Evaluating the Impact of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on Construction

This research assessed perceptions about the impact of the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) on construction projects. Survey questions centered on impact with respect to six primary construction key performance indicators (KPIs) commonly used in the construction industry as accepted metrics for assessing job performance. These include: quality control (rework), on-time completion, cost, safety (lost man-hours), dollars/unit (square feet) performed, and units (square feet) per man hour. Qualitative data was collected through a survey instrument intended to assess practitioners ’ perceptions about BIM impacts on the six Key Performance Indicators. The survey was targeted at National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Facility Information Council (FIC) National BIM Standard (NBIMS) committee members. The survey, with a response rate of 50 completed surveys, showed preliminary results indicating that the NIBS FIC NBIMS members felt that a BIM-based approach improves construction metrics compared to construction without BIM. Specifically, the highest three ranking KPIs in order of most favorable responses were quality, on time completion, and units per man hour. The second tier of favorable responses included overall cost and cost per unit. Finally, only 46%, or less than half, of the respondents thought that construction safety was improved through BIM