Department of Real Estate and Construction Management

Thesis no. 263

Architecture and Build Environment, ABE

Master of Science, 30 credits

Architectural Design and Construction Project Management

Study of the implementation process of

BIM in construction projects
Analysis of the barriers limiting BIM adoption in the AEC-industry

Author:

Supervisor:

Hannes Lindblad

Vino Tarandi
Stockholm 2013

Master of Science thesis

Title: Study of the implementation process of BIM in construction projects

Author: Hannes Lindblad
Department of Real Estate and Construction Management
Master Thesis number: 263
Supervisor: Vino Tarandi
Keywords: Building information modelling, BIM, Barriers, BIM adoption

Abstract
The AEC-industry has been lagging behind other types of production
industries in terms of productivity development for the last 40 years. The
reason for this has been described as to be a combination of the
collaborative needs in performing construction projects combined with the
fragmented nature of the AEC-industry. Building information modelling (BIM)
has been presented as a way of addressing these issues and thereby
improving productivity in construction projects.
The adoption of BIM has been slow and many barriers hindering
widespread adoption of this technology have been revealed. There are
however no single barrier that could be solved individually in order to enable
more extensive BIM adoption. These barriers are hindering many different
aspects of effective adoption of BIM.
When compared to traditional 2D CAD systems, BIM is a more efficient
way of handling information connected to the project or the building.
Adoption of BIM enables changes in work processes that can streamline the
performance in construction projects. Adoption of BIM is not only a change in
technology; there is a need for substantial changes in work processes in order
to make improvements to productivity. BIM is a tool to improve processes in
order to reach certain goals, not a goal in own right.

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In this thesis I examine how BIM has been adopted in two different
construction projects. The research aims to develop the understanding of the
barriers hindering BIM adoption in order to make it more accessible for the
AEC-industry.

Preface
This master thesis within the subject of barriers hindering the adoption
of BIM in the AEC-industry, is the final part in the master program of
Architectural Design and Construction Project Management at the Royal
Institute of Technology (KTH) at the department of Real Estate and
Construction Management. The thesis consists of 30 credits and the subject
has been developed in collaboration with Vino Tarandi.
My ambition with this master thesis is both to develop my
understanding of BIM and contributing to the general understanding of why
BIM is being adopted at such a slow rate in the industry.
I would like to thank all persons I have interviewed to be able to
present this thesis. In particular I want to thank Per Bjlnes and Thomas Thorsell
for setting aside time to help me in the progress of these theses. I also want to
present my gratitude to Vino Tarandi for supervising the work in this master
thesis, providing guidance and feedback during the progress of my research.

Hannes Lindblad

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Abbreviations

AEC

Architecture, Engineering, Construction

BIM

Building Information Modelling

CAD

Computer Aided Design

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

IFC

Industry Foundation Classes

PPP

Public Private Partnership

ROI

Return on Investment

2D

Two dimensions: x, y

3D

Three dimensions: x, y, z

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Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................1
Preface .........................................................................................................................................2
Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................3
Contents .......................................................................................................................................4
1.

Introduction .........................................................................................................................7
1.1 Introduction /background ..............................................................................................7
1.2 Problem statement ...........................................................................................................7
1.3 Purpose ...............................................................................................................................8
1.3.1 Research question ..................................................................................................................8

1.4 Delimitation ........................................................................................................................9

1.5 Reading guide...................................................................................................................9
2.

Method ...............................................................................................................................10
2.1 Research design .............................................................................................................10
2.2 Reasoning - Inductive and deductive ........................................................................10
2.3 Qualitative and Quantitative research methods .....................................................11
2.4 Literature review..............................................................................................................12
2.5 Empirical data .................................................................................................................12
2.5.1 Case-studies ......................................................................................................................... 12
2.5.2 Interviews............................................................................................................................... 13

2.6 Validity and reliability .....................................................................................................13

2.6.1 Validity threats ...................................................................................................................... 13

2.7 Research ethics ...............................................................................................................14

3.

Theory .................................................................................................................................15
3.1 Background to BIM .........................................................................................................15
3.1.1 BIM as a concept................................................................................................................. 15
3.1.2 Different levels of BIM .......................................................................................................... 15

3.2 Potential benefits with BIM ............................................................................................17

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3.3 Slow adoption .................................................................................................................18

3.4 Barriers to BIM adoption.................................................................................................19
3.5 Barriers linked to the BIM product ................................................................................19
3.5.1 Interoperability ..................................................................................................................... 19
3.5.2 Different views on BIM ......................................................................................................... 21
3.5.3 Poor match with the users needs ..................................................................................... 22

3.6 Barriers linked to the BIM process .................................................................................23

3.6.1 Changing work processes .................................................................................................. 23
3.6.2 Risks and challenges with the use of a single model ..................................................... 24
3.6.3 Legal issues............................................................................................................................ 25
3.6.4 Transactional business process evolution ........................................................................ 26
3.6.5 Lack of demand and disinterest ....................................................................................... 28

3.7 Barriers linked to the individuals using BIM ..................................................................29

3.7.1 The new role of BIM model manager ............................................................................... 30
3.7.2 Training of individuals .......................................................................................................... 30

4.

Empirics ...............................................................................................................................32
4.1 Cases-study 1 Campus Utbildningshus .....................................................................32
4.1.1 Introduction to the project ................................................................................................. 32
4.1.2 Different actors and their roles .......................................................................................... 32
4.1.3 BIM in the project ................................................................................................................. 34
4.1.4 The project so far ................................................................................................................. 36
4.1.5 How barriers to BIM have been addressed ..................................................................... 36

4.2 Cases-study 2 Nya Karolinska Solna .........................................................................38

4.2.1 Introduction to the project ................................................................................................. 38
4.2.2 Different actors and their roles .......................................................................................... 38
4.2.3 Public private partnership .................................................................................................. 39
4.2.4 BIM in the NKS project ......................................................................................................... 41
4.2.5 BIM in regard to the different actors ................................................................................. 42
4.2.6 How barriers have been addressed ................................................................................. 47

5.

Analysis ...............................................................................................................................49
5.1 The BIM concept and its benefits ................................................................................49
5.2 BIM, more than a change in technology ...................................................................50
5.3 Connecting program/tools with processes and people .........................................52

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5.4 The importance of individuals ......................................................................................53

5.5 The greatest barrier to BIM adoption ..........................................................................54
5.6 Who should drive the adoption of BIM? .....................................................................56
6.

Conclusions ........................................................................................................................58
6.1 recap of the research question ...................................................................................58
6.2 The BIM concept .............................................................................................................58
6.3 The implementation process ........................................................................................59
6.4 To improve the implementation rate of BIM ..............................................................60
6.5 Further research ..............................................................................................................60
6.7 Afterword .........................................................................................................................61

7.

References .........................................................................................................................62
7.1 References case-studies ................................................................................................63
7.2 Interviews ..........................................................................................................................64

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1.

Introduction

1.1 Introduction /background

The real estate and construction industry is one of the worlds larger
industries but also one of the most fragmented. The characteristic view of the
industry is of a brought together multidisciplinary group in a unique project
facing great coordinating issues (Isikdag et al. 2007). Advances in information
and communication technology (ICT) have been put forward as a tool to
deal with these coordination issues in order to improve the industries
historically low productivity (Johnson and Laepple 2003).
During the last three decades the construction industry has seen
drastic improvement of the use of IT (Fisher et al. 2006). The latest and most
promising in these developments is the use of Building information modelling
(BIM) (Eastman at al. 2011). BIM can be described as a tool that enables
storage and reuse of information and domain knowledge throughout the
lifecycle of the project (Vanlande and Nicolle 2008). Therefore BIM has a main
role of coordinating and integrating the exchange of information and
knowledge between different disciplines and phases within the project.
The use of BIM in a construction project both has the potential benefit
of improving product quality, and enabling more sustainable designs of
buildings (Eastman et al. 2011).
Even though the economic and environmental benefits of BIM is
widely acknowledged (Eastman et al. 2011; Howell and Batcheler 2005; Azhar
et al. 2008; Fischer and Kunz 2006; Yusuf et al. 2009), the adoption of this new
technology has been slow (Bernstein and Pittman 2005). This thesis aims to
develop the understanding of the barriers limiting the implementation of BIM
in the construction industry by studying different project participants
expectation of BIM.

1.2 Problem statement

The AEC-industry has a historically low increase of productivity when
compared with other industry. BIM has been introduced by many as a way of
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addressing this problem, but even while the development of BIM has
continued for many years the adoption rate is still slow. There are currently a
lot of research developing theories on why, focusing on different barriers
limiting the usefulness of BIM or limiting the ability to adopt BIM in construction
projects. How these different theories interact is however not very well
documented. There is a need to develop the understanding of how these
barriers combine and in what way they can be bridged. There is also no clear
consensus of which actor, if any, that should drive the development and
adoption of BIM in order to address this low productivity rate.

1.3 Purpose
This thesis analyses the underlying barriers which hinders BIM adoption
in the AEC-industry. The purpose of the research is to develop the
understanding of the decision making process regarding BIM in a construction
project. By understanding the implementation process of BIM, the cause of its
slow adoption rate can be further examined.
1.3.1 Research question
I order for achieve the purpose of this thesis I have worked with the
following research question:
-

How is the decision regarding BIM taken in a construction project?

This research question aims to reveal how the process of BIM adoption

is initialized in construction projects. I will survey the early phases of a

construction project and my research hopes to reveal the following:

How the decision regarding BIM was made, what benefits and barriers
was deemed most important?

Which actors that were involved in this decision?

How accurate the different actors understanding of BIM are?

If there were a consensus regarding the decision or if single individuals

drove the adoption process?

How barriers to BIM adoption have been addressed in the project?

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This will enlarge the empirical material supporting the different theories
explaining the slow implementation on BIM in the AEC-industry today.

1.4 Delimitation
The scope of the thesis involves how BIM came to be adopted in
specific cases studied, how the decision was made and by whom and how
the project team tries to meet the barriers connected with a BIM
implementation.
If the adoption of BIM has been successful or not cannot be analysed
in the studied cases because of the early staged in their progress, and is only
indirectly interesting for achieving the purpose of the thesis. The general
benefits of BIM have been analysed in many other studies and I find those
results sufficient for my analysis.

