Building information modelling for Sri Lankan construction industry

Abstract

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is relatively a new buzzword in the Construction Industry; however BIM is not yet practiced in Sri Lankan construction industry and not many in the industry know about it. BIM is now becoming popular and likely to be industry standard for project design and hence a key tool in project procurement in future. Integration of BIM into project development life cycle would create deviations in traditional parameters of procurement systems. As a result, a construction industry in which building procurement is based on BIM is thought to be quite different from the today’s systems. The industry needs to understand its potentials in order to develop strategies for BIM integration. Under this context, a research is conducted with broader aim of integrating BIM in Sri Lankan construction industry. This paper is presented with its preliminary findings from a literature review on features and requisites of BIM, developing logical conclusions in terms of BIM’s potentials for Sri Lankan construction industry. It finds that BIM leads to a more efficient industry and will save both time and cost; and the technology is unlikely to be a significant barrier for BIM implementation.