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Quality control is essential to a successful modular construction project and should be enhanced throughout the project from design to construction and installation. The current methods for analyzing the assembly quality of a removable floodwall heavily rely on manual inspection and contact-type measurements, which are time-consuming and costly. This study presents a systematic and practical approach to improve quality control of the prefabricated modular construction projects by integrating building information modeling (BIM) with three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology. The study starts with a thorough literature review of current quality control methods in modular construction. Firstly, the critical quality control procedure for the modular construction structure and components should be identified. Secondly, the dimensions of the structure and components in a BIM model is considered as quality tolerance control benchmarking. Thirdly, the point cloud data is captured with 3D laser scanning, which is used to create the as-built model for the constructed structure. Fourthly, data analysis and field validation are carried out by matching the point cloud data with the as-built model and the BIM model. Finally, the study employs the data of a removable floodwall project to validate the level of technical feasibility and accuracy of the presented methods. This method improved the efficiency and accuracy of modular construction quality control. It established a preliminary foundation for using BIM and laser scanning to conduct quality control in removable floodwall installation. The results indicated that the proposed integration of BIM and 3D laser scanning has great potential to improve the quality control of a modular construction project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Singaporean government has made building information modeling (BIM) implementation mandatory in new building projects with gross floor areas over 5000 m2, but the implementation is still plagued with hindrances such as lacking project-wide collaboration. The purposes of this study are to identify critical factors hindering BIM implementation in Singapore's construction industry, analyze their interrelationships, and identify strategies for reducing these hindrances. The results from a survey of 87 experts and five post-survey interviews in the Singaporean construction industry identified 21 critical hindrances, among which "need for all key stakeholders to be on board to exchange information" was ranked top. These hindrances were categorized into lack of collaboration and model integration (LCMI), lack of continuous involvement and capabilities (LCIC), and lack of executive vision and training (LEVT). LEVT and LCIC contributed to LCMI; LEVT caused LCIC. The proposed framework implying the key hindrances and their corresponding managerial strategies can help practitioners identify specific adjustments to their BIM implementation activities, which enables to efficiently achieve enhanced BIM implementation. The hindrances identified in this study facilitate overseas BIM implementers to customize their own lists of hindrances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although building information modeling application in prefabricated construction (PC-BIM) has become an inevitable trend, current PC-BIM is far from ideal. There are some researches on PC-BIM barriers, however, which stakeholder these barriers come from, what influences they have on each other and how to find the effective transmission paths have not been explored yet which is essential to overcome barriers effectively. Thus, this study aims to make deep analysis of PC-BIM barriers based on stakeholder's perspectives. After literature review and focus group interviews with 13 authoritative experts, the barrier network based on stakeholders was established and analyzed. With the social network analysis, the critical barriers, stakeholders, together with their interaction relationships and the transmission paths were found and corresponding strategies based on path mining are proposed. This study is of great significance to promote PC-BIM in practice and shed light on the interaction mechanism analysis and driving path mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building information modeling (BIM) is deemed a useful innovation for technological and sustainable development of the economy. It is partially used in building projects in Singapore, although its implementation is mandated by the local government, resulting in various wastes and suboptimal productivity. Little is known about how non-value adding (NVA) BIM implementation practices were perceived by the local practitioners and how these practices affected productivity in building projects in Singapore. This study aimed to identify critical NVA BIM implementation activities and investigate the criticality of their resulting wastes to productivity performance in the current project delivery process in Singapore. The results from a questionnaire survey of 73 experts and four post-survey interviews in Singapore revealed that 38 NVA BIM implementation activities were deemed critical, among which "lack of involvement by contractors to contribute site knowledge" in the design development phase was ranked top; the top five resulting wastes with highest criticalities were reworks/abortive works, requests for information, design deficiencies, defects, and waiting/idle time. Furthermore, an independent-samples t-test was conducted to examine whether construction firms and upfront stakeholders perceived the NVA activities differently. It was discovered that most NVA activities exerted more agreement from construction firms than upfront non-construction organizations. Six strategies were proposed to mitigate the NVA activities and wastes. The findings can help practitioners identify weak areas of their BIM implementation practices and prioritize resources accordingly to eliminate the wastes and foster sustainability, as well as help overseas project teams, with minor adjustments, customize their own NVA BIM implementation activities and management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a large number of studies on Building Information Modeling (BIM) have been conducted in the past decade, a lack of consensus remains among researchers and practitioners regarding the applications of BIM for the development of green buildings, the activity of making buildings in a way that protects the natural environment. As the usefulness of BIM has been widely recognized in the building and construction industry, there is an urgent need to establish an up-to-date synthesis on the nexus between BIM and green buildings. After an in-depth review of hundreds of journal articles published from 1999 to 2016 and 12 widely used types of BIM software, this study provides a holistic understanding and critical reflection on the nexus between BIM and green buildings, which is systematically illustrated by a “Green BIM Triangle” taxonomy. The proposed taxonomy indicates that the nexus between BIM and green buildings needs to be understood based on three dimensions, namely project phases, green attributes and BIM attributes. Following the proposed taxonomy, this paper systematically illustrated 1) the applications of BIM in supporting the design, construction, operation, and retrofitting processes of green buildings; 2) the various functions of BIM for green building analyses such as energy, emissions, and ventilation analysis; 3) the applications of BIM in supporting green building assessments (GBA); and 4) research gaps and future research directions in this area. Through critical review and synthesis of BIM and green buildings based on evidence from both academic research and industrial practices, this paper provides important guidance for building researchers and practitioners to better align BIM development with green building development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]