1.5 Reading guide

Before reading the whole theses a brief explanation of the layout of
the thesis might be beneficial enabling better understanding of the research
and the findings.
The theory chapter is divided into two different parts; the first one
describes BIM as a concept and elaborates around why the issue of BIM is of
interest. The second part describes different barriers to BIM adoption and why
these barriers are issues of concern.
The empirics chapter describes two projects in which BIM has been
used. These projects serve as practical examples of how the barriers can be
bridged. BIM has been adopted or is planned to be adopted quite differently
in these two projects.
The analysis combines the findings in both the theory and empirics
chapters and elaborates on how the issues and barriers described by other
researchers have been addressed in the cases studies.
The conclusion chapter is then a summary of the discussion made in
the analysis chapter and drawing conclusions based on the questions
described in the introduction chapter.
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2.

Method
This chapter describes how I have conducted my research in the

thesis, the methods and techniques used in the collection of data. Here
threats to the validity and reliability to the results and conclusions are also
present together with how ethics have been addressed throughout the
research.

2.1 Research design

The research design is the general plan for how the empirical research
should be related to the conceptual research problem. It provides a plan for
how and what data should be collected and how the results should be
analysed. The chosen research design will influence the type and quality of
the collected empirical data. (Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010)
My choice of research design is exploratory research. The research
problem in this thesis is well understood, namely the slow implementation of
BIM. The goal of my research is to develop the understanding of the barriers
slowing down the adoption of BIM in the AEC-industry. The research also
wants to examine how different barriers revealed in earlier research affect a
specific project and which of them have actually been deemed as most
problematic. This research design is suitable to explore the impact of different
barriers and how they have affected the decision to either adopt BIM or
continue using the traditional work processes.
The goal of this research design is to develop the underlying theory of
how the different barriers hinders the adoption of BIM in the AEC-industry.

2.2 Reasoning - Inductive and deductive

There are two different ways of establishing what is true or false and
ways of drawing conclusions. These ways are induction and deduction.
Induction is based on empirical evidence while deduction is based on logic.
(Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010)

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Induction This way of reasoning draws general conclusions from

empirical observations. Inductive research progresses from observations
findings theory building. Findings are added to the existing knowledge,
literature or theories, to improve these theories. The outcome of this research is
theory. Generally this research is associated with the qualitative research
type. When following this type of reasoning it is however important to know
that the inductive conclusions are never absolutely reliable. These conclusions
are based on empirical observations and even in a large number of such
observations you can never be sure that any interesting results are missed.
(Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010)
Deduction This way of reasoning draws conclusions based on logic.
The researcher builds hypotheses from existing knowledge, which can be
tested trough empirical studies and be accepted or rejected. Generally this
type of research is associated with quantitative research. (Ghauri and
Grnhaug 2010)
I have chosen to mostly incorporate the inductive reasoning in this
thesis. This type of research will enable me to draw conclusions from collected
data and enlarging the understanding of the barriers limiting the adoption of
BIM. On the other hand I have used deductive reasoning analysing which
barriers affecting the different projects and adapted my case-studies and
interviews thereafter.

2.3 Qualitative and Quantitative research methods

The two basic groups of research methods are: qualitative and
quantitative. The difference between these research methods is the
procedure in which data is collected. The choice of method is based on the
research design chosen. (Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010)
My choice of exploratory research makes the qualitative research
method most suitable. This research method is suitable when emphasising on
the understanding on the underlying problem (Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010).

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2.4 Literature review

The literature review is aimed to establish a theoretical understanding
of the concept of BIM and the barriers limiting its adoption. It has been used in
two stages, first to assure my understanding of the prior knowledge in the
subject, and secondly to be a comparison for the empirical data. The areas
of interest for my literature review are: BIM as a concept, benefits of BIM and
barriers to BIM adoption. The sources have mainly been books and articles.

2.5 Empirical data

For primary data I have chosen to use two case-studies and to
supplement them with interviews to deepen my understanding of the
projects.
2.5.1 Case-studies
There are several case-studies done on projects where BIM has been
implemented. They provide good secondary data for the analysis in the
thesis. These cases are generally not located in Sweden however, and might
therefore not be representative of the conditions is this country. The cases
studied are the following:

KTH Campus Utbildningshus Akademiska Hus is currently planning new

facilities at the KTH campus at Valhallavgen. This project will implement
BIM and therefore suite as a good case to study. This project is in the initial
stage, and therefore it should be interesting to see how issues with the BIM
adoption are addressed and how the decisions were made.

Nya Karolinska Solna (NKS) The hospital Nya Karolinska is currently

constructed. In this project there are high expectations regarding the use
of BIM and this will continue through the projects lifecycle. Therefore this
project serves as another good case to study when analysing how BIM can
be adopted in a Swedish context. This project has progressed much further
than the project in KTH Campus and therefore other issues will have been
found and addressed which will be of interest to the research.

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The information for the case-studies will be gathered mostly by

interviews of people connected with usage of BIM in the project. Information
will also be gathered in protocol notes and similar sources.
2.5.2 Interviews
The main role of interviews in the research is to supplement the casestudies and provide deeper understanding of how the project processes have
been affected by BIM. The people I have interviewed have been directly
connected with the BIM adoption in the respective projects and have
therefore been of interest. The interviews have been of a semi-structured type
with much freedom to elaborate both on the concept of BIM and how it
affects or is expected to affect the project processes.

2.6 Validity and reliability

The validity and reliability of the collected data in the thesis will have
an impact on its value. Without correct and repeatable results its value
decreases rapidly (Ghauri and Grnhaug 2010). As discussed in the casestudies section, empirical data from other countries might not be valid in
Sweden. This has to be taken into account when interviews and the casestudies are done and analysed; the research should try to determine if the
results in the international studies can be repeated in Sweden and thereby
determine its reliability.
Because the cases studied in the research are not completed and its
BIM system is under development there can be validity problems in the results
from the projects. Results can mirror expectations and hopes of future
usefulness rather than actual results. I will use interviews to try to avoid this by
analysing how decisions have been made and what they are based upon.
2.6.1 Validity threats
This thesis might suffer from the following validity threat:
Selection bias This thesis will suffer from selection bias because the
analysed cases cannot be chosen randomly. In addition to this the subjects
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might be biased because of their choice to use BIM in their current project.
This choice can have an impact on the interviewees views on the potential
usefulness of BIM, and make them generally positive. Because the cases
studied are not completed, unbiased quantitative analyses cannot be done
in this stage to verify the results.

2.7 Research ethics

It is important to have research ethics in mind. The research should not
cause embracement or in any way harm any participating individuals. The
published thesis will also be available for all interested parties which makes
everything it contains public.
To address this issue I have made sure that the interviewees have
been aware of what my research aims to achieve and how I want to use their
contribution. Simultaneously the contribution to my research is unlikely to be
of embarrassing or harmful nature to any individual as the subject is not very
sensitive. Anyhow, I have decided to make all individuals anonymous in
regards to their names and only presented them as their professional roles in
the projects. The interviewees themselves are not of interest to the research
but rather their professional roles in the different projects.

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3.

Theory
In this chapter the theoretical background to BIM in the AEC-industry is

presented. The goal is to, first elaborate around the concept BIM and
secondly to collect different theories on which barriers have the greatest
impact on the willingness and effectiveness of BIM adoption in the AECindustry.

3.1 Background to BIM

3.1.1 BIM as a concept
The basic theory behind Building information modelling is well
described by Thompson and Miner (2007), in that; if all relevant data
connected to a project were stored in a single online system, the project
could be executed in a virtual environment first. When dimensions of time
(scheduling) and costs are added to the model this enables easy cost-timebenefit analysis of different options almost instantaneously. (Thompson and
Miner 2007)
When

developing

such

models

for

the

entire

project,

more

stakeholders, than it is practical today, can be included in the early phases of

a project. These stakeholders can inject their business- and engineering
knowledge into the design of the facility, its schedule and its organisation;
thereby improving coordination in all phases of the project (Fischer and Kunz
2006). The resulting BIM model, which is a data-rich, object-oriented
parametric representation of the facility, will serve as a repository for data
which can be extracted and analysed to suite all different users needs
throughout the buildings entire lifecycle (Azhar et al. 2008).
3.1.2 Different levels of BIM
Currently there is a lack of a clear definition in regard to what BIM
actually is (Howard and Bjrk 2008). There are many different levels to what
professionals define as BIM and this makes discussions regarding BIM
somewhat unclear. Many different organisations have tried to define BIM but
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there is a lack of consensus, many aspects are similar in regards to the model
but the level of how BIM affects the work processes differs (Isikdag, et al.
2007).
In this thesis the description of BIM used by the NBIMS (National Building
Information Modelling Standard) is used as a reference point in my research
because it covers more than just the model. NBIMS describes BIM as the
following:
Building information modelling is a new way of creating, sharing,
exchanging and managing the information in the project throughout the
buildings entire lifecycle. In this BIM can be categorised into different parts
containing (NBIMS 2007, in Isikdag, et al. 2007):

Product An intelligent representation of the building. It is intended as

a repository for information to be used by the owner or operators and
maintained throughout the buildings entire life-cycle.
Collaborative process Covering business standards, automated
process capabilities and interoperability for sustainable information
usage.
Many definitions of BIM address it as a single model as the repository

for the information (Isikdag, et al. 2007). This single model is however seen as
cumbersome by many professionals and it will need to be used together with
other type of data storage (Howard and Bjrk 2008). It might be more
practical to coordinate through a single database linked to the model and
keep the geometrical model simple (Howard and Bjrk 2008). The single
building information model has been a holy grail but it is doubtful if it will be
achieved or not (Howard and Bjrk 2008).
There are a great variety of different types of companies in the AECindustry, with different size, type of profession, experience with BIM, and so on.
To make a business case reliable it should be developed to accomplish
specific objectives taking the particular requirements and characteristics of
the company in consideration. It is not possible to make a typical business
process for the implementation of BIM. It is also possible that a single
company should develop more than one business case, each based on
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different scenarios. For example, there might be different level of model

sharing between the consultants in different projects. Depending on the level
of implementation of the possibilities with BIM the initial cost will vary, with
highest costs following high level of implementation. It is however suggested
that organisations will recover quickly with a positive ROI as their performance
will improve dramatically. (Aranda-Mena et al. 2009)

3.2 Potential benefits with BIM

The possible economic benefits and improvement of productivity with
successful implementation of BIM is well acknowledged and gradually better
understood within the AEC-industry (Bernstein and Pittman 2005). Several
studies have made conclusions regarding the advantages and possible
benefits with this new technology in comparison to traditional 2D CAD. For
example:
BIM is certainly viable and offers many realizable advantages over
CAD
-

Howell and Batcheler (2005)

As the use of BIM accelerates, collaboration within project teams

should increase, which will lead to improved profitability, reduces costs, better
time management and improved customer/client relationships
-

Azhar et al. (2008)

Building information models supports the exchange of data between

software to speed up analysis cycle times and reduce data input and transfer
errors
-

Fischer and Kunz (2006)

BIM can deliver tremendous benefits, but doing so requires a departure from
traditional ways of working.

