption via several rounds of Delphi surveys. A total of 52 potential risk factors were identified and classified by an extensive desktop literature review. The analysis of Delphi questionnaires, which were distributed and responded by a panel of BIM experts in three rounds, identified 36 major factors as CRFs of BIM. Then the relationships between these 36 CRFs were determined and assessed by using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method (DEMATEL). The results showed that the CRFs such as: lack of knowledge of BIM and need for software training, resistance to change, and lack of skilled BIM architects/engineers have the most profound impact and interaction with other risk factors. The identification and prioritization of the CRFs can enable BIM users to conduct a systematic risk management and analysis and develop appropriate effective strategies for mitigating the potential risks associated with BIM implementation in a proactive manner.

Redefining the territory and competency of architectural practitioners within a BIM-based environment: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Within the digital era of building information modelling (BIM), the sustainability of architectural business practices and architect’s professional values is highly anticipated by the competencies of individual architectural practitioners in performing their day-to-day job activities. However, their lack of competencies remains a significant barrier towards successful implementation of BIM within an organisation and individual architectural project. Previous review studies of BIM competencies have yet to focus on any architectural discipline, and therefore, this study attempts to redefine the expected BIM competence acts expected from the architects serving an architectural institutional environment. Towards this end, the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was employed to assess the empirical evidence found in the literature. The findings have confirmed that within a BIM-based environment, being competent is no longer viewed as being ‘technology savvy’ but rather having an ability to demonstrate change management, strategic planning, finance and budgeting, and project delivery sets of competencies in day-to-day job activities. This discovery extends the base knowledge of BIM competencies sets particularly for architectural practitioners and offers valuable and practical insights for architectural institutions to structure a framework of professional pathways for future architectural practitioners.

Assessment of Building Information Modeling (BIM) Awareness, Knowledge and Its Adoption in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that gives architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructures. The introduction and implementation of BIM has brought changes in the construction’s traditional procurement system and this has made its adoption a bit slow and difficult to take off swiftly and more officially. Previous researches have identified gaps in contractual relationships, roles and the resulting risks in BIM implementation. This paper focuses on the adoption of BIM in the Ghanaian Construction Industry thereby highlighting the concept of BIM in enhancing productivity and also determines the level of knowledge and awareness of BIM by industry players and stakeholders as well as establishing the extent of usage of BIM in the Ghanaian construction industry. A descriptive survey research was conducted with both structured and unstructured questionnaire and administered both via e-mail and by sending questionnaire link onto a WhatsApp platform groups of the respondents and out of the 263 respondents that took part in the survey, 78 respondents feedback were incomplete so 185 member respondents results were analyzed in the form of bar charts, column chart and pie chart representing 70.3% response rate. The research survey respondents comprised of Civil Engineers, Construction Project Managers, Architects, Electrical Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Mechanical Engineers, Contractors and Facility Managers. The survey results revealed that there is a low level of knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and its concept in the Ghanaian Construction Industry which is also associated with the low level of awareness, utilization and adoption among stakeholders. BIM therefore represents a new paradigm within AEC that encourages integration of the roles of all stakeholders on the effective execution of projects and therefore edge the participation of relevant professional bodies to facilitate its implementation in order to ensure adequate knowledge of BIM towards improving productivity and efficiency in the Construction Industry.

Awareness and challenges of building information modelling (BIM) implementation in the Yemen construction industry

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the awareness of construction practitioners of the adoption of building information modeling (BIM) and identification of the dominant challenges of implementing BIM in the life cycle of a construction project. Design/methodology/approach This study was sequentially conducted in the following in three main phases: a preliminary study of archival literature, where a rigorous study of the literature was conducted to identify the challenges of adopting BIM in the construction industry which was to be applied later to the challenges in the case of the Yemen construction industry; data collection, where data were collected using a questionnaire survey targeting 123 Yemeni construction practitioners working in managerial and technical levels; and data analysis, where data were analyzed using descriptive analysis by calculating the average index and standard deviations. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. Findings The results show that the most critical challenges to adopt BIM are financial restrictions, lack of BIM knowledge, improper introduction of BIM concepts, lack of awareness of BIM benefits and no governmental enforcement. The study recommends policymakers and construction players to consider the challenges for a better introduction of BIM in the Yemen construction industry. Research limitations/implications This research focuses on the awareness and challenges of implementing BIM in the Yemen construction industry. Practical implications The findings of this study will help policymakers develop more constructive strategies to reduce the challenges and introduce governmental agendas towards the widespread use of the BIM concept and technology in the Yemen construction industry. The study suggested an in-depth investigation into the current curriculum in the Yemen universities and recommended the introduction of BIM concept in engineering courses. Social implications This study focused on the challenges of implementing BIM and the role of the social aspect in the issue. Originality/value From the extensive review of previous findings, this paper concentrates on the challenged to the implementation of BIM in the Yemen construction industry. There are lack of investigative studies that focus on the introduction of new technologies to advance the Yemen construction sector. Therefore, the findings help the authority to diagnose and address the sources of these challenges and introduce new solutions to the industry.

