ID: 308, Submitted for the 12th International Conference Information Visualisation, 9 - 11 July 2008, hoster: London South
Bank 1
University, publisher: IEEE Computer Society, web: http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV08/
Digital Construction through BIM Systems will drive the
Re-engineering of Construction Business Practices
S. Mihindu1 and Y. Arayici1
1
School of Built Environment, University of Salford, United Kingdom
Abstract— The construction industry has been facing a paradigm
shift to (i) increase; productivity, efficiency, infrastructure value,
quality and sustainability, (ii) reduce; lifecycle costs, lead times
and duplications, via effective collaboration and communication
of stakeholders in construction projects. Digital construction is a
political initiative to address low productivity in the sector. This
seeks to integrate processes throughout the entire lifecycle by
utilising Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems. The
focus is to create and reuse consistent digital information by the
stakeholders throughout the lifecycle. However, implementation
and use of BIM systems requires dramatic changes in the current
business practices, bring new challenges for stakeholders e.g., the
emerging knowledge and skill gap. This paper reviews and
discusses the status of implementation of the BIM systems
around the globe and their implications to the industry.
Moreover, based on the lessons learnt, it will provide a guide to
tackle these challenges and to facilitate successful transition
towards utilising BIM systems in construction projects.
Index Terms— BIM, building life-cycle, business practices,
digital construction, IFC
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Digital construction through BIM systems
D IGITAL construction is a political initiative to address low
productivity in the construction sector. This initiative
seeks to integrate processes throughout the entire lifecycle of
a construction project by utilising Building Information
Modelling (BIM) systems. The focus is to create and reuse
consistent digital information by the stakeholders throughout
the lifecycle. To date, there are many projects that have
utilised BIM systems within; environmental planning, design
and development, optimisation, safety and code checking,
construction, and have realised its benefits. Such projects have
recommended as a remedy BIM systems to address low
productivity issues. In other words, this situation is pressuring
the construction industry to go through a paradigm shift to (i)
increase; productivity, efficiency, infrastructure value, quality
and sustainability, (ii) reduce; lifecycle costs, lead times and
duplications, via effective collaboration and communication of
stakeholders in construction projects. This paper reviews and
discusses the status of implementation of the BIM systems
around the globe, their implications in the construction
Manuscript submitted 21 April, 2008. S. Mihindu is with the School of
Built Environment, University of Salford, Salford, M5 4WT UK, (e-mail:
mybox@sas.mihindu.name).
industry and good practice implementation guidelines.
B. Guide to tackle challenges faced through lessons learnt
The following provides a handful of examples to discuss
BIM utilisation in construction projects and maturity of the
process. For further details in aspects of different
professionals’ experience, through ten case studies, are
recently published in a chapter form (Eastman, Teicholz,
Sacks and Liston, 2008).
HUT-600 (Helsinki University of Technology) auditorium
extension project is one of the first reported BIM based
development activity, which created a wider research and
industrial interest. This project was independently reviewed
by Center for Integrated Facility Engineering (CIFE), Stanford
and confirmed the importance of this strategic approach
within construction industry. The review report published in
2002, CIFE, concludes that the Product Model and Fourth
Dimension (PM4D) approach helps expedite conventional
design practices and promotes lifecycle approaches. Through
its early design phase, object-oriented modelling software and
IFC’s facilitated project teams shortened the time for design
iterations, developed a reliable budget for effective cost
control, and eliminated the need to re-enter geometric data,
thermal values, and material properties as different disciplines
contributed to the design progress (Fischer and Kam, 2002).
Construction of the Eureka Tower residential project, in the
Southgate precinct of Melbourne commenced in mid 2002,
and was completed in September 2006 with a total of 92
above ground stories and other extensions investing a total
budget of AUD 500 million (USD 354 million). The
Architect’s radical decision to use BIM for this large design
activity necessitated the training of 15 to 25 members of the
project team in the application of BIM methodology and the
required computing upgrades. Fender Katsalidis Architects
(FKA) has found that utilisation of BIM benefits extend far
beyond within the project but to the firm as a whole. The BIM
use has flattened the traditional hierarchical management
structure and reduced the divide between the older design
principals and the younger technologically-savvy staff.