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Arayici et al. (2009)

BIM is presented by many as a way of increasing the historically low

productivity in the AEC-industry. According to Kiviniemi (2013) there are
studies showing that the AEC-industry has much worse development of
productivity compared to other production industries, some even show that
its productivity has actually decreased during the last 40-years.
This development stems from poor information flow and need for
redundancy. By improving the management of information in construction
projects and enabling more collaboration within the extremely fragmented
AEC-industry, BIM is a way of addressing these issues. BIM is however not a
goal in itself but rather a tool to enable this higher productivity. (Kiviniemi
2013; Eastman et al. 2011)
As well as improving productivity during the project itself BIM has been
presented as a tool to increase performance after the project, in the facilities
management phase. According to Ding et al. (2009) the three aspects most
beneficial with adopting this new technology are: Digitalization, procurement
and benchmarking. Ability to use the model to support these three aspects
will improve the facilities management system and make it more sustainable.
It will provide better productivity and efficiency of both the facilities
management team and the organization as a whole; also it increases the
return on investment for the owner. (Ding et al. 2009)
Most facilities management systems do have access to all available
information. These systems also have problems with capturing potentially
useful information from the facility and its linked activities in an integrated
reusable way. BIM can be used to support the facilities management system
by serving as an information storage platform throughout the lifecycle of the
project, where it can serve as an as commissioned or as maintained model
rather than the traditional as built drawings. (Ding et al. 2009)

3.3 Slow adoption

Even though the potential benefits are well documented, both in
terms of improved productivity, together with many other potential benefits,

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the adoption of BIM is still slow in the industry (Gu and London 2010; Azhar et
al. 2008; Bernstein and Pittman 2005).
The AEC-industry is traditionally slow in adopting new technology and
BIM will have great effect on how the work processes look in the projects. But
for BIM to be adopted successfully to improve productivity there is a need to
change these work processes. The fragmented industry is a problem here
because this change cannot be adopted by single actors but must instead
affect all involved actors. Adoption of BIM will emphasise on integration,
collaboration and innovation connected with large cultural changes in the
industry. (Kiviniemi, 2013)

3.4 Barriers to BIM adoption

There are problems when implementing BIM in the very fragmented
AEC-industry and this is connected with many different barriers hindering
effective adoption. Gu et al. (2008) presents a way of categorizing relevant
factors connected to the slow BIM adoption in the AEC-industry. These
categories are; in terms of Product, Process and People. The reason for the
slow BIM implementation is not simply one single issue, but rather the
combination of several issues (Kiviniemi, 2013; Gu et al. 2008). In order for BIM
to be adopted on a border front in the AEC-industry all of these issues must be
considered.

3.5 Barriers linked to the BIM product

Many issues limiting the adoption of BIM in the AEC-industry is
connected with the BIM tools and their development. These issues are mostly
aspects of poor interoperability between different BIM programs and tools,
but this is not the only areas of concern. Currently the users demands on BIM
are not always met by technical possibilities with BIM as it is currently supplied.
3.5.1 Interoperability
Construction projects require good collaboration and information
exchange between all involved actors due to the collaborative nature of the
industry. Traditionally this exchange was made in the form of drawings and
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documents, when moving to adopt BIM new requirements are introduced to

ensure effective information exchange. BIM is not only a tool in the design
phase of the project, but rather an interface for information exchange
between different actors and phases in the project. Currently the different
actors are often using different tools, either from different vendors or
specialized for their business. Such difference in BIM tools presents challenges
for information exchange between the different actors because of
inadequate or lacking interoperability (Steel et al. 2012).
The development of BIM tools have progressed in the pursuit of
solutions for different professions. This process resulted in different programs
that do not interface well with each other or with advanced project
management tools. The two largest challenges for technology developers in
regards to BIM have ended up being interoperability in existing BIM systems
and creation of multi accurate models to fulfil different purposes. (Thompson
and Miner 2007)
The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) defined by the buildingSMART
alliance, is the accepted standard for BIM models. IFC is an ambitious
attempt to achieve model-based interoperability. It covers a wide range of
modelling information, not limited by the geometry of the objects, but also
metadata related to other aspects of the building. (Steel et al. 2012)
When analysing the level on interoperability in IFC, Steel et al. (2012)
consider it in four different levels.

File level interoperability - This covers the ability for different tools to
successfully exchange files.
Syntax level interoperability - This coves the ability for different tools to
successfully parse files without errors. This also covers the ability for
different tools to interoperate without errors.
Visualization level interoperability - This covers the ability for different
tools to correctly visualise the exchanged model.
Sematic level interoperability - This covers the ability for different tools to
come to the same understanding of the meaning of a model being
exchanged.

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The analysis by Steel et al. (2012) came to the conclusion that IFC has
so far achieved relative success in providing interoperability in the file and
visualisation levels within a subset of domains. This is most notable within
architectural design. In situations demanding sematic interoperability it still
faces challenges however. That is also the case when its use is broadened to
include more sub-domains. (Steel el al 2012)
The problem with interoperability within the construction industry is the
width of the domain itself, different projects can range from anything from a
simple one family house to large airports. This breadth has been problematic
to IFC and its interoperability because no one tool implements all of its
language (Steel el al 2012).
Because of the fragmented and collaborative nature of the AECindustry interoperability is an important issue. BIM has many viable
advantages over CAD, but the ability to share intelligent building information
is critically important (Howell and Batcheler 2005). In order to maximise many
of the benefits BIM enables in regards to productivity and design quality the
challenges with interoperability must be addressed (Steel et al. 2012).
3.5.2 Different views on BIM
Research by Gu et al. (2008 and 2010) has concluded that the views
on what BIM is depend a lot on the particular actor. Both the profession and
size of the firm are factors of importance in regard to this difference of
perception on what BIM is and how the actor wants to use it. Generally, large
firms who will more likely be involved in large projects will prefer tools with
greater flexibility in customising project environments, smaller firms, on the
other hand, are more likely to prefer more intuitive project environments. (Gu
et al. 2008; Gu and London 2010)
The professionals from the AEC-industry generally want BIM to
incorporate all capabilities of CAD to be able to continue benefit from these
which use they have maximised over the last decades. But there is also an
interest in the new capabilities that BIM tools have the potential to provide. In

- 21 -

other words they want BIM to contain new features while not removing old
capabilities (Khemlani, 2007).
Expectations on BIM also vary depending on the profession of the user.
Design professionals view BIM as an extension on CAD, while project
managers and contractors see BIM as a more intelligent document
management system suitable for extracting and analysing data directly from
a CAD package. Even though BIM developers aim to integrate both of these
aspects, the survey of Gu et al. (2008) suggests that current BIM applications
are not completely mature to satisfy either of the two. This results in a situation
where the different actors have different expectations and demands on the
new technology and no joint understanding of what BIM is. (Gu et al. 2008)
Currently most studies have emphasised BIM as an enhancement to
current CAD technology while not emphasising its document management
qualities (Gu et al. 2008). Simultaneously the development for BIM to support
facilities management is lagging behind the development of BIM in the
design stages of a project (Eastman et al. 2011). This development has
inhibited the interest of non-design professions towards the adoption of BIM
technology (Gu et al. 2008). Gu et al. (2008) further argues that the usercentric development of BIM has to be more inclusive since the successful BIM
adoptions demands collective participations and contribution from all project
participants.
3.5.3 Poor match with the users needs
In a quantitative survey among architects by Tse et al. (2005) it was
revealed that a large part of the respondents did not find the tools in BIM to
satisfy their needs, others simply stated that BIM is not easy to use. The
problems were largely connected with free form object that was hard or not
possible to customize. With the current development of BIM, however, such
object customizations are now possible but require training and an extended
model construction time. This factor was believed by Tse et al. (2005) to be a
major barrier for BIM adoption, especially in more complex projects. Other
connected results regarding BIM shortcomings included: lack of table
- 22 -

customization, not enough objects, speed of system is not fast enough

and text and dimension compatibility with AutoCAD. (Tse et al. 2005)

3.6 Barriers linked to the BIM process

Adoption of BIM will require change of current work practice (Gu and
London 2010). New business processes have to be adopted and the roles of
different actors will be affected. Legal issues with responsibility and ownership
of the BIM model are also topics needing new processes to be effectively
solved. These issues are categorized in this section.
3.6.1 Changing work processes
The implementation of BIM can provide great benefits, this change
however; require a substantial change of the traditional ways of working
(Arayici et al. 2009). The basic BIM concept of a single integrated model for
the whole project life-cycle needs to be developed in a collaborative setting
where multiple project participants are able to contribute (Gu and London
2010). Simultaneously efficient multidisciplinary project groups supported by
BIM require change in the roles of the clients, architects and contractors, and
new contractual relationships and a reorganised collaborative process must
be created (Rizal 2011).
The new life cycle approach to building projects, that BIM enables,
require a more integrated collaboration approach. In order to assure
sustainability in the project, end-users, facility managers, contractors and
specialist contractors are needed in the planning and design phases of the
project. This reflects the development of changing roles of the project
participants

and

new

procurement

methods

following

with

BIM

implementation. (Rizal 2011)

For BIM to be successful, collaboration from all different stakeholders
are needed, to insert, extract, update or modify information in the BIM model
in the different stages in the facilities life-cycle. This is done to support and
reflect the roles of all different stakeholders in the model. Optimally the model
can become a virtual representation of the facility that can be handed over

