The quest for the holy grail : bridging BIM and building for information management in construction

Abstract

The importance of information can never be overemphasized in construction. Under the discourse of decision science, information is the key to supporting decision-making in construction management. Managing information, in layman’s language, is to ensure that accurate information is always available at the right time in the right format to the right person to support decision-making. However, information management (IM) in construction has long been known as difficult as the “Holy Grail” to be quested. It has kindled widespread interest about the uses of building information modeling (BIM), which has been successfully elevated to one of the most promising directions to improve IM in construction. Nevertheless, the existing practical use of BIM has been frequently found to be disconnected with the actual construction processes, resulting in the fact that BIM is largely “blind and deaf”. “No BIM is an island”. Aiming at making full use of BIM for IM in construction, this research seeks to develop a conceptual framework of bridging BIM and building (BBB) and, to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of the BBB framework for supporting IM in actual settings. In regard of the research rigor, this research is underpinned in the post-positivism paradigm and follows a three-step strategy in which a mixed research method is adopted. Firstly, the IM requirements in construction were defined based on a review of the relevant literature. The BBB conceptual framework and its system architecture were then developed for meeting the IM requirements. Next, the proposed BBB framework, its components in particular, are deliberated and evaluated through a case study. Lastly, findings from the case study discussed to dissolve knowledge about how and why the BBB works for enhancing IM in practical construction contexts. This research contributes to the knowledge body by developing a conceptual framework that enables better use of BIM for IM in construction. It revealed that BBB can meet IM requirements in construction by enhancing the quantity, quality, and accessibility of information desired by various decision-makers. This research is also significant by detailing the contextual conditions and real-life implementation procedures of BBB. Practitioners can refer to the success factors to deploy and implement the BBB framework in their own practices.