Multiple design options were easily explored, and subjected to
a higher degree of analysis and evaluation than would have
been possible with traditional 2D CAD. The increased focus
on analysis allowed better decision-making and lead to a
functionally sound innovative infrastructure. The
organisational benefits have been found to be well worth the
extra cost and effort, even though this was the first project
 ID: 308, Submitted for the 12th International Conference Information Visualisation, 9 - 11 July 2008, hoster: London South Bank
University, publisher: IEEE Computer Society, web: http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV08/
using BIM. Subsequent projects will reap the same benefits
with much less cost and effort (Khemlani, 2004).
The building Construction Authority in Singapore had
developed ePlanCheck system for automating the building
code checking for the building assessment and regulatory
approval through an independent platform called FORNAX.
The eGovernment solution provider novaCITYNETS Pte Ltd
has utilised the basic BIM information from IFC files to
incorporate relevant code checking requirements (Khemlani,
2005). This system requires the proposals to be submitted in
IFC file format, which has been released to the industrial use
since 2005. This has become a reference point on how local
governments and authorities can utilise BIM within their
strategy for the development of build environment.
Since 2002 many pilots and live projects have been
completed and documented in Finland, Sweden, Norway,
Germany, France, Singapore, UK and Australia, which
demonstrated the capability of BIM usage within the
construction process that facilitate infrastructure development
lifecycle. Many ongoing projects have proven to develop
more environmentally sustainable products compared to non-
BIM based projects. For example, Tocoman Professional
Services of Finland (www.tocoman.com) claims they have
facilitated over 200 projects each with 10% or more savings
by the utilisation of BIM within building construction
lifecycle activities, which has produced significantly better
infrastructures with improved stakeholder satisfaction. In
addition to this, IFC model server implementation
technologies are being developed by many software service
providers to meet the demand for fully integrated BIM
systems that facilitate long-term integrated collaboration and
communication processes. There are technological gaps in the
area, stakeholder view point services integration techniques,
which researchers are required to find solutions for
developing enhanced BIM systems. Such research should
capitalise on the developments made through projects such as
SABLE and their extension works (Kiviniemi, Fischer and
Bazjanac, 2005) described briefly in the next section.
Moreover, based on the lessons learnt from these and many
other BIM implementations, this paper provides a guide to
tackle challenges noted and to facilitate successful transition
towards the use of BIM systems in construction projects.
II. BIM INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PROJECT AND BUSINESS
PROCESSES
A. Status of the IFC Model Server implementation
The development of the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)
by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) started
with the vision of a shared building product model which
would cover all necessary information for building
infrastructure lifecycle; requirements management, different
design activities and construction and maintenance processes.
Its implementations into practical applications have shown
several serious problems. (Kiviniemi, Fischer and Bazjanac,
2005). One main issue was the inability to support the internal
2
structure of the information requirements within different
software products for the whole process. Due to these losses,
incremental data flow through the different applications, has
not been achievable yet (Nour, Firmenich, Richter and Koch,
2006).
B. Implementation issues with IFC based Model Servers
The development of model servers started in 2001 and as of
June 2005 at least three products exist (IMSvr 2002,
WebSTEP 2002, and EPM 2003). This development would
not have been possible without a comprehensive model
specification, such as the IFCs (Kiviniemi, Fischer and
Bazjanac, 2005). However the implementation of IFC model
server for multiple stakeholders has been difficult to achieve
as the current technology could not support changes to the
model by different stakeholders to address alternative design
options. To find a solution two major issues have been
investigated by Kiviniemi, Fischer and Bazjanac (2005) and
through collaborative activities or projects (SABLE, BLIS) as
below.