- 23 -

from the design team to the contractor to sub-contractors and to the client.
As a central model for all stakeholders in the project the BIM model will evolve
as the project progresses. Suggested design solutions or changes can be
evaluated and compared to the requirements by the client during the whole
project. The use of BIM to support cross-disciplinary and cross-phase
collaboration opens for new dimensions in the roles and relationships
between the project-participants. (Rizal 2011)
The most important issues according to Rizal (2011) are:

The new role of model manager

Agreement on access right and intellectual property right
The liability and payment arrangement according to the type of
contract in relation to the integrated procurement
The use of international standards
Adoption of BIM will have large effect on the work processes and

traditional roles in the industry. This adoption will not be easy for actors
uncomfortable with change and firms implementing BIM will have to address
issues with how workflows should be redesigned, how staff should be assigned
and how to distribute responsibilities (Arayici et al. 2009).
3.6.2 Risks and challenges with the use of a single model
Following the substantial change in work practice associated with BIM
causes many risks. When all different stakeholders are inserting, extracting,
updating or modifying the information in the BIM model there will be questions
regarding who will be able to do and be responsible for the editing of data in
the model. There is also a lack of developed standards for who will be
responsible for inaccuracies in the model. Responsibility for updating the
model and ensuring that it is accurate comes with a great deal of risk.
(Thompson and Miner 2007)
Risks following use of the model for purposes not intended are also a
problem. If for example information regarding the concrete base-structure is
added and later used for procurement of a curtain wall, which it might not be
suitable for, the results could be grave. To address this issue models are now
- 24 -

often labelled with for reference only or another disclaimer of accuracy

because designers are not willing to take on risks with warranting their use. The
more disclaimers of this type, the less likely the other project participants are
to use this new technology and designers will have more problems with
receiving the additional compensation for the possible efficiency savings
associated with BIM. (Thompson and Miner 2007)
The speed by which an electronic design can be modified and
changed is connected to both opportunities and risks. Questions regarding
when the design is finalized for contractors bidding on it, or does fast changes
in design with instantaneous notice expect equally fast knowledge and
agreement of the changes? In order to avoid disagreements, a definition of
the project design and a protocol for how building information should be
shared must be created, otherwise all project participants might not be on
the same level when discussing what has been offered and what has been
accepted. (Thompson and Miner 2007)
3.6.3 Legal issues
With BIM as a new type of construction document, one of the first
issues needed to be addressed is the ownership of the model. The project
owner who is paying for the design might feel entitled to own the model, but
other project team members might have provided property information and
such information needs to be protected as well. The question of ownership of
the model must be solved uniquely in every project because of the different
circumstances. Connected to these issues, discussions regarding licensing can
arise when project team members other than the owner or the design team
contribute information which is integrated in the model. (Thompson and Miner
2007)
Issues regarding contractual responsibilities for inaccuracies in the BIM
model will also be an issue which needs to be addressed. The process of
updating BIM data and assuring accuracy entails a great deal of risk.
According to Thompson and Miner (2007) concerns of indemnities for BIM
users and offers of limited warranties and disclaimers of liability for the design
- 25 -

team are essential negotiation points that have to be addressed before BIM
technology can be adopted.
The ability to extract fast and easy cost calculations and schedules
from a model which are added dimensions of time and cost will enable more
efficient estimations. With this come issues with responsibility for interoperability
between the various programs being used. When data is delivered in the
same software, integration between different actors can be fluid. When data
is lacking or delivered through different scheduling or costing programs with
lacking interoperability, a project team member must re-enter and update
the model to include the new data. According to Thompson and Miner (2007)
the responsibility for the accuracy and coordination for cost and scheduling
data must be contractually addressed.
3.6.4 Transactional business process evolution
How BIM can be used to enhance collaboration trough changing
roles of the client, architect and contractors is a widely researched field.
However,

the

management

of

this

collaborative

process

and

the

implementation of BIM as ICT support are still suboptimal in practice. In casestudies by Rizal (2011), it was revealed that contractual limitations to the roles
and responsibilities of the project participants in the traditional procurement
system hindered the needed change in roles. In order to make the BIM
implementation more efficient the needed changes in the respective roles
should be introduced already in the procurement stages in the project (Rizal
2011).
Gu and London (2010) argue that one of the most critical process
issues needed to be addressed is, that projects will not succeed if the need
for change in business models are not solved in a way to suit the varied
industry needs. Depending on how the BIM model is managed and
maintained additional legal agreements might be needed to ensure data
security and user confidence (Gu and London 2010).
The new technology enables new process possibilities for designers
and constructors exceeding the norms of practice and well understood
- 26 -

business protocols. Bernstein and Pittman (2005) present the several issues in
need of address when evolving the current transactional business processes
into new standards. (Bernstein and Pittman 2005)
With the implementation of BIM the flow of information will improve
and the different processes can be better connected, but it will not solve the
business challenges. The different roles in the building supply chain are
connected

with

certain

obligations,

risks

and

rewards.

With

the

implementation of BIM these work processes changes and that will affect
these factors as well. Before this new technology can be fully adopted these
basic business terms must be defined across the enterprise. (Bernstein and
Pittman, 2005; Gu and London, 2010)
Obligations
Which tasks are allocated to each actor? What needs to be
delivered to complete these tasks? What information should be
exchanged to meet the demands by the other actors? Defining what
specific information the different actors are responsible to exchange will
both define responsibilities and limiting the need for all actors to
interoperate with all data in the model. Defining responsibilities are both
relevant for legal warranties and assuring the quality of the produced
information. Limiting the need for all actors to address all data in the
model will decrease the workload, and assure that only actors with
competence on the given topic are involved. (Bernstein and Pittman
2005)
Risks
The change in how documents are produced will affect how the
boundaries and responsibilities are given. When the design information is
produced

in

collaboration

among

many

actors,

determining

responsibilities for inaccuracies can be problematic. With this follows

problems when assigning risks. How can the risks be assigned fairly? Either
could design decisions be tracked to their origins or it could be argued

- 27 -

that

project

with

open

collaboration

imply

equally

shared

responsibility. (Bernstein and Pittman 2005)

Rewards
The rewards in a project must always be connected with the risk
distribution. When risks are equally shared, shared rewards must follow.
This means that some of the savings for the owner, due to higher
productivity, must be shared with the participating project members. The
market

forces

will

eventually

determine

new

baseline

for

compensating the different actors. Until that happens, the value of

digital models as deliverables that follow the project its entire life-cycle
must be discussed. It is argued by Bernstein and Pittman (2005) that
rewards are the primary driver when implementing new technology and
higher efficiency is not sufficient to change business behaviour.
(Bernstein and Pittman 2005)
These three business issues must be addressed and defined in parallel
before BIM can be widely adopted by the AEC-industry. Early adopters of BIM
have suggested alternatives for how these issues could be addressed. Such
projects are generally highly collaborative and where the design is
developed with full integration with all sources of information. In those project
risks are by default distributed among all the actors. As the value of this type
of collaborative processes becomes apparent and projects are completed
on schedule and budget, actors offering BIM solutions will command larger
fees and share the risk distribution in their contracts. (Bernstein and Pittman
2005)
3.6.5 Lack of demand and disinterest
It is suggested by Tse et al. (2005) that one major reason for why
architects are not changing towards BIM is the lack of demand from clients
and other project team members. This connected with that a majority of
architects agreed with the statement existing entity-based CAD systems
could fulfil their drafting and design needs in their survey. Simultaneously, the
- 28 -

same study indicated that architects would be more inclined to adopt BIM if
they could see a large gain in productivity in contrast to conventional CAD
systems as well as downstream applications of the building information. (Tse et
al. 2005)
The study by Gu et al. (2008) showed that The success of BIM
adoption lies in the collective participation and collaboration from all the
stakeholders in a building project. Further their study have shown that lack of
awareness, focus on BIM as an advancement to CAD and relative
underdevelopment of BIMs document handling capabilities have inhibited
the interest by non design disciplines within the AEC- industry (Gu and
London 2010).
Because of the insufficient number of case-studies showing the
potential financial benefit of BIM the AEC-industry is generally not very
interested in investing towards the change in technology (Yan and Damian
2008). Simultaneously, some clients who are successfully using BIM may not
have an interest in sharing their knowledge (Howard and Bjrk 2008). Several
of

the

leading property

owners changing towards

BIM

are

public

organisations with a duty to publish their knowledge to support the change

(Howard and Bjrk 2008). More cases showing the benefits with BIM
implementation will help convince other property owners, contractors and
consultants that they are not being used as test subjects in purely
experimental projects (Howard and Bjrk 2008).

3.7 Barriers linked to the individuals using BIM

In order for BIM to be successful in its implementation all industry actors
have to be informed about the potential benefits to their profession (Gu et al.
2008). Together with that, all people involved with BIM needs to be skilled in its
use in order to utilise these benefits (Arayici et al. 2009). Therefore the third
group of barriers limiting BIM adoption is connected with the individuals
actually working with the new technology and their needs of new roles and
training to support the change.

- 29 -

3.7.1 The new role of BIM model manager

Adoption of BIM will affect the roles and relationships of the
participating actors as well as their work processes (Gu and London 2010).
One new role in construction project is presented by Rizal et al (2011) in the
form of a model manager.
Connected to the change in technology there is a need for a
coordinating role in the form of a BIM model manager (Gu and London 2010).
The Role of model manager will deal with the system as well as the other
project participants. She will provide and maintain technological solutions
required for BIM functionalities, manage information flow and improve the ICT
skills of the other stakeholders. This expert role will demand knowledge in both
ICT and the construction process. This actor will not take part in the decisionmaking regarding design or engineering solutions, or the organisational
processes, but rather focus on the successful and collaborative use of BIM by
all stakeholders. (Rizal 2011)
3.7.2 Training of individuals
When adopting BIM it is vital that the individuals are sufficiently trained
in the use of the new technology in order for them to be able to contribute to
the changing work environment (Gu et al.2008), (Yusuf et al. 2009). The
importance of training was also one of the issues most often discussed in
interviews by Aranda-Mena et al. (2008). For the implementation of BIM to be
successful all affected members must be skilled in the use of BIM in regards to
their specific field (Arayici et al. 2009).
Simultaneously a study by Yan and Damian (2008) revealed that most
companies in their study who did not use BIM believed that the training would
be too costly in regard to time and human resource. Further they argue that
the issue of training is the largest barrier to BIM adoption because of the costs
following the change. Decisions are mainly taken on the ground of business
perspective, making a profit. Because of the insufficient number of casestudies showing the potential financial benefit of BIM the AEC-industry is
generally not very interested in investing. There is also social and habitual
- 30 -

resistance to change as many architects are familiar and satisfied with their
current design tools and work processes and are sceptical to the benefits with
this new technology. This results in that some actors are not interested in
learning how to use BIM associated tools. (Yan and Damian 2008)

- 31 -

4.

