Project Management - Challenges of Building Information Modeling - Essay Example

 I, in this paper, summarize an article on Building Information Modelling and expound the article’s major points.

Summary of the article and exploration of the raised issues

The article identifies Mark Bew as the man who is in charge of ensuring that government contractors subscribe and adhere to Business Information Technology. He heads a government agency whose role is to ensure the application of BIM and recounts that significant progress has been achieved over the scope of his work and that of his agency. Even though the application promises a higher level of efficiency and reduced costs, it has been a difficult task convincing both government departments and contractors to adopt BIM. In its scope of reducing the cost of government constructions, the application faces both culture and technology-based challenges. While technological developments empower institutions to BIM’s application, only about 33 percent of professionals applied BIM by the year 2011. This was an improvement from the recorded 13 percent in the year 2010 and about 75 percent of the professional who was informed of the application promised to use it in the year 2012. The application has also been poorly defined and this could be a factor to its low rate of use besides different opinions and expectations from stakeholders. The different groups of stakeholders report their developed concerns, to Bew, which are then forwarded to the cabinet for consideration.

BIM also operates at different levels of shared information. Level 2 BIM reserves proprietary rights while level 3 BIM is more open. Its information disclosure is however similar to the current impacts of social media and should therefore not pose serious threats. The swift implementation of BIM and its associated jargon has also identified differences among stakeholders. “Culture and integration” is one of the bases of such differences, as some of the stakeholders believe that implementing the application requires a preliminary cultural transition and development of a level of integration (Construction Manager, 18). The amount of information to be shared in the model is another concern of the different stakeholders with opinions that the government would require more than necessary data from subscribing parties. Balancing scorecard in the application of BIM is another identified concern because of the government’s procurement need that prioritizes the lowest bidder and the need for BIM compliance since the lowest bidder may lack the compliance as opposed to the most costly bidder. Other issues that the application of BIM faces include “finding a wider audience,” “integrated project insurance,” and “charter for new consultants” (Construction Manager, 20). Crotty however identifies a competitive advantage and efficiency from contractors’ application of BIM as benefits because of the precision in the description of construction components and ease in identification of contractors’ products (Construction Manager, 2012).

Development and application of Building Information Modelling have marked a significant transition in the construction industry, from two-dimensional drawings that required multiple representations and could still not be interpreted by computers, to three-dimensional models that are can be interpreted by computer systems (Easman, 2009). The new approach applies computer software for managing data (Chartered Institute of building, 2011). The application has diversified advantages such as improvements in processes (Coates, Koskela, and Kagioglou, 2011; Ka-din and Qing, 2012) and costs savings (LeFevre, 2011). It is however important to note that the advantages depend on applicable methods (Rob and Christer, 2008). The application also ensures design optimization and reduces both design and construction errors (Folster, 2008; Azhar, Hein and Sketo, n.d.) besides facilitating consistency (na, 2010). Further, the application facilitates the integration of roles and cohesion among stakeholders (Azhar, Nadeem, Mok, and Leung, 2008). These benefits derive advantages to both service providers and clients and identify the government’s reason for promoting the application of Building Information Modelling by its contractors. The controversy towards differing opinions over the implementation of Building Information Modelling however rises from its associated challenges. It for example requires exceptional skills among contractors (Eastman, Teicholz, Sacks and Liston, 2011). Lack of sufficient buy-in among players in the construction industry also identifies a reason for the difference in opinion and the low rate of its application (Foster, 2008). Other challenges that face the application are its restrictive nature, the need for “inter-organizational co-operation” and extra input (Brown, 2008, 19). The process itself and its required training are also challenges that induce conflict in the industry’s application of BIM and could be responsible for companies’ reluctance to apply it (Al-Mannai, n.d.; Arayici, Egbu, and Coates, 2012)      

Conclusion

The article identifies BIM, an application in the construction industry, which the government prefers among its constructors. The application has a number of advantages to clients and contractors, a reason why the government advocates for its use, though it faces a number of challenges that seem to discourage constructors from applying it. There is, however, a positive trend in its application and the industry could rely on it, in the future, because of its advantages that supersede its challenges.