1. To efficiently capture, modify and assess variations of
designs four different model types been proposed: 1)
Requirements Model, 2) Design Model(s), 3) Production
Model(s), and 4) Maintenance Model. These submodels will
be linked to achieve the integrated project information model.
A crucial issue in the use of separated instantiated model is the
ability to link objects in different models to each other.
2. A standardised application interface for each stakeholder
domain has been proposed: This can solve the issue of
concurrent working with the model(s) by providing specific
user interfaces targeting each domain. The SABLE project
(2005) has developed such interfaces based on SOAP. Each
domain specific API handles the information exchange needed
by the client applications for each domain, which logically
corresponds with the BLIS views (BLIS, 2002).
Although some IFC compliant model servers were available
and SABLE API was at the finalising stage, the interfaces for
end-user applications were not present. Thus, the concept of a
multi-model environment has not been tested in real projects
(Kiviniemi, Fischer and Bazjanac, 2005) as of 2005. During
2006 the Researchers at Bauhaus University have constructed
a document-oriented application that could facilitate
distributed construction planning processes to a certain degree
(Nour, Firmenich, Richter and Koch, 2006). IFC model server
based developments are very encouraging towards
establishing a ‘BIM infrastructure’ to support the complete
lifecycle of an infrastructure development.
C. IFC based BIM systems for supporting infrastructure
lifecycle
Our vision of ‘BIM infrastructure’ is not far away form the
initial IAI shared building product model for buildings
infrastructure lifecycle. However due to the technological
 ID: 308, Submitted for the 12th International Conference Information Visualisation, 9 - 11 July 2008, hoster: London South Bank
University, publisher: IEEE Computer Society, web: http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV08/
constraints previously noted and the lucrative 3D AEC CAD
related systems market the current focus of software
developers have been concentrated around architectural design
and some aspects of assessing the building infrastructure
sustainability without addressing the business processes
reengineering requirements nor facilitation of interoperability
between business processes. This situation has seriously
undermined the capabilities and the value of a ‘BIM
infrastructure’ within the construction industry. Added to this
many companies have re-branded their product as BIM
systems and offer import / export capability for IFC file
format so that models can be visualised, commented and
refined by using other IFC compatible systems and tools when
required. In some cases even backward compatibility is not
supported between applications. This misconceived status
(mostly influenced by the software industry) has caused a drift
from the initial vision of ‘BIM infrastructure’ which should
have establish core processes for the facilitation of
collaboration and communication among all the stakeholders
within a construction project over the lifecycle of an
infrastructure development activity. For example, project
management software should be able to directly work with
IFCs or BIM systems to allow project stakeholders to share
planning, scheduling, estimating, etc. data (Froese et al, 1999).
In other words the project management and business process
management related processes need to be integrated within the
BIM systems to facilitate their seamless usage by construction
stakeholders. Such an initiative could bring ‘BIM
infrastructure’ vision back inline and the developers could
design lifecycle savvy usable products to facilitate the
industry to move forward for achieving the benefits.
D. Advantageous and benefits of using BIM systems
Major advantages of shifting towards BIM implementation
are (i) model based decision making, (ii) design and
construction alternatives, (iii) costs, energy and lifecycle
analysis, etc. The BIM is more likely to impinge on the
complete building documentation process to shift from
architectural drawings into a computerised model. This was
clearly evident in projects such as the Eureka Tower project.
This methodology then influences the proposition of the actual
investment, final design, construction process, final
infrastructure and the infrastructure lifecycle costs. The ability
for investigation of the desired spatial, functional and
architectural solutions that are more environmentally friendly
cost and energy efficient over the lifecycle has been a targeted
outcome of the modelling effort. In other words various
alternatives are compared in order to achieve the optimum
lifecycle costs with much more sustainable product
development process. The project stakeholders will be able to
acquire more details at early stages of the project in such a
way that many informed decisions could be arrived at to
facilitate the development works. Therefore, a key benefit of
BIM is its accurate geometrical representation of the parts of
building infrastructure in an integrated data environment.