Empirics

4.1 Cases-study 1 Campus Utbildningshus

4.1.1 Introduction to the project
In the year 2015 around 1100 new students will come to KTH campus
at Valhallavgen and there will be a need for new facilities. Parts of KTH
currently in Haninge (situated at the outskirts of Stockholm) will move into
campus. The architectural school is also getting new premises, but lacking in
house lecture halls, which they have today.
Consequently KTH is in need of new premises and there is a suitable
space where a new building is being planned.
The results in this case study have been collected by interviews with
the following actors:
-

The Project manager for KTH

The person responsible for developing the facility for use in the
education
One of the people who developed the BIM manual for Akademiska Hus
Together with these interviews, information has been collected

through protocol notes and Akademiska Hus BIM manual (Akademiska Hus
(2013)).
4.1.2 Different actors and their roles
In Sweden the law prohibits universities to own their facilities, instead
they must be rented. Currently the facilities at KTH campus at Valhallavgen
are rented from Akademiska Hus, a state company owning the majority of
university and college facilities in Sweden. Therefore KTH cannot construct the
needed facilities by themselves but must rather negotiate with Akademiska
Hus for the new construction.

- 32 -

KTH
KTH is in need of new facilities for the education conducted at the
university. The new facilities are mainly focused on the department of Civil
and Architectural Engineering on KTH there are requests regarding the
construction because of this education. Some early requests regarding the
facility are the following:
-

Enable conditions for innovative thinking, a flexible and creative

educational environment
Enable use of the facility and the technology in the education
Show that KTH is innovative concerning sustainability and environmental
issues
Together with this KTH is interested in constructing a facility that shows

the university as a leading technical university preforming state of the art

education.
Because of their role as tenant in this project KTH is able to put
demands on Akademiska Hus regarding the project. Akademiska Hus on the
other hand is able to demand higher rents from KTH if these demands and
requests are associated with higher construction costs for the project. How
these costs are allocated on all the facilities KTH rents from Akademiska Hus is
also of interest for discussion. If the higher rents following expensive requests
from KTH are limited only to the new planned facilities they will likely be less
used because of the higher costs and thereby of less value to KTH as a
tenant.
Akademiska Hus
Akademiska Hus is the project owner in this project. As well as KTH they
view this project as somewhat of a prestige project to be able to show how
they are able to produce buildings with high quality. Because KTH rents their
facilities from Akademiska Hus, extra expenses to make the facilities
correspond to requests from the tenant will result in higher rents. This enables
an interesting situation when there are additional requests from KTH.

- 33 -

4.1.3 BIM in the project

KTH
KTH has ambitious visions on how the new facilities can be used as an
active part in the education. This new building serves as an opportunity to
make practical examples that can be used in the teaching of students
studying engineering at KTH.
The goal is to store this project as a practical example of how
construction project are performed. Simultaneously there is an interest from
KTH to equip the building with sensors to give data on how the actual building
is performing.
There have been granted founds for parts of these requests. The
project process will be filmed to provide actual information about how
meeting and procedures in a real project are conducted. This material will
later serve as material in research as well as possible educational material.
There are also a request that the building is constructed using the BIM
technology. The major reason for this is that KTH is interested in using these
models in the education. There are currently limited practical examples of the
possibilities with BIM and to include practical experience with BIM models will
be beneficial to the education. This material will also be available for research
to further develop the technology.
To be able to benefit the most from these opportunities there have
been request from KTH than the BIM models should be available for KTH by
agreements in the contract. It is important that KTH have full access to the
data in the model to be able to use it for its intended purposes. There is on the
other hand no interest to make modifications in the actual model linked to
the building because KTH will not do any modification to this facility
themselves. KTH want access to extract data for analysis and educational
purposes, but not to include more or modify the data in the model.
The request to use BIM in this project has not any direct connection to
the performance in the project. There are no demands of lesser rents or any

- 34 -

other compensation because of the demand for BIM, only the request to be
able to access the models.
Akademiska Hus
Akademiska Hus is currently adopting BIM in most projects involving
new construction. Projects concerning refurbishment or construction of
extensions to current buildings are however mostly not produced with BIM.
The decision regarding BIM adoption in a certain project is connected both
with the characteristics of the particular project and the project manager.
Project managers from Akademiska Hus with an interest for and experience
with BIM are more likely to involve BIM in their projects. The type of project is
also connected to the decision. Small project concerning refurbishment or
reconstruction is generally not done with the support of BIM. In such projects
existing documents and as-built drawings are generally not compatible with
BIM and creation of BIM models for existing structures are quite expensive.
In projects involving construction of new facilities Akademiska Hus is
ambitious in their goals with BIM. Akademiska Hus has developed a BIM
manual instructing their project managers on how BIM should be used in their
projects. According to this manual the goal with the use of BIM is to facilitate
and improve communication and information exchange in the project.
Thereby lowering costs by decreasing the amount of errors and improve the
efficiency in the different stages of the project. BIM is seen by Akademiska Hus
as the next CAD, which will be incorporated to take the next step in making
the work processes more efficient.
Akademiska Hus emphasizes on the information part in BIM and makes
a difference between BIM and 3d models. BIM is more than just design in 3D;
BIM is the connection of objects and information to models and not just the
model itself. Early participation by project owners, users, designers and
contractors will facilitate the development of BIM models that correspond to
the needs of all actors connected to the project.
Akademiska Hus also wants to use the models to support facilities
management when the project is completed. This is defined in their BIM

- 35 -

manual meaning that the models can be adapted for use by facilities
managers later. There are however problems with the use of BIM to support
facilities management systems in the current situation. There is a lack of tools
to take advantage of the information in the models and therefore these
models

are

currently

not

well

integrated

in

the

on-going

facilities

management work.
4.1.4 The project so far
This project is in its earliest stages, not even starting the actual design
of the facilities. From the perspective of the tenant, KTH is currently trying to
specify their needs with the new building.
In this project there are uncommon circumstances due to the
ambitious goals from KTH as to use the facilities actively in the education as
well as securing environmentally friendly goals.
4.1.5 How barriers to BIM have been addressed
Connected with the adoption of BIM there are many barriers as
described in the literature review. In this case study I have revealed how some
of these barriers have been addressed in order to make BIM beneficial to the
project as a whole.
Because this project is only in the initial stages these issues has just
been planned for.

This means that the proposed ways of handling the

barriers are not jet implemented.

Interoperability
Issues regarding file formats and deliveries to and from Akademiska Hus
are discussed in their BIM manual. Currently the demands on BIM for use to
support the facilities management are under development. Due to the lack
of developed facilities management systems supported by BIM, the BIM
manual do not demand any specific file formats for delivery to Akademiska
Hus. The designers should rather verify with the facilities management
department at Akademiska Hus before specification for deliveries are made.

- 36 -

Instead of specific demands there are suggestions of which file

formats that should be used. It is suggested that the designers deliver both the
native formats and in IFC. Together this means that a normal delivery will be in
three formats:

The file format agreed upon based on the facilities management

guidelines
Original file formats
IFC
It is suggested that the IFC-files are used during the design phase to

ensure that they are of high quality; there are however not any such
demands in the current BIM manual.
Change in work processes
The actors most familiar with BIM tools are currently design consultants.
These actors are quite used to developing 3D-models and exchange
information to make their work processes more effective. What is not very
common is the collection of these models to combine them into a single BIM
database. Currently the problem in developing BIM models is mostly the
client. The project owner is generally, either not interested in or not capable
of handling BIM models.
Akademiska Hus has developed their BIM manual on how the models
are supposed to be used in order to make the BIM adoption successful.
Education and training
This has not been deemed as a large issue by Akademiska Hus in this
stage of their general BIM adoption. The project managers who work with BIM
are the individuals with most interest and knowledge of how it should be used.
The consultants and contractors generally have experience with BIM tools.
The change in practice is mostly how models are collected and stored for
later use.

- 37 -

4.2 Cases-study 2 Nya Karolinska Solna

4.2.1 Introduction to the project
Nya Karolinska Solna (NKS) is a large and complex construction project
which begun during the summer 2010 and will continue until autumn of 2017.
These hospital buildings will include a gross area of around 320 000 square
meters.
The hospital will be constructed and managed as a public private
partnership (PPP) which will continue until 2040. This PPP is between Stockholm
County Council and the project company Swedish Hospital Partners AB. The
project company is the actor responsible for both construction and facilities
management in NKS until the year 2040.
The results in this case study have been reached by interviews with the
following actors:
- The

person

responsible

for

BIM

usage

at

Coor

service

management
- A representative from Skanska working with the BIM deliveries
Together with these interviews, information has been collected
through the NKS homepage (NKS-bygg (2012); Nya Karolinska Solna (2012)).
4.2.2 Different actors and their roles
Stockholm County council
The Stockholm County Council is the actor responsible for healthcare
in the Stockholm region. Because of this, it is the actor ordering the
construction of the new hospital buildings. The County Council Board facilities
management (Landstingsstyrelsen frvaltning, LSF) is the actor responsible for
the new hospital. Within this organization the subunit NKS construction takes
on the role as client for the whole project, responsible for both the
construction and the 30-year contract dealing with operations and
maintenance of the facilities.

