Search

This thesis presents the results of an investigation into BIM standardisation needs and procedural supporting mechanisms that may enable design, construction and operating (DCO) organisations to advance their deployment of Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology, and improve construction project outcomes. To achieve sustainable development requires effective information management. Building Information Modelling is of strategic importance for the development of efficient methods to create, coordinate and share construction information. The introduction of BIM also allows the development of construction technologies and business models, and leads to greater focus on processes to achieve good urban design, architecture, and user benefit. A prerequisite for the widespread and integrated adoption of BIM is however common guidelines and a consistent approach to the development of standards for industry concepts, information delivery, data storage formats and contract forms. Important knowledge and established methods of information management exist and the experience gained is important to utilise in this work. However, greater knowledge is needed to allow authorities and practitioners to make informed decision about the content and direction of national BIM guidelines and adoption prerequisites. The study aims to support the development of applicable branch standards through building knowledge on methods and processes that support organisations in their use of BIM technologies. Further, within the focus domain of design methodology & management, it seeks to contribute towards national and international initiatives and research on BIM standardisation needs and support systems through testing BIM-Planning support systems, developing and testing a propositional Digital Delivery Specification, presenting an understanding of Contractual and Behavioural Process Obstacles, confronting the mystery of Level of Development Concept and Application, and finally validating and legitimising the current research and BIM standardisation efforts. The research adopts a critical realism perspective, assumes BIM correlated units of analysis and combines literature reviews with qualitative case studies culminating with a quantitative survey, and is published as 5 peer-reviewed research articles. The empirical dataset consists of 14 semi-structured interviews, 10 workshops and meetings with practitioners, 67 survey responses, plus document review and 29 feedback sessions / supplementary enquiries. The thesis is divided into 2 parts: a summary of the research, and the appended papers. The summary provides a synthesis and reflection of the findings in the papers through: 1) developing knowledge about existing BIM guidelines and testing and evaluating the application of buildingSMART’s BIM PEPG, 2) extension of the concept delivery specification via a proposed standard schema and protocol for defining model information content for selected BIM-Uses, 3) validating the need for BIM collaboration support mechanisms to address contractual and behavioural process obstacles, 4) proposing a tentative novel framework for model progression scheduling using Level of Development (LOD), 5) establishing the legitimacy of national BIM standardisation initiatives and alignment with current research efforts. Findings are drawn from empirical evidence with a focus on the Swedish context. Based on case materials, theory and literature review, a BIM standardisation and support systems model emerges constituting a set of process-based BIM procedures / measures to support teams leverage their expertise, tools, and the data they create more effectively thereby adding value to the project. Standards developers, BIM strategists, academics and practitioners alike should be able to utilise the results from this thesis. The procedures tested are generalizable and reproducible and with some further refinement, applicable in practice. The results have implications for guidelines development and for direction finding in the advancement of BIM adoption as part of a nation vision for a fuller and more mature BIM utilisation. It is argued that standardisation of BIM working practices, processes and methodologies is a key issue for the industry, not least for those involved in the early stages when BIM information authoring is at its most intense, but also for those downstream users of the digital asset. With so many processes and people involved over time from concept to maintenance, to reach a steady-state of information order may be impossible. However what is possible is to ensure a number of key procedures are in place to both optimise organisation and stewardship of information that is critical throughout a facilities life cycle.

Nations around the world are feverishly developing new standards relating to Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the construction industry which may enable teams to leverage greater value from BIM implementation and model authorship efforts. This study reflects on ongoing standardisation initiatives in Sweden and considers where current research efforts fit in. There is limited research presenting stakeholder perceptions on current BIM standardisation efforts whether driven by industry representatives or the research community. To address this gap, through a national survey, we studied the impact and correlation of particular process-orientated standardisation initiatives and related research efforts within the field of BIM. The aim is to determine the level of importance of common themes and establish their legitimacy. BIM experts are asked to rank individual standardisation projects and research themes and offer comment on their relevance in a context of national BIM initiatives. In doing so, we capture views on the value and contribution of ongoing BIM standardisation initiatives, are able to position current research efforts within a landscape of other national strategic BIM programmes and gain insight to the level of integration between industry and research communities working in this field. We found broad underlying support of the ongoing BIM standardisation efforts happening in Sweden. Results indicate scepticism over standardised BIM-Planning protocols such as those to be found in the US, but strong support for national BIM guidelines and associated state-driven vision. In addition, respondents highlight a number of alternative standardisation needs that are either missing or low priority on the national BIM standardisation agenda, including requirements management and measures to overcome barriers to BIM. Difficulties exist in translating standards from theory into practice and more local case examples are needed. Our findings are important; they tell us which standardisation efforts are important and help us to understand what aspects are essential to support stakeholders in achieving common BIM goals. They indicate emerging trends upon which further studies can build and contribute to literature on state-of-theart BIM standardisation.

Construction projects are costing too much and taking too long as a consequence of unnecessary omissions and errors in project documentation and sub-optimal coordination of design information between consultant disciplines. The theory behind BIM provides an exciting integrated solution for project information management, however in this new process further effort is required to define the content of information deliveries and a number of basic who?- what?- when?- how?- questions relating to object and property definitions need to be resolved. This study investigates and attempts to define the functional requirements for integrated information management through the design stages of a construction project focusing on architectural practice requirements within the residential sector in Sweden. In a pilot study concerning a residential construction project in Sweden the buildingSMART Alliance's new Building Information Modelling Execution Planning Guide was applied. The principle BIM planning procedures are applied to the case, tuning requirements to the specific project and localised to support Swedish classification standards. Through the enquiries required to develop and define these processes, a new information exchange protocol emerges, tuned to the Swedish residential sector.