Longitudinal Study of BIM Adoption by Public Construction Clients

Abstract

Building information modeling (BIM) adoption is driven in part by the government and other large public procurement agencies mandating its use. A longitudinal study of BIM adoption in three major public agencies (two in the United Kingdom and one in Israel) tracked their BIM adoption actions and outcomes over a 3-year period, using a formal BIM adoption impact map (BIM-AIM) to structure the observations and to record and measure the outcomes. Detailed case studies of these organizations and 17 of their individual projects reveal the actions taken and their effects. The agencies’ project managers varied greatly in their perceptions of the purpose and the value of BIM implementation. Nevertheless, two of the organizations have made significant progress in compiling the information backbone necessary to integrate as-designed and as-made BIM models in digital twin information systems that can enhance their operations and achieve long-term organizational goals. The results emphasize that public agencies stand to reap significant value from system-wide asset information models in addition to the benefits of BIM application in isolated projects. An updated (BIM-AIM), which can guide agencies in their BIM adoption efforts, is a central contribution of the research.