Critical Challenges for BIM Adoption in Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises: Evidence from China

Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) is a set of technologies that aim to increase interorganisational and cross-disciplinary collaboration in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industries to promote productivity and the quality of design, construction, and maintenance stages of a building. Studies on BIM adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have remained an under-represented area. It is necessary to understand the main challenges hindering the adoption of BIM in SMEs and to consider corresponding strategies that can be applied in order to obtain further understanding of BIM in SMEs. On the basis of literature review and interview, stakeholder-associated factors were identified from a network perspective, and the social network analysis (SNA) method was applied to determine the interconnections between the influencing factors and links in BIM adoption in SMEs. Eventually, 10 critical factors and 10 crucial links were selected and divided into six challenges. Corresponding strategies, including cultivating the BIM perception of SMEs, integrated project delivery, strengthening the legal environment for BIM adoption in SMEs, and developing native software and standards and cloud-based technology, were proposed to mitigate these challenges. The strategies may help practitioners gain an in-depth understanding of BIM adoption in SMEs from a stakeholder-oriented perspective.

Pathways for the Improvement of Construction Productivity: A Perspective on the Adoption of Advanced Techniques

“…A revolutionary emergence, BIM, offers numerous precise and practical data to the construction industry, from an improved computeraided drawing (CAD) model, to the involvement of project stockholders in a multidisciplinary working environment [54]. BIM presents considerable potential for coordination, collaboration, and integration along with improvements in information flow and data processing that reach beyond the capacity of traditional construction methods [55].…”

“…is theme optimises multidisciplinary coordination and provides a better collaborative environment. [55,100,103,104] Cost e BIM model has excellent capability for determining measures and estimations of site activities. Highly accurate estimation could be offered accordingly, thus reducing excess costs.…”

BIM Methodology and Tools Implementation for Construction Companies (GreenBIM Project)

“…The absence of practical evidence capable of demonstrating an effective ROI in BIM implementation is one of the main barriers in BIM adoption for SMEs (Hosseini et al 2016). Li et al (2019) identified six critical factors and challenges for BIM adoption in SMEs, namely: limited resources, collaboration challenges, lack of BIM awareness, legal disputes and uncertainties in policies, difficulties in meeting SMEs' needs and concerns about data and information. On the other hand, Hosseini et al (2016) argued that the lack of awareness is no longer a barrier in SMEs in the Australian areas.…”

“…However, most of the existing studies are related to big and/or complex projects and focused on the design phase. Thus, several studies highlighted the lack of research for the SMEs and how SMEs are lagging behind in the adoption of BIM and in general in the implementation of new digital technologies along the lines of the industry 4.0 paradigm (Hosseini et al 2016;Lam et al 2017;Li et al 2019).…”

Construction project stakeholders’ perceptions and expectations of their roles in BIM-based collaboration

“…Based on analyses Li, Zheng, Si, and Xu (2019) proposed five strategies to mitigate challenges in BIM adoption in SMEs. These strategies, including cultivating the BIM perception of SMEs, integrated project delivery (IPD), strengthening the legal environment for BIM adoption in SMEs, and developing native software and standards and cloud-based technology, are mainly based on the view of governments, software developers, owners, and contractors who are the main stakeholders in the adoption of BIM by SMEs.…”