- 38 -

The Karolinska University Hospital is responsible for developing the

demands concerning the medical equipment as well as information and
communication technology that the facilities are equipped with. Council
Board facilities management is responsible for the procurement of the
technical equipment and the other interiors needed.
Swedish Hospital Partners AB
The project company Swedish hospital partners AB finance and
performs the actual project and is owned in equal parts by Skanska
infrastructure development and the British investment fund Innisfree
Skanska
Skanska is the actor preforming the construction of the project through
design/build delivery method
Coor service management
Coor is responsible for the facilities management of the facilities at NKS
from its completion until the year 2040.
Banks
The project company is financed with investments from Swedish and
international commercial banks. These actors also have the responsibility to
ensure that the construction is proceeding according to plan and deliver their
payments before the County Council will make their payments.
4.2.3 Public private partnership
The goal with the public private partnership (PPP) in this project is to
enable a large degree of predictability and reliability for the society and the
taxpayers. The solution establishes strong economical incitements for the
project company to complete the project on time because the Stockholm
County will not pay yearly payments until the project is completed.
The PPP model contains procurement of both the construction and
facilities management of the hospital facilities. The project company is in turn
responsible for constructing the facilities in accordance to the contract. The
project company is also responsible for maintaining the fulfilment of the
- 39 -

functions set by the client. If the project company fails in this commitment the
yearly payment will be reduced. This gives the project company incentive to
produce facilities that as sustainable over time.
PPP enables the County Council to predict what the cost for
management of the hospital will be each year because the price is fixed and
set in the agreement. This transfers financial risks from the County Council to
the project company.
The County Council have made the assessment that the benefits that
PPP enable is of large significance in a project with such large size and high
level of complexity as NKS. The completion time is of especial importance
because of planned restructuring in the highly specialised healthcare in the
Stockholm County.
Payments by the tenant Stockholm County Council
During construction
This phase is from the year 2010 until 2017 when the construction of all
new facilities are planned to be completed. During this phase the County
Council will pay a total of 9 868 million SEK to the project company, divided
into three different categories: I _________________________________________

Payments based on results a total of 7 321 million SEK, will be disbursed

continuously and will correspond to approximately half of the
construction costs. The banks and owners of the project company will
supply the remaining funds. The County Council has a guarantee to not
deliver the payments before the banks have ensured that the project
processes is proceeding as planned and that they are supplying their
payments as scheduled.
One-time payments a total of 1 386 million SEK, will be disbursed after
a construction phase is completed and is inspected.
Yearly payments a total of 1 179 million SEK. Will be a payment for
costs due to operation and maintenance of parts of the hospital that
are taken into operation before the final completion date.

During operation of the hospital

When the project is completed and the NKS hospital is in operation the
yearly payment to the project company will be 1 552 million SEK, calculated
in 2010 years monetary value.
- 40 -

During the whole project the County Council will supply the project
company with a total of around 52 billion SEK which corresponds to around 27
billion in in 2010 years monetary value. These payments will supply for
construction costs, funding, maintenance and

operation of

services

connected to the building during the whole period from 2010 until 2040.
4.2.4 BIM in the NKS project
BIM was introduced to the project by the owner (Stockholm County
Council) in the contract between them and the project company. In this
contract there are definitions of what follows with the concept BIM in regards
to the generated models.
In this project there are many models created to follow the project
through its life-cycle. This life-cycle will continue until the contractual time
ends in 2040 and at that time the model will be handed over to the County
Council for future use. There are no demands of open formats in the contract
between Stockholm County Council and the project company. Therefore
issues of interoperability will transferred to the project company.
Furthermore the model will be object based, with attributes either
directly in the model or linked to it. This enables spaces to be defined and
connected to the equipment related to that space. In the contract there is
no demand for open BIM formats like IFC to ensure interoperability.
The responsibility to combine the information from the designers is
allocated to Skanska. The models from the different designers are all
delivered in the program Navisworks which ensures that no file conversions
have to be made by Skanska. The responsibility to document the as-built
models is also allocated to Skanska as the main contractor. These models are
later supplied to the facilities manager to support their continuous operation
and management of the facilities. These models are also available for de
design consultants in support of their work.
It has however not been practical to collect all information in a single
model due to the large size of the project. The computing power is not
sufficient to support the use of such a large model; therefore it has been
- 41 -

broken down into many different models containing the information otherwise
found in a single master model.
The role of BIM manager has also been adapted and such individuals
have been present at the different actors to ensure good use of the models.

The process of how BIM was introduced

BIM was introduced to this project through the Stockholm County
Council and incorporated in the contract between them and the project
company. Within the Stockholm County Council there was one particularly
interested person who was well informed of the possible benefits of BIM and
therefore worked for putting demands on BIM in the contact. The goal with
the adoption of BIM in this project is however not very clear and a common
understanding of what the models should be used for in detail is lacking. The
ambitious BIM usage by Coor is somewhat a combination of the demand for
BIM and interested and informed individuals in that organisation.
4.2.5 BIM in regard to the different actors
The tenant
The tenant (Stockholm County Council) has demanded the use of BIM
in the project and later through the operation and maintenance of NKS. This
has been done by inclusion of BIM in the contract between them and the
project company.
The use of BIM will not have any direct consequences to the tenant
because they are not responsible for the operation and maintenance of the
facilities. On the other hand BIM theoretically enables greater reliability in the
operation and maintenance of the facilities which will benefit the user, in this
case the tenant.
Implementation of BIM also decreases the total risks in the operation
and maintenance stage on the project, which could reduce the total costs
for the tenant.

- 42 -

The contractor
The project is being conducted through the design/build delivery
method. This transfers the responsibility for both design and construction to the
main contractor, in this case Skanska. The contractual agreement to produce
BIM models made Skanska responsible for the collections of the information
needed in order to be able to combine it in to the demanded model.
Design phase
The project is of a substantial size and complexity due to the nature of
the facilities. There are many different designers contributing information in
order to complete the project. For these different designers, to be able to
transfer information between themselves, agreements regarding which
programs they are able to use have been made. These agreements ensure a
suitable level of interoperability within the project. There have not, on the
other hand, been any demands on the use of opens standards like IFC in this
project.
The completed designs have then been converted and sent to
Skanska in a pre-defined format to ensure the interoperability when the final
models are combined. The work process in this stage has actually been the
production of the different design disciplines models which are later
combined by Skanska to make the BIM model, with all the information,
defined in the contract.
This means that the adoption of BIM has not actually changed the
work processes substantially in the design phase of the project, but rather
worked as an additional tool to ensure good communication between the
different design disciplines.
Construction phase
Skanska uses the BIM models in lesser extent in the construction phase,
but not substantially. The uses are mainly to determine locations on the
construction site. During this phase the model is continuously updated to be a
correct representation of the building containing information of all building

- 43 -

components as they have been constructed. This model will later be handed
over to the facilities manager.
The facilities manager
The main usage for BIM in the NKS project is in the facilities
management stage. Coor service management have very ambitious goal for
their use of the models in their work processes. As with the usage of BIM in the
earlier phases of the project, the initiation to the extensive use of BIM to
support facilities management are found in the contract between Stockholm
County Council and the project company. Coor as the facilities manager
have developed their use of BIM and is aiming to have a far higher usage of
the model than stated as a minimum in the contract. Currently the extensive
use of BIM to support the facilities management in the NKS facilities has higher
ambitions than in any other similar project in the world. This puts great
demands on the success on the use of models in these processes both as a
huge prestige project and as a possibility to demonstrate the usefulness with
BIM in these stages of a buildings life-cycle.
BIM is information
To Coor as a facilities manager BIM is mainly a way of managing
information. The traditional way of storing information in folders limits its
usability. Contrary to such systems BIM enables databases to de linked directly
to the model for easy access to the information. Systems supporting data
management to ensure good management of information is of very high
value to the facilities manager.
In the perspective of the facilities manager, BIM connects the
enormous databases created by all the actors involved with the design and
construction of the building to the facilities management system. This gives
two benefits of specific importance in the NKS project:
Information management
Good documentation through a BIM as-built model will give the
facilities manager the information needed to know what facilities there are in
the building and how it should be maintained. Such knowledge is of great
- 44 -

value both operating and maintenance staff, giving them correct information
on what types of materials and functions the facilities contains and how it
should be maintained according to the suppliers. Information regarding how
the different spaces should be used and what activity they are designed for
will enable more efficient usage of the facility.
To be able to document how the facility preforms will also be of high
value to the facilities manager. The databases linked to the BIM model will
enable storage of information connected to the performance of the facility
and enable evaluation of which changes that could be made to improve its
continuous function. According to Coor, BIM enables collection on hard data
on how the facilities actually perform. Earlier this was done by softer
evaluation by the professionals working with the facilities management. The
ability to evaluate how different components preform will be directly
connected to the costs of maintaining the facility.
If, for example, the elevators have an expected life-time of 15 years
but are not working without problems, data on how much such problems
might cost can indicate if this installation should be changed before the lifetime ends. There are not only costs connected to maintenance related to
installations not working properly. If the elevators are not functioning within
defined parameters Coor will be subjected to pay penalties.
Collection and storage of the operating information will enable Coor
to continuously make better estimates of how the facility will perform and
what improvements that has to be made. This will both lower the
maintenance costs and lower risks for penalties because of insufficiently
functioning installations.
Traceability
BIM has the option of delivering traceability to an information
management system. When the databases are linked to the model it is
possible to identify both specific amounts and locations of different objects.
This allows maintenance personal to know the specific location of