Related benefits achieved in many projects (TOCOMAN,
3
2008: Takes, 2008) are: 1) faster and more effective
processes, 2) better design, 3) controlled whole life and
environmental data, 4) better production quality, 5) automated
assembly, 6) better customer service, 7) lifecycle data, 8)
integration of planning and implementation processes, 9) more
effective and competitive industry, and this is not an
exhaustive list. For successful BIM adoption, ongoing
training, consultancy and support are vital ingredients in
achieving a good return on the company's investment.
III. CURRENT ACCEPTANCE OF BIMS IN THE INDUSTRY
In some states such as Finland, Denmark, Norway and USA,
the use of BIM has been endorsed while some other states
have progressed toward it. Rapid advancement of some of
these activities is discussed briefly. In late 2003 U.S. General
Services Administration (US-GSA, 2008) notified the
requirement of utilising IFC models and server standards by
October 2006 and targeted to examine the opportunities via 10
pilot projects. GSA website contains highlights of the GSA
National 3D-4D BIM Program and publication details of BIM
Guide Series. As a result of the preparation of modelling
guidelines through 10 project initiative many BIM authoring
tools have been certified of their fitness for use. Authoring
tools; Autodesk’s ADT, Autodesk’s Revit, Graphisoft’s
ArchiCAD, Bentley’s Architecture, and Onuma Architecture
& Master Planning were the initial tools that passed this
certification (US-GSA, 2008) and the continual development
of modelling requirements proceed further. Details on IFC
version specification, which support each of these tools were
published by Dimyadi (2007). During 2007 National Building
Information Model Standard (NBIMS) has initiated another
US project which aimed to raise awareness of using BIM
systems and consequently NBIMS Executive Committee has
released National BIM Standard Version 1 through their web
site (NIBS, 2007). The project buildingSMART is a
Norwegian activity, which followed the IFC compatibility that
has been introduced by IAI in 2004. Many international
chapters of buildingSMART are actively promoting and
sharing the latest findings related to BIM implementation
within the lifecycle. HITOS project of University of Tromso
has been one of the well-known international activities that
used IFC model server (epm: technology - www.
epmtechnology.com) in a comprehensive manner. The
researchers involved published their assertion that current
business processes required to change to gain advantage from
the BIM (Lê, Mohus, Kvarsvik, and Lie, 2006). The
Directorate of Public Construction and Property, Statsbygg
has also produced brief documentation of the project. Further
works on BIM and IFC files including the HITOP project can
be accessed via the buildingSMART Norwegian public
repository: ftp://ftp.buildingsmart.no/pub/. Sara – Value
Networks in Construction (2003-2007) – is a technology
programme launched by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency
for Technology and Innovation. It focuses on developing eco-
efficient solutions for multi-storey and low-rise buildings and
 ID: 308, Submitted for the 12th International Conference Information Visualisation, 9 - 11 July 2008, hoster: London South Bank
University, publisher: IEEE Computer Society, web: http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV08/
provides tools to facilitate the adoption of BIM in
construction. During the programme, BIM tools and processes
have been developed in order to considerably improve
productivity in the industry and make it possible to manage
the information generated and maintained throughout the
lifecycle of buildings more efficiently (Takes, 2008). Finland
as the world leader of BIM has within this publication,
summarised 108 projects, which have been completed in this
programme.
Although slow progressive changes are taking place within
the UK industry and whilst many UK companies are happy to
continue using traditional CAD, it is noticeable that US
organisations working in the UK markets are effectively
converting their processes to utilise BIM technologies
(Oakley, 2008). This conversion requires; training, resources,
content creation, team working and new workflows which all
need to be managed simultaneously. It is clear within the UK
industry, as is, change will not happen overnight, however
having a clear strategy along with the correct guidance will
enable this process (Oakley, 2008). Lack of cohesive
directions from the UK authorities comparable to discussed
international initiatives have created this drag and further
research is needed to direct them through meaningful
engagement with the industrial bodies to bring the intelligence
forward for making the valuable decision to aggressively
engage with BIM within infrastructure development works in
a timely manner.
