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1. Introduction
The construction industry has been facing a paradigm shift to:
- increase productivity, efficiency, infrastructure value, quality and sustainability; and
- reduce lifecycle costs, lead times and duplications via effective collaboration and communication of stakeholders in construction projects ([15] Nour, 2007).
Building information modelling (BIM) seeks to integrate processes throughout the entire lifecycle ([1] Aouad and Arayici, 2010).
There is some evidence to suggest that the architectural profession is beginning to come under pressure to adopt BIM. Although BIM has existed for over 20 years, it is only over the last few years that building owners are becoming aware that BIM promises to make the design, construction and operation of buildings much more streamlined and efficient ([8] Coates et al. , 2010). Owners are starting to insist that architects and other design professionals, construction managers and construction companies adopt BIM ([14] Mihindu and Arayici, 2008). On the other hand, there are challenges in implementing BIM in UK construction practice such as:
- overcoming the resistance to change, and getting people to understand the potential and the value of BIM over 2D drafting;
- adapting existing workflows to lean oriented processes;
- training people in BIM, or finding employees who understand BIM;
- the understanding of the required high-end hardware resources and networking facilities to run BIM applications and tools efficiently;
- the required collaboration, integration and interoperability between the structural and the MEP designers/ engineers; and
- clear understanding of the responsibilities of different stakeholders in the new process by construction lawyers and insurers ([2], [3] Arayici et al. , 2009a, b; [11] Eastman et al. , 2008).
Hence, implementing BIM effectively requires significant changes in the way construction businesses work at almost every level within the building process. That is to say, it does not only require learning new software applications, but also how to reinvent the workflow, how to train staff and assign responsibilities, and changing the way of modelling the construction ([4] Bernstein and Pittman, 2004, [11] Eastman et al. , 2008). Thus, it appears that the industry could benefit from a clear set of guidelines outlining an effective strategy and methodology of implementing BIM at the organizational level ([4] Bernstein and Pittman, 2004). Therefore, the aim of this...