- 45 -

malfunctioning installations and connect that to the product information

stored in databases linked to the model.
There are also possibilities to deliver services connected to the specific
activities within the facilities. In a hospital environment there is a need to be
able to trace where certain equipment have been, like beds, cleaning
equipment and so forth, to trace spread of infection. In this project BIM is
aimed to be able to provide such information.
BIM allows new services to the tenant
In addition to enhancing and developing the functions of the facilities
management system BIM has the opportunity to provide new functions to the
tenant in the NKS project. There is a discussion how these processes can be
developed but technically it is possible for Coor to provide many new services
because of the BIM models with linked databases. For example booking of
rooms can be done with support of the model, enabling administrative staff
to find suitable rooms for patients directly through a search rather than
making calls to the different departments. It is also possible to connect the
cleaning of rooms with their usage rather than an ordinary schedule. For
example rooms could be cleaned directly when they are being registered as
empty by hospital personal and then registered as ready for use by the
cleaning staff. There is also a possibility to connect the cleaning with the
amount of use, for example automatically register a toilet as in need of
cleaning when it has been used for a defined number of times.
These possibilities might sound futuristic but are totally realistic and
achievable with the technology available today. The things needed for these
new possibilities to be used are some changes in practice and new facilities
management systems, but when implemented there will be a higher level of
reliability for the user in regards to the quality of the facility as well as new
improved services.
BIM transform the building into a function
The use of BIM will change the facilities management views on
facilities. BIM enables emphasis of the functions that building provides rather
- 46 -

than the building itself. In the NKS project this means a reliable management
of the facilities that can provide new and improved services to the tenant.
With a facility of such high level of complexity as NKS it is the function the
different spaces provide that gives the value to the tenant rather than the
spaces themselves. With a high level of BIM use to support the facilities
management it will be possible to manage the facilities at lower cost and
with higher level of reliability in addition to the new services possible.
4.2.6 How barriers have been addressed
Connected with the adoption of BIM there are many barriers as
described in the literature review. In this case study I have revealed how some
of these barriers have been addressed in order to make BIM beneficial to the
project as a whole.
Interoperability
The issues of interoperability have not been addressed through open
formats like IFC in the NKS project. It has rather been addressed on two
different levels, namely between design consultants and deliveries to Skanska.
Between the design teams
The different design consultants are comfortable and most productive
with quite different tools. As a way to ensure that these actors can remain
efficient but still be able to interoperate, the design consultant had to agree
on which tools they were going to use. To be able to use a certain tool there
was a demand for sufficient interoperability with the other tools used by other
actors.
This solution may have limited some actors with tools not able to
interoperate with the other actors but the crucial issue of interoperability was
sufficiently addressed.
Deliveries to Skanska
Skanska demanded that completed design elements should be
delivered in a specific format to them. This enabled perfect interoperability
from their perspective, and transferred issues with conversion errors to the

- 47 -

design consultants. This model was created in order to meet the demands in
the contract as well as requests from Coor as the facilities manager.
Changes in work processes
According to representative from Skanska there have not been very
large changes in the work processes due to the implementation of BIM. Many
of the tools used today by designers are actually close to producing BIM
models, but such models have not been exchanged and combined into a
single collective model.
The difference in in regard to BIM use when comparing NKS and most
other projects is the consistency by which design consultants models have
been uploading their completed models into the master models managed by
Skanska. Due to the contractual responsibility of Skanska to produce BIM
models there has been a large incentive to ensure that these models have
been correctly completed.
The largest changes to work processes the use of BIM enables to the
life-cycle of the NKS project mainly comes later in the facilities management
phase, where it will be used extensively by Coor. The collaborative work
processed described in the literature has not been implemented extensively.
Education
The responsibility to educate their personal in how BIM should be used
has been given to the different actors. However when most of them are
familiar with the tools they use, this has not been a large issue in this project.
The choice of solution regarding interoperability and traditional rather than
collaborative work processes have enabled the different actors to remain in
their traditional work processes to a high degree.

- 48 -

5.

Analysis

5.1 The BIM concept and its benefits

The problem in the AEC-industry is presented as the low increase, or in
some cases decrease, in productivity. This development of productivity is far
inferior to other production industry (Eastman et al. 2011). As described in the
theory chapter, the reason for this problem is often argued to be the high
level of fragmentation in the AEC-industry, combined with its collaborative
needs. To be able to complete a building project many different actors have
to be involved and contribute, hence the need for collaboration. BIM is
presented as a way of addressing these issues by enabling better exchange
of information within the project team and throughout the buildings life-cycle.
As described in the theory chapter, there is currently no consensus
regarding the definition of what BIM is. Some elements are common but there
is a great variance in how far the different definitions take the concept. Most
of these definitions describe BIM as 3D-models, which is information rich and
using objects. How this new technology affects the work processes in the
industry, however, is often vague.
What BIM actually is, is a new way of transferring information
connected with the building. This information exchange can be taken
advantage of between individuals within a certain actor or between actors,
and spanning from the initial start of the project and through its entire lifecycle. More efficient transfer of information will in itself not make projects
better, but rather enable new and more efficient work methods. With this
follows as Kiviniemi (2013) states, that BIM is not a goal in itself but rather a tool
to achieve other goals. Depending on what goal different actors want to be
achieved, the tool is needed to be used in different ways.
Because BIM is not a goal by itself, it is important to have a good
understanding of what actual goals adoption of BIM is supposed to achieve.
These goals will influence how BIM should be used, and how large changes
there have to be made within the project team. If for example a single actor
- 49 -

in a project wants to make use of a BIM model to improve their performance,

it does not have to impact the other project participants work processes
greatly. In the NKS project this is somewhat the case with Coor as a facilities
manager. Coor wants to make extensive use of the model but as long as the
model is provided the other actors work processes need not change greatly.
If, on the other hand, there is an interest to improve the productivity in the
entire project more extensive changes in work processes is needed, affecting
all involved actors.
Use of BIM enables change in the inefficient or fragmented work
processes of the current AEC-industry. However, the way to improve these
aspects is not the adoption of new ICT technology, but rather the
development of the work processes dependent on these tools. The issue of
poor collaboration and fragmentation are very large and complex issues and
implementation of a better information sharing system will not alone change
the whole industry overnight. By use of BIM it is possible to address the
problems with a fragmented industry and lacking collaboration by enabling
new work processes. These new processes can in turn improve collaboration
and thereby increase productivity. This improved productivity is also not
connected with just a single actor, but rather requires all actors in the project
to adapt to these new processes.
Many researchers have indicated the economic (and other) benefits
with BIM, but there are also interesting an aspect of causality. BIM is a tool to
improve processes but it is the improved processes that enable most benefits.
Because of this, it is important to have a good knowledge of what goals there
are in the project and adapt the use of BIM thereafter.

5.2 BIM, more than a change in technology

Many researchers emphasise on the importance of interoperability,
and the problems with lacking interoperability between different software
suppliers. As Steel et al. (2012) states, the collaborative nature of the AECindustry requires efficient exchange of information between all involved
actors. The development of BIM tools have on the other hand been driven
- 50 -

towards more proprietary formats connected to specific tools. This is certainly

a great barrier when implementing BIM because of the collaborative nature
of the new technology. If it is not possible to combine models from different
actors due to lacking interoperability a great value is lost.
Open formats have been presented as a way of addressing the issue
with lacking interoperability. As Steel et al. (2012) presents IFC as an open
standard with many possibilities, but that does not reach total interoperability
on all possible levels. In most cases, the achieved interoperability following IFC
will be enough, but an open standard is not always as good as proprietary
alternatives. In cases where the highest levels of interoperability is needed it
might be more suitable to work in one family of programs, thus removing the
need for open formats or file conversions. It is not always the correct course of
action to adopt open standards.
In the NKS case study the issue of interoperability have been
addressed by specifying which formats the different design consultants were
to use beforehand. The decision regarding choice of formats was made in
discussions between the different consultants. As long as the formats a
specific consultant wanted to use were able to interoperate with the other
actors, practically any formats could be used. Skanska on the other hand
wanted all deliveries to the collective BIM models to be made in a specific
format.
The interoperability solution in the NKS project avoided the issue of
open formats. Simultaneously the BIM models in this project were mainly
produced to satisfy the contractual requirement set by Stockholm County
Council. Therefore it is hard to evaluate if this type of solution actually
enhanced efficiency in collaboration between actors or only provided an
environment where it was possible for everyone to combine their models into
the models Skanska was responsible for. Interoperability is becoming more
important when the models are being extensively used by other actors than
the models creator. As described by Steel et al (2012) only limited levels of
interoperability is needed to combine models from different actors. The level
of interoperability reached by the method in the NKS project might not be
- 51 -

enough to enable collaborative work processes in order to enhance the

productivity in the project.
Lack of interoperability will certainly hinder effective use of BIM, but as
described by Kiviniemi (2013) working technology is only an enabler and will
not drive BIM adoption on its own. In the cases studied, the solutions to
interoperability have not been the driving force towards BIM. It is also unlikely
that even more improved interoperability would have increased usage of the
models on its own in these projects. On the other hand, when the
interoperability is not good enough to enable the wanted change in work
practice this issue will hinder BIM adoption.

5.3 Connecting program/tools with processes and people

As described earlier, the technology of BIM is basically a way of
improving the sharing of information connected to a project and a building.
This technology will not in itself improve how projects are preforming, but will
rather enable more efficient work processes. Therefore the technology is only
a part in the improvement of productivity with BIM. These new improved
processes must be developed to achieve the goals aimed for, and the
individuals involved must be informed of how and why they are changing.
In the theory chapter many researchers understanding of the AECindustry is presented. The general view is that the industrys main problems are
the high level of fragmentation combined with the high demand of
collaboration. Buildings are complex systems needing many professions to be
completed and these professionals have to exchange information in order to
improve the results. In an industry with high level of fragmentation these
exchanges of information and collaboration to improve the results are hard to
reach. Ability to improve the exchange of information between the actors
connected to a construction project should therefore theoretically improve
the results.
The different types of barriers to BIM adoption is either connected with
the technology itself or how it is going to be used, the change in work
processes. As the obstacle to improve productivity is fragmentation and lack
- 52 -

of collaboration in the industry, BIM has to be a way of improving upon these

problems. As described in the Barriers linked to the BIM process section in
the theory chapter, the change in work processes are quite complex.
Currently there are commonly practiced standards of procurement and
project execution. These are generally not well compatible with the
collaborative work processes associated with BIM. For example the low-bid
procurement method emphasises on the price for a specific actors services
rather than their willingness to collaborate. Simultaneously the relatively short
term working relationships in project teams are problematic for change in
practises. Even if one team is working well together in one project, it is unlikely
that they will work in the same group in future projects. Currently there are no
generally accepted standards for how BIM and the collaborative aspects of it
should affect the project team in regards to obligations, risks and rewards.
Lack of these standards opens for much uncertainty when forming a new
project team, hindering the adoption of BIM.
As BIM is aimed to improve collaboration every actor in the project
must follow these new processes. If some actors are not collaborating with
these new processes much value is lost and the BIM model is not complete.
The usefulness with BIM is more connected with its weakest link rather than its
best contributor. This need to have every actor able to use BIM and working
according the processes BIM enables, while it puts large demands on the
project team. When procurements are made in the project, it is important to
have this in mind and make a requirement of the ability to use BIM.

5.4 The importance of individuals

Kiviniemi (2013) and other researchers have concluded that for BIM
adoption to be successful, the goal of adoption must be clear and defined.
BIM can, as described in the theory chapter, provide many different benefits
compared to traditional work processes. To be able reach these goals by the
support of BIM the work processes have to be adapted accordingly. In order
to be able to do so the goals themselves must be clearly understood.