A. Challenges and sustainability of the business process
Within the non-BIM environment current industry and
business practices do not facilitate the efficient transfer of
requirements, design and as-built construction; data,
information and knowledge for the increasingly critical phases
of environmental impact assessment, infrastructure operations,
and strategic asset and facility management. Nevertheless,
utilisation of BIM systems requires dramatic changes in the
current business practices, which will lead to development of
new and sustainable business process models. Due to cultural
and other aspects within many countries acceptance of BIM
has been a challenge, which requires overcoming many
barriers, steep learning curves that ultimately forces to a
paradigm shift. Having said that as a remedy to previously
mentioned inefficiencies BIM is said to be the serious
contender: the following is another point of view describing
advantages of BIM in a concise manner as adapted from
Laiserin.
Jerry Laiserin a well known future technologist and industry
analyst stated that: ‘BIM is a process of representation, which
creates and maintains multidimensional, data-rich views
throughout a project lifecycle to support communication
(sharing data); collaboration (acting on shared data);
simulation (using data for prediction); and optimisation (using
feedback to improve design, documentation and delivery).’
There are held to be many targets that a project can realise
by the utilisation of BIM, within the lifecycle, such as
4
improved; accuracy, consistency, integration, coordination
and synchronisation (Laiserin, 2007). These potential areas of
improvement are detailed in table 1.
TABLE 1 HERE
The LaiserinLetter online website has published a white
paper by Howell and Batcheler (2005) that details the status of
the utilisation of BIM in 2005 which provides a thorough
analysis of many projects, tools and techniques.
B. Solving the skill and knowledge gap
On the other hand, it is anticipated that it will bring about
new challenges for construction stakeholders such as the
emerging knowledge and skill gap in BIM implementation
and use.
BIM systems influence organisations to employ more
experienced project managers and project architects at the
very beginning of an infrastructure development project. In
particular those with good construction and design knowledge
and capability of building models are required at early stages.
BIM systems require architects and designers to spend more
time on the design while less time on drafting (Birx, 2006).
Also, the features offered by these systems facilitate
producing a more through designs and comprehensive
documentation with less overall time.
New architectural graduates can now move swiftly into
design studies, so that they become better designers in a
shorter duration, with less experience in drafting which is no
longer a major requirement for modelling with these systems.
Therefore curriculum, educational programmes and courses
targeting this career pathway need to be developed for new
graduates who will be more attractive to organisations that
employ BIM systems for their construction works. This new
career path may also lead to the offering of better salaries for
younger graduates and hence more interest can easily be
generated. Furthermore, new job opportunities such as BIM
Managers are becoming a reality (Gallello, 2008).
IV. RE-ENGINEERING OF THE BUSINESS PRACTICES
A. Deriving strategies to minimise the impact to business
practices
BIM could also be considered as a new methodology for
managing lifecycle of a building with the focus of
environmental impact, building design and documentation.
The implementation process could impose on newly started or
ongoing infrastructure projects some delays through; potential
disruptions, difficulties in workflow transition (Kirby, 2007)
and in many of these circumstances a lack of appropriate
training to staff was evident. Furthermore, it is vital to derive
strategies that resolve the adversely affect to the existing
business practices of companies who adhere BIM
technologies within their organisations.
The following steps are provided for organisations to
minimise these barriers during the design and construction
process of a project.Most of the steps are detailed in table 2
 ID: 308, Submitted for the 12th International Conference Information Visualisation, 9 - 11 July 2008, hoster: London South Bank
University, publisher: IEEE Computer Society, web: http://www.graphicslink.co.uk/IV08/
within the phases of the BIM implementation process that
include; preparation, role-out and post-implementation.
i) Preparation phase
At this phase the organisation needs to prepare for this new
investment by analysing it’s effect on the business process and
prepare methods to minimise any difficult situations during
and after the implementation (E.g. There could be a current
project under no circumstance this project can absorb any
delays, Budgetary restriction could impose training of all the
staff as required). Utilisation of a Business Process
Management (BPM) system, implementation checklists, and
initial training can alleviate much of the problematic
situations. Recognition of the business processes which
require re-engineering are identified.
ii) Role-out phase
At this phase the organisation works through the change
management process for implementation of all the systems,
training programmes and conducting business assessments of
the outcomes achieved via the newly implemented system on
live pilot projects. This involves complete assessment of the
reengineered business processes within the business.
