Implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in The Construction Industry of Pakistan

Abstract

Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) are widely accepted and understood by the construction industry world over. BIM reduces the overall cost and time of the project by improving the productivity and interoperability. Despite the availability of the technology, adoption of BIM is much slower than expected. It is therefore imperative to ascertain the current practices and barriers to the adoption of BIM. The objective of this research was to assess the current practice of the industry, identify barriers in implementing BIM in Pakistan and suggest the way forward to implement BIM by overcoming the barriers in adoption. Nature of this research is exploratory. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct the field survey which was aimed at seeking the insight of various stakeholders including architectural, structural, construction, quantity surveying, consultancy and multidisciplinary firms to assess the current practices of the construction industry of Pakistan and identify the barriers to the adoption of BIM. 103 verified responses out of 250 posted questionnaires (41.2%) were received and results obtained were used for data analysis. Results of this research suggests that current capability of the construction industry is at Pre-BIM level when compared with Succar�s three stage capability model. Major barriers identified in implementing BIM are; lack of awareness; and high training cost. This research has suggested a way forward to overcome the barriers in implementing BIM in Pakistan which were identical with the potential factors which can accelerate BIM adoption and further proposed a methodical approach for the organizations as well as for the construction industry to make decisions in its own organization culture.