The Effectiveness of building information modeling in Sri Lankan construction industry

Abstract

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the latest emerging technologies in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. It is an application to reproduce the real building process facilitating to manage projects conveniently. This can be developed from 2D drawing up to 7D as modelling, scheduling, estimating, sustainability and facility management respectively. It is vastly used to handle complex projects in order to its enormous benefits namely faster project delivery, reduction of risk, time and material waste, enhancing sustainability and better building life cycle performance and more likely to become an industrial standard worldwide in future. However, BIM is not much popular in local construction industry yet. Mostly, the top management is on the horns of dilemma in view of adopting BIM in their projects. This research addresses this contemporary need of figuring out whether a developing country like Sri Lanka is beneficial by adopting this technology in construction. The study strived to investigate the BIM awareness and adoption level of Sri Lankan Construction Industry, the potential of BIM to solve common construction issues and the barriers to adopt BIM locally and last of all, concluded recommendations for proper BIM implementation. Data was collected via a questionnaire survey targeting the stakeholders of top tier construction projects. It was analysed applying hypothesis testing using Mann Whitney U test values and relative important index method. The analysis was focused on the influence of identified factors such as experience level and BIM usage in solving major construction issues. Further, it ranked the significance of internal and external barriers for BIM implementation in the vicinity. Results of the analysis revealed that BIM usage minimizes encountering major issues in construction industry and facilitates the smooth flow in construction work independently from the work experience. Unawareness of BIM was ranked as the top most barrier in its implementation. The findings of this study provides an inspiring guide for AEC industry practitioners in Sri Lanka to make the right decision while considering the implementation of BIM technology in their projects.