Challenges for Implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

in Malaysian Construction Industry

Syed Shujaa Safdar Gardezi1,a, Nasir Shafiq1,b, Muhd Fadhil Nurudinn1,c, Syed Ahmad Farhan1,d and Usman Aminu Umar1,e

1Department of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Bandar Seri Iskandar, 31750

Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia.

aengineershujaa@gmail.com,

bnasirshafiq@petronas.com.my,

cfadhilnuruddin@petronas.com.my,

dsyfarisk@gmail.com,

eusmanaumar@yahoo.com

Keywords: Building information modeling, challenges, Malaysian construction industry

Abstract. The construction industry of Malaysia is very dynamic in nature and the adoption of new

technological advancements and construction methods has been a prime concerns for its key players

and stakeholders. However, the adoption of BIM in such a dynamic industry is observed to be

limited and its implementation has not been as successful as it should have been. The study focuses

on the identification and prioritization the factors challenging the implementation of BIM in

Malaysian construction industry. The data has been administrated through designed questionnaire

by identifying the factors / barriers, by literature review, for implementation of BIM in construction

industry. The prioritization of such factors is expected to help the major stake holders to address the

issues according to their priority which will save lot of previous time and financial with smooth

implementation of BIM in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in future

project.

Introduction

A model defining the physical and the functional characteristics of a facility in a digital

representation form is known as Building information model. [1]. The concept of Building

Information Modeling is to build a building in a virtual environment before its actual physical

construction so that problems along with their potential impacts expected to be encountered during

actual construction stage can be worked out and analyzed in advance[2].The potential utilization of

BIM by the construction industry stake holders can result in greater benefits in terms of reducing

cost, increase productivity, reduce errors and improve the quality of our work products ultimately in

improvement of the built environment. BIM is the future in Construction Industry. BIM is setting

new standards in AEC industry by encouraging the integrated roles of all stakeholders in a project

has the potential to bring about great efficiency as well as create healthy harmony among them who

all too often in the past saw themselves as adversaries[1]. As in most paradigm shifts there will

undoubtedly be risks associated with this change. BIM also supports the concept of Integrated

Project Delivery (IPD) to reduce waste and optimize efficiency through all phases of the project life

cycle [3].

The construction industry of Malaysia is very dynamic in nature. The country is progressing with

a vision on 2020 and the construction industry in a vital element of this vision. The adoption of new

technological advancements and construction methods has been a prime concerns for its key players

and stakeholders. However, the adoption of BIM in such a dynamic industry is observed to be

limited and its implementation has not been as successful as it should have been. Although, there is

now a serious concern about this technology and the industry professional are realizing the potential

benefits of BIM. There is still long way to cover for its full implementation as no. of issues,

challenges and barriers still required to be managed. This study is being conducted to highlight

some of the factors that are, specifically, affecting the implementation of BIM in Malaysian

Construction Industry.

Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 567 (2014) pp 559-564© (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerlanddoi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.567.559

All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of TTP,www.ttp.net. (ID: 203.135.190.8-23/05/14,09:46:35)

Literature Review

Benefits of Implementing BIM in AEC:

Many researchers and industry professional have highlighted the potential benefits of BIM

implementation. From AEC main stake holder’s point of view, these potential benefits can be

broadly classified into the three categories of Owners, Designers and Contractors:

Eastman et al. [4] and Reddy (2011) summarized the following benefits of BIM for project owners:

1 Early design assessments ensuring that the project requirements are met

2 Evaluation of building performance and maintainability by operations simulation

3 Reliability in cost estimates and reduction in quantity of variation orders thus enabling low

financial risks.

4 Generation of 3D renderings and walk-though animations enables better marketing strategies.

5 Complete information about building and its systems in a single file[5].

Following are some of the main benefits of BIM for project designers:

1 Better design by rigorously analyzing digital models and visual simulations and receiving

more valuable input from project owners;

2 Advance predictions of environmental performance of building designs by early incorporation

of sustainability features.