Unfortunately advice on these matters may not necessarily be
received from BIM system services suppliers. It is important
to measure the effectiveness, efficiency and performance on
all the business processes through the pilot projects and rectify
any issues identified before moving to post-implementation.
iii) Post-implementation phase
At this phase a thorough analysis is conducted of
effectiveness on business intelligence accrual and extended
performance gain, through the new implementation, on the
completed pilot projects. This will lead to defining
organisations’ current status and future plans, in particular:
new business opportunities that the business could target
(Kirby, 2007); extended training requirements of staff; and
more importantly completion of the assessment of ROI
following the organisation’s acceptance of BIM within their
business strategy.
TABLE 2 HERE
V. CONCLUSION
Most building owners, contractors, engineers and architects
have a vision to improve one or more aspects of their existing
business processes, which influence project’s; accuracy,
consistency, integration, coordination and synchronisation. By
improving all of these points, it has been estimated that cost
savings of between 10% and 30% of the overall investment
could be achieved in the construction industry (Laiserin,
2008). Utilisation of BIM infrastructure within the
construction business process is one of the clear directions for
above stakeholders to realise this vision. Developments on
this front and findings of many projects, pilot activities and
5
finally strategies for BIM infrastructure implementation are
detailed above.
Furthermore, BIM offers to clients, a better ability to
assess constructional, financial and design optimisation in an
accurate and fully integrated methodology. Governments and
authorities from a number of countries have taken this
opportunity seriously and are actively being promoting the
associated technologies and services providers. Through BIM
methodology, design investigation and development focusing
on optimisation via alternatives are made at the time when
changes are easy to implement. Thus, detailed assessments of;
environmental, thermal, wind, shadow, visual bulk, lifecycle
cost, together constructional and costing impacts of any
design arrive earlier in the design process facilitating the
benefits described. Authorities and industry partners should
capitalise on the best practices and lessons learnt.
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http://www.facilityinformationcouncil.org/bim/publications.php [19] Takes “Sara – Value Networks in Construction 2003–2007”,
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TABLE 1: POTENTIAL AREAS OF IMPROVEMENTS (ADAPTED FROM LAISERIN, 2007)

Target Potential improvement Example case
Accuracy Complete, correct communication Owner requirements to designer (program/ brief),
between AEC/O project participants designer feedback to owner (visualisation/
simulation), design intent to construction documents
(CDs), and CDs to constructors/ bidders
Consistency Uniformity within a representation Within a set of drawings or specs

Integration Linkage between related representations
Coordination Interference checking among disciplines
Synchronisation Achieving comparable levels of
detail/resolution over time
Between drawings and specs or between models and
sequencing/schedules
Between building and site or between structural and
Mechanical/ Electrical/ Plumbing (MEP)
Drawings/ specs versus cost

TABLE 2: BIM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS AND FOCUS POINTS

Phase Steps involve Focus point
Preparing a) Planning for the change
b) Business process management Effects to the Business Process (BP)
c) Implementation checklist
d) Implementation plan Minimising the recognised effects on the BP
e) Initial training In particular higher management and those
who are affected the most
f) Training plan for next phase
Rolling-out g) Change management
h) Adequate hardware and software
i) Implementation
j) Training all staff
k) Piloting first few projects Performance of the BP
l) Minor adjustments Rectifying the BP
Post-implementation m) Update implementation plan
n) Post-implementation ckecklist Any future activities and plan
o) Assess adequacy of training
p) Evaluate pilots for further
recommendation
q) Confirm increased business Optimising the BP
intelligence and performance

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