The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected world economies. The water industry was adversely affected, with unprecedented slow down and changes to ways of working. However, the pandemic also accelerated positive digital transformation. A qualitative research approach was adopted to analyze data collected from 12 interviewees representing six water sector organizations. The paper provides insight into the impact of COVID-19 on the delivery of water sector projects and how organizational practices have adapted from business as usual.

PurposeThe UK water industry is a private sector that has no government mandate to implement building information modelling (BIM) but would benefit from its use. Research has identified that fragmentation and inefficiency still existed in the water industry project delivery processes. These issues can be addressed by harnessing the collaboration that BIM brings by using emerging information technology. The UK water industry has had little research in the use of BIM in the project delivery processes over the years.Design/methodology/approachThe aim of the research is to explore and examine BIM elements currently used in the water industry, as well as understand the organisational cultural support for BIM. It also investigated the adoption of BIM which will enable to improve water industry project delivery processes. An empirical study was performed in the UK given the relatively new and unexplored nature of the research problem, a qualitative research methodology was adopted. In total, 14 semi-structured interviews from six water sector organisations were conducted to collect data, which was then analysed using thematic analysis for inference and conclusion.FindingsThe study identified that BIM has already changed how projects are delivered by the water companies and their supply chain. Use of emerging technology such as Autodesk Revit, Civil 3D and virtual reality has gained traction and is leading organisations to continue investing in these areas to remain relevant. Although staff training was offered by all organisations within the study cohort, some interviews still thought that more can be done by their organisations as BIM is still maturing. Those interviewed regarded BIM models as data and information rich with the ability to enable the supply chain to obtain quicker approvals.Originality/valueThe paper provides a richer insight into the understanding and awareness of BIM elements used in the water industry to improve project delivery processes. This study suggests that the water industry supply chain has taken positive steps and started to benefit from BIM use. It also recommends that there is a need for cross-sector collaboration to capture and share best and worst practices relating to BIM adoption in the water sector.

The UK private water industry has seen a lot of growth in expenditure since privatisation. Ofwat, Defra and DWI have set targets for the water companies to be customer focused, reducing bills, be innovative as well as encourage competition. The emergence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has offered opportunities to the water industry to achieve cost and programme efficiencies as the rest of the construction industry. This, together with emerging information technology has allowed organisations to take steps in collaborative working, making information available at the right time to the right people, which is fundamental to Knowledge Management (KM). There is limited research in the subject of BIM being used in the context of and tool for KM within the UK water industry. Hence the aim of the study is to explore and understand how the UK water industry is using BIM for KM. A qualitative case study was used for the collection and analysis of data with the results obtained through review of water company supply chain processes, documents, observations and semi structured interviews. The key finding from the study is the significant impact of organisational culture influence on the implementation of BIM & KM in which the water industry supply chain has been aligning its business goals, identifying needed knowledge, creating KM resources and sharing knowledge through BIM as one of KM resources or tools. In conclusion, research identifies that the water industry is heading in the right direction, with leadership and management at the forefront of instilling a positive KM culture, though it is still developing. Ongoing training and provision of resources for KM should continue to be invested in to yield cost, programme, quality and knowledge capture benefits. The close definitions for Information and Knowledge should be taken advantage of for development and implementing of KM strategies using BIM as one of its key tool or resource.

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