Scientometric analysis of BIM-based research in construction engineering and management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to summarize the latest research of BIM adoption in construction engineering and management (CEM) and propose research directions for future scholarly work. During the recent decade, building information modeling (BIM) has gained increasing applications and research interest in the construction industry. Although there have been review-based studies that summarized BIM-based research in the overall architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) area, there is limited review that evaluates the current stage of BIM-based research specifically in the CEM sub-area.Design/methodology/approachCEM falls into the scope of AEC. It involves construction-related tasks, activities and processes (e.g. scheduling and cost estimates), issues (e.g. constructability), as well as human factors (e.g. collaboration). This study adopted a holistic literature review approach that incorporates bibliometric search and scientometric analysis. A total of 276 articles related to BIM applied in CEM were selected from Scopus as the literature sample for the scientometric analysis.FindingsSome key CEM research areas (e.g. CEM pedagogy, integrated project delivery, lean and off-site construction) were identified and evaluated. Research trends in these areas were identified, and analyses were carried out with regard to how they could be integrated with BIM. For example, BIM, as a data repository for ACE facilities, has substantial potential to be integrated with a variety of other digital technologies, project delivery methods and innovative construction techniques throughout the whole process of CEM.Practical implicationsAs BIM is one of the key technologies and digital platforms to improve the construction productivity and collaboration, it is important for industry practitioners to be updated of the latest movement and progress of the academic research. The industry, academics and governmental authorities should work with joint effort to fill the gap by first recognizing the current needs, limitations and trends of applying BIM in the construction industry. For example, it needs more understanding about how to address technical interoperability issues and how to introduce the integrated design and construction delivery approach for BIM implementation under the UK BIM Level 2/3 framework.Originality/valueThis study contributed to the body of knowledge in BIM by proposing a framework leading to research directions including the differences of BIM effects between design-bid-build and other fast-track project delivery methods; the integration of BIM with off-site construction; and BIM pedagogy in CEM. It also addressed the need to investigate the similarities and differences between academia and industry toward perceiving the movement of BIM in construction field work.

Mapping the Global Knowledge Domain for Building Information Models

This paper presents the method and findings of a visual knowledge domain map used to explore the development and evolution of Building information modeling (BIM) technology. Metadata taken from 806 literature records is used to visualize the state of BIM research. The records were published between 1998 and 2017, and Citespace software is employed to visualize key data about the research contained on the Web of Science platform, including nationality of research institutions, research themes, co-citations of periodicals, authorship, literature sources, and the development of the discipline over time. The distribution of power in this field is also examined by interrogating the BIM knowledge base, identifying research hotspots to provide a reference for assessing the current state-of-the-art.

The Influence of BIM Education Improvement on Raising BIM Awareness in Croatia and Slovakia

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that enhances productivity and management performance of construction projects. Recognizing many benefits of BIM, governments of the most developed members of the European Union encourage BIM usage which results in a higher BIM awareness and BIM adoption. These facts suggest that BIM is becoming the norm within construction industry. On the contrary, Croatia and Slovakia have been very low in BIM application and have done little to support BIM initiatives. Previous studies suggested several strategies to increase the BIM application, where providing BIM education at university level is one of them, so universities need to update their curricula accordingly. In this study we compared implemented Construction Management (CM) BIM education on master’s study at the Faculty of Civil Engineering Košice and Zagreb. The results show that BIM education at the both faculties should be connected with other departments on the same faculty, other disciplines but also with real companies and projects. Such extension will provide civil engineers with wider BIM knowledge related to interoperability, integration, communication, collaboration, standardization and clash detection. Thus, BIM education improvement will have good impact on rising BIM awareness and will be good incentive for further BIM implementation in Croatia and Slovakia. This study is an extension of paper presented on Creative Construction Conference 2018 in Ljubljana. In this paper we showed deeper statistical analysis of CM educational programs in Croatia and Slovakia as well as relationship between BIM awareness and BIM education in both countries.

ENHANCING THE GRADUATES’ EMPLOYABILITY AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT THROUGH BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING INTENSIVE TRAINING

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an emerging technological process which highly promotes a better collaborative working environment in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. It is essential that the Higher Education (HE) sector innovates its education system to integrate between different disciplines in the AEC industry to encourage the adoption of BIM. In conjunction with this, BIM Intensive Training was conducted for a selected number of final year undergraduate students at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. They were assigned a real time construction project, utilizing BIM software applications for model authoring, model review, 4D modelling and project coordination. It was observed that the participants were able to overcome various challenges through information sharing and team collaboration. A BIM coordination workflow was produced during the training to assist them in organizing their work. Although their existing knowledge of BIM and their skills using the software applications were quite limited, they were capable in learning expeditiously as the assignment provided them with real-world problems. A year after the training, more than half of the participants agreed that the training had helped them to secure their employment and excel in their current involvements in BIM-based projects. However, due to the current scenario many firms are yet to embrace BIM, there are participants who could not utilize the training. Hence, the establishment of a dynamic and continuous collaboration between professionals and HE sector is the way forward in transforming the traditional structure of AEC industry into a more collaborative and technological approach.

Evaluation of BIM Education for Quantity Surveying: A Review of Teaching Approaches

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Accident prevention through design (PtD): Integration of building information modeling and PtD knowledge base

Abstract Eliminating safety risks at the front end of a construction project ranks at the top of the hierarchy of control, and the concept of Prevention through Design (PtD) aims to address the life cycle safety of workers during the project design stage. Referring to existing safety regulations, documents, and best practices, construction safety risks and their pre-control measures as well as the relationships among them were identified and then stored in a PtD knowledge base. Based on the algorithm for extracting and judging specific data information in Revit, an automated rule-based inspection plug-in combining Building Information Modeling (BIM) and PtD knowledge base was developed. The developed plug-in sent the feedback to designers through pop-up alert windows containing construction risk identification numbers (IDs) and the corresponding pre-control measure IDs in the Revit model. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach were also verified by professionals. This research realized accident PtD by integrating the BIM and PtD knowledge base; this approach can help to automatically assess safety risks during the design phase. Therefore, this approach can also increase the willingness and capacity of designers to implement PtD and improve safety performance of the construction industry.