3 Visual and analytical checks enable better code compliance.

4 Early forensic analysis to graphically assess potential failures, leaks, evacuation plans.

5 Quick production of shop or fabrication drawings [6]

The contractors and subcontractors can use BIM for the following applications [7]:

1 High profitability;

2 Better customer service;

3 Cost and schedule compression;

4 Better production quality;

5 More informed decision making;

6 Better safety planning and management.

Challenges for Implementing BIM in AEC:

Despite of the benefits of BIM mentioned above, the implementation of BIM in AEC is very

challenging task and requires managing certain barriers before its successful implementation in

AEC industry of any country. These barriers or challenges vary from country to country and are

largely dependent upon the industry environments. Research contributions of few researchers are

given in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Challenges and risks identified by previous researchers

Researchers Findings/ Conclusions

Salman Azhar,

Michael Hein

and Blake Sketo

[2]

Has identified the following risks for BIM implementations :

• Ownership of BIM data

• Control over entry of data and responsibilities for inaccurate data.

• The issue regarding responsibility for proper technological interface among

various programs.

• The management issues regarding the implementation and use of BIM.

• Lack of clear consensus regarding methodology to implement or use BIM.

• Requirement of standardized BIM process and guidelines for its

implementation.

560 Structural, Environmental, Coastal and Offshore Engineering

Thompson and

Miner[8].

The BIM related risks can be divided into two broad categories: (1)

Technology-related risks; and (2) Process-related risks.

The first technology-related risk is

• Lack of BIM standards for model integration and management by

multidisciplinary teams.

• The interoperability issues pose considerable risk.

• Licensing issues when team members are other than owner and

architect/engineer.

The process-related risks include legal, contractual and organizational risks.

• Legal risk includes the lack of determination of ownership of the BIM data

and the need to protect it through copyright laws and other legal channels.

• Contractual issue includes controlling authority of the data entry into the

model and responsibility for any inaccuracies.

Ku and Taiebat

[5]

Their identified the following barriers to BIM implementation:

• Learning curve and lack of skilled personnel

• High cost to implementation

• Reluctance of other stakeholders (e.g. architect, engineer, contractor)

• Lack of collaborative work processes and modeling standards

• Interoperability

• Lack of legal/contractual agreements

Fischer and

Kunz[9]

Highlighted two main reasons for slower adoption of BIM.

• Technical

• Managerial

Bernstein and

Pittman[10]

Classified the technical reasons broadly classified into three categories:

• The need for well-defined transactional construction process models to

eliminate data interoperability issues,

• The requirements that digital design data be computable, and

• The need for well-developed practical strategies for the purpose

• The management issues cluster around the implementation and use of BIM.

• Absence of clear consensus as how to implement or use BIM.

• Unavailability of single document or treatise on BIM that instructs on its

application or usage (AGC, 2005).

• Inability of several software firms to treat the process as a whole.

• Requirement to standardize the BIM process and the guidelines for its

implementation.

• Issue regarding the development and operation of BIM models among the

AEC industry stakeholders (i.e. owners, designers and constructors).

• Unclear methodology for distribution of cost for development and

operations of BIM technology

Research Methodology

The research work has been carried out by studying literature on issues, challenges and barriers

faced for implementation of BIM in construction industry. The literature review includes following

book, newsletter, journal/conference papers, government reports and websites. A total of 17 factors

were highlighted by assigning nominal scale 0 to 5 to represent ‘very weak’ to ‘very strong’ effects

to study their impact in BIM implementation in AEC industry of Malaysia. Data collection

administered by designed questionnaire. The feedback was tabulated and analyzed by using

computer software. Based upon the data collection and analysis, the factor affecting the construction

industry the most were identified and probable solutions were suggested accordingly.

Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 567 561

Analysis of Results and Discussions

A total no. of 287 survey questionnaires was distributed among the industry professionals

through online submissions and personal interactions during various seminars, conferences and

scholarly sessions. However, researchers were able to receive a response rate of 38% for the study.

Demographic Results:

Figure1: Professional participation Figure 2: Gender participation

Figure 3: Professional experience Figure 4: Professional roles

Figure 5: Qualifications Figure 6: Industry / sectorial distributions

562 Structural, Environmental, Coastal and Offshore Engineering

Factors Results:

The frequency analysis has been performed on the data and the following results have been

achieved:

