Assessing the potential of integrating Building Information Modelling(BIM) into traditional building procurement.

Abstract

The traditional building procurement route is defined by the separation of the design and construction stages. This creates an information barrier, responsibility barrier and prohibits timely exchange of electronic information. The separation of design and construction results in a number of disputes as the parties responsible for delivering the project that is the contractors do not have much say in the design, cost and allocation of risks. Traditional building procurement is therefore associated with conflicts, increased project durations and budget overruns which could be due to variations. BIM facilitates a more integrated design and construction process that results in better quality buildings at lower cost and reduced project duration. One of the major benefits of using BIM is interoperability which facilitates collaboration between project participants, reducing errors and field changes and leading to a more efficient and reliable delivery process that reduces project time and cost resulting into better project performance. The purpose of this research was to determine the different ways BIM can be applicable in traditional building procurement and to propose a framework for potential BIM integration into traditional building procurement. The study adopted a quantitative method approach targeting various construction professionals like Architects, Quantity surveyors and Engineers. Questionnaires and analysis of literature was used to obtain research data and findings. Simple random sampling was used to select 40 construction professionals to which questionnaires were administered. The data was then analyzed using both Microsoft excel and SPSS 25. The findings of the research indicate that there are very low levels of BIM adoption in Uganda. This is attributed to lack of government initiative towards promoting the technology, ignorance among the stakeholders, high training costs associated with adoption of the technology and legal and contractual issues, among others. The study identifies the best practices and strategies that will drive BIM adoption and integration into traditional building procurement which include awareness of BIM benefits, development of BIM standards among others. It also identifies the government as the entity with the biggest role in ensuring BIM integration.