1 2 3 4 5

1 High initial cost of softw are and hardw are HICSH 1 5 12 66 16

2 High Cost of training HCT 0.5 4.5 29 45 21

3 High cost of implementing the process and technology. HCIPT 4 8 33 29 26

4Behavior of professionals to change from drafting to modeling i.e. change

from current practices BOP 1 11 12 44 32

5Weak Support from Organization environment and culture in implementation

of BIM. WSO 3 2 40 10 45

6Non-availability of support from top management in organizations for

implementation of BIM NASTM 6 2 37 34 21

7 Non-availability of skilled professionals NASP 2 1 19 67 11

8 Lack of BIM object libraries and standard modeling protocols LBOLS 4 8 32 34 22

9 Industry resistance to process change IRPC 1 5 50 10 34

10Lack of standardized process and guidelines for implementation of BIM in

the construction industry. LSPG 1 4 23 54 18

11 Compatibility issue betw een softw are platforms CIBST 3 1 40 22 34

12 Absence of interoperable environment in the construction industry AIECI 2 2 39 35 22

13 Limited use of BIM in construction industry LBCI 4 1 50 31 14

14 Non-availability of market support/trends for BIM implementation NAMSB 1 12 22 65 0

15Lack of comparative analysis betw een traditional project delivery methods

and BIM based project delivery methods LCADM 0 11 78 0 11

16Lack of comparative analysis betw een the existing methods and BIM

technology in terms of cost utilized by organizations LCACU 0 14 15 0 71

17 Non-availability of opportunities to apply the technology NAOAT 0 10 25 20 45

Statistical and practical significance result 17 factors challenging the implementation of BIM

Item No. Factor Frequency %age

Figure 7: Frequency Analysis Graph

Applied Mechanics and Materials Vol. 567 563

Discussions

The frequency analysis yielded that the High initial cost of software and hardware (HICSH),

Non-availability of skilled professionals (NSAP), Non-availability of market support/trends for BIM

implementation(NAMSB), Lack of comparative analysis between the existing methods and BIM

technology in terms of cost utilized by organizations (LCACU) and Weak Support from

Organization environment and culture in implementation of BIM (WSO) are the top five prominent

barriers to the implementation of BIM in Malaysian construction industry.

Conclusions

The challenges for implementation of BIM faced by the construction industry of Malaysia have

been focused in this study and top five influential factors have been identified. Most of the top

ranked challenges are caused due to the factors which are driven by cost, market trends and

organizational behaviors. The implementation of BIM will allow major stake holders to analyze

space and understand the complexity of the project in AEC industry of Malaysia and provide them

opportunities of doing more value-added activities. A close coordination among the industry stake

holders with a specific vision and environment needs to be developed in AEC industry to enjoy the

fruitful benefits of BIM implementation. The support by the concerned authorities, extensive

consultation between the professional and industry practitioners is the only key to success.

References

[1] S. Azhar, M. Hein, and B. Sketo, "Building information modeling (BIM): Benefits, risks and

challenges," in Proceedings of the 44th ASC National Conference, 2008.

[2] S. Azhar, "Building information modeling (BIM): Trends, benefits, risks, and challenges for the

AEC industry," Leadership and Management in Engineering, vol. 11, pp. 241-252, 2011.

[3] S. Glick and A. Guggemos, "IPD and BIM: benefits and opportunities for regulatory agencies,"

in Proceesings of the 45th Associated Schools of Construction (ASC?) Annual Conference,

Gainesville, FL, 1-4 April, 2009.

[4] C. Eastman, P. Teicholz, R. Sacks, and K. Liston, BIM handbook: A guide to building

information modeling for owners, managers, designers, engineers and contractors: Wiley. com,

2011.

[5] K. Ku and M. Taiebat, "BIM experiences and expectations: The constructors' perspective,"

International Journal of Construction Education and Research, vol. 7, pp. 175-197, 2011.

[6] W. Kymmell, Building information modeling: planning and managing construction projects

with 4D CAD and simulations: McGraw Hill Professional, 2008.

[7] B. Hardin, "BIM and Construction Management: Proven Tools, Methods, and Workflows,"

2009.

[8] D. Thompson and R. G. Miner, "Building information modeling-BIM: Contractual risks are

changing with technology," WWW document] URL http://www. aepronet. org/ge/no35. html, 2007.

[9] M. Fischer and J. Kunz, "The scope and role of information technology in construction," in

Proceedings-Japan Society of Civil Engineers, 2004, pp. 1-32.

[10] P. G. Bernstein and J. H. Pittman, "Barriers to the adoption of building information modeling

in the building industry," Autodesk Building Solutions, 2004.

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