- 53 -

In the cases studied in this thesis it is indicated that the adoption of BIM
has been tightly connected with interested individuals. In the NKS project the
use of BIM was included in the contract, forcing all actors to use this
technology. The decision to include this issue in the contract was largely
influenced by a single person within the project owners organisation. This
person had good insight and understanding in what BIM is and how it can be
used but was somewhat unable to convey this to the other included actors.
Therefore the general goal for the BIM adoption was lost in this project.
On the other hand Coor service management was able to use the
opportunity which these requirements presented and develop them into new
and more efficient facilities management systems. This process was also
connected with specific individuals with the interest and knowledge to make
this change possible.
When the decision to BIM adoption is driven by interested individuals,
issues of inconsistency can arise. As discussed earlier, the adoption of BIM
requires

collaboration

from

all

actors;

therefore

good

general

understanding is important. As presented by Gu et al. (2008) The success of

BIM adoption lies in the collective participation and collaboration from all the
stakeholders in a building project. When combined with individuals driving
implementation it can be problematic to ensure that all actors are equally
informed about what the goals are with the BIM adoption and how it will
affect the work processes in the project. In the NKS project for example there
was a goal with the demand for BIM in the contract, but this was later lost in
the execution of the project.

5.5 The greatest barrier to BIM adoption

In the theory chapter many barriers affecting the slow adoption of BIM
in the AEC-industry are presented. All of these have different effects on either
the ability to adopt BIM or its effectiveness when implemented. There is
however not one single barrier that alone is the critical problem for BIM, but
rather a combination on many.

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As described earlier, BIM is a tool to improve the management of

information connected to the project and the building. Most of the barriers to
BIM are more connected to the change in work processes, than the
technology itself. For example the undeveloped business processes, the
problem here is that the improvements BIM enables change the different
actors obligations and risks, and therefore also their rewards. These problems
must be addressed to be able to benefit from BIM. Such issues hinder
adoption of BIM by establishing unwillingness to address these problems. To
be first to develop new processes and train employees is associated with risks.
As it has also been established that all actors must follow the adoption (Gu et
al. 2008), therefore there are not large rewards to be first in this change, as
the benefits require collaboration between many actors.
As described by Isikdag, et al. (2007) there is no common agreement
of what the concept BIM contains. This is supported by the case-studies where
actors have very different views on what BIM is and how it will affect their
processes. To be able to have a common opinion of how BIM is going to be
used in a specific project a joint understanding of the goals with the BIM
adoption must be established. Development of BIM models can be costly
and therefore usage of the information in these models is important. Where
no goals are set there are problems with incorporating the correct information
in the model, and either include too much or too little data.
Currently there is somewhat a lack of good case-studies describing
the success of BIM (Yan and Damian 2008). Without good examples of how
effective the technology is and how it should be used many actors are
cautious towards taking the risk of change. Most barriers to BIM, presented in
the theory chapter, are connected with the uncertainties of how BIM should
be used. Case-studies with examples on business models for BIM and how the
work processes changed would start to establish new standards and be
beneficial towards implementation of the technology.

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5.6 Who should drive the adoption of BIM?

The potential benefits with BIM are being more agreed upon by
researchers. However, the adoption rate is still low. As the barriers hindering
the adoption of this technology, researched ways of addressing these
problems are developed. There are however uncertainties in which actor who
should drive this development forward.
The benefits with BIM are ultimately most benefitted by the owner of
the project. Higher productivity in the AEC-industry will generate higher quality
of the product at similar or lower prices than today. Even if consultants and
contractors

benefits

from

more

efficient

information

sharing,

their

improvements in efficiency is ultimately benefitted upon by the project

owner.
There is however large costs associated with adoption of BIM,
especially when implementing it extensively to increase productivity (ArandaMena et al. 2009). It is also associated with high costs to educate the
individuals connected with the project (Yan and Damian 2008). Companies
making these investments are predicted to benefit from them quickly, but
there is a period of time where investments and large amount of work has to
be devoted to implement BIM successfully.
The actor in the best position to affect the work processes of others in
the project team is the owner. The project owner is the actor ultimately
paying for the project and can therefore make demands regarding how
consultants and contractors work. The owner is able to make contractual
requirements of BIM usage, as in the NKS case, to fulfil their goals. Other actors
are generally not able to put pressure on other project participants regarding
use of BIM. Therefore the actor, with ability to set requirements and who has
the most potential benefit from BIM, can be argued to be the project owner.
The project based aspect of the AEC-industry makes this situation
more complicated. There is a learning curve towards effective usage of BIM
regardless of what goals it is supposed to achieve. This means that BIM
adoption might not improve the productivity in a single project perspective.
As it is rare for project teams to continue working together after the
- 56 -

completion of a project, this means that the owner might not be able to
benefit from their investments and get a positive ROI. The consultants and
contractors on the other hand still get valuable experience and training in
how to use the technology as well as being able to develop functioning
business models.
It is argued by Kiviniemi (2013) that the party who should drive the
development towards BIM is public clients. These clients generally have a long
term perspective, both in regards to specific projects, but also because of the
frequency they participate in construction projects. Even if the development
of BIM supported processes is not generating a positive ROI on a single
project horizon the gathered knowledge can be used in future project. It is
also argued, by Howard and Bjrk (2008), that these public actors have a
responsibility to make the results from these projects available for other actors,
thereby driving the development in the whole industry. As BIM has the
opportunity to improve the productivity in the AEC-industry, higher adoption
rates should have benefits socioeconomically.
In some countries the public actors have followed this process. In for
example the UK there are demands for BIM from public actors. In Norway
Statsbygg has developed a BIM manual containing generic requirements
for BIM for both projects and facilities. This development is also establishing
itself somewhat in Sweden as the Utbildingshuset case study indicates.
Akademiska Hus has developed a BIM manual to establish some standards for
how BIM shall be adopted in their new construction projects. This manual
emphasizes on the information part in BIM and distinguishes it against ordinary
3D models without objects or linked information.

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6.

Conclusions

6.1 recap of the research question

The research question in this thesis is the following:
-

How is the decision regarding BIM taken in a construction project?

Together with this main question follow these sub-questions:

How the decision regarding BIM was made, what benefits and barriers
was deemed most important?
Which actors that were involved in this decision?
How accurate the different actors understanding of BIM are?
If there were a consensus regarding the decision or if single individuals
drove the adoption process?
How barriers to BIM adoption have been addressed in the project?

6.2 The BIM concept

The technology of BIM has benefits over traditional 2D technology. By
improving the ability to manage information in construction projects, better
collaborative work processes can be adopted. These processes can
streamline the work in an AEC-project and thereby improving productivity.
Improved productivity on a project scale is however not the only possible
outcome of BIM adoption. BIM can be used at smaller scale by individual
actors, with smaller potential benefits. The adoption of BIM must however
correspond to the sought-after goal with the BIM adoption. BIM is not a goal
by itself, the technology can enable changes in processes, making them
more efficient, but BIM has no value in its own right. BIM has a value as a tool
to reach other goals, but is not a goal by itself. Therefore the goal with BIM
adoption must be developed before the processes for how the technology
should be used are developed.
The slow adoption of BIM is linked with many different barriers, and
there is no single one problem that could be solved individually to enable
wide scale BIM adoption. BIM will enforce a paradigm shift in the industry with
large consequences to how construction projects are performed. With
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adoption of this new ICT technology more efficient work processes need to
be adopted. How these new processes affect the industry in regards to
business models and practises is currently not fully developed. The individuals
working with these new tools also need education to be able to use the BIM
tools. BIM will change many individuals roles in the project and there has to
be a general understanding of the changes in practice. Together this means
that technical issues are not alone the greatest barrier to BIM. When trying to
break down the barriers to BIM adoption it is important to remember the
process changes and needs of the individuals actually working with the new
tools.

6.3 The implementation process

The case-studies in this thesis revelled that the driving force towards
BIM often are interested individuals rather than a whole organisation striving
towards economic goals. If the understanding of BIM and its possibilities is not
well established in the organisation there is a risk of losing the goal of why BIM
is

adopted.

Many

potential

benefits

of

BIM

stem

from

enhancing

collaboration, if there is no common understanding of what the models are

going to be used for there can be problems in developing the correct
models.
The lack of common agreement on a definition of BIM makes the
concept vaguer. Depending on the type of actor the expectations on what
BIM is differs. Because of the collaborative aspect of BIM this can be
problematic as all actors must cooperate in the development and usage of
these models.
The benefits with BIM have been established, but there are still costs
connected with the adoption. The short term perspective in construction
projects is an issue, as the project owner might not be able to profit from their
investments in a single project. There is a need for more case-studies, both
showing the profitability with BIM and revealing how the process issues have
been addressed in these projects. At the same time there are competitive
disadvantages for actors to reveal these results to the whole industry.
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For BIM to be adopted successfully, all actors in a project must

participate in this change. Therefore there is a need for ability to make
requirements regarding how BIM is supposed to be used. If a single actor is
not contributing, much value in the models is lost because of the following
inability to use them as intended.

6.4 To improve the implementation rate of BIM

It has been argued that the actor who should drive the development
towards BIM is public clients. Project owners are generally the actor in the
project in the best position to put pressure on other project participants to
follow the new processes needed. Generally, public clients also have both a
long term perspective in their projects as well as many consecutive projects.
This enables them to benefit from experiences in earlier projects. It can also
be argued that these public actors have a responsibility to make their
experiences public, for the benefit of the whole industry, as higher
productivity in the AEC-industry has socioeconomic benefits.

6.5 Further research

To better enable adoption of BIM in the AEC-industry there is a need to
further research the following topics.

Actual results of BIM adoption: As described in the thesis there is a

need for more case-studies of completed construction projects
investigating how BIM affected the result. Lack of data describing the
effects of BIM is presented as an important barrier to adoption of BIM.
The effect of BIM on work processes: Research on how adoption of
BIM affects the work processes in a project and how these can be
adapted to streamline practises in the project.
How BIM results should be measured: There are currently no clear and
good way of measuring the benefits of BIM. Inconsistency in how
effects of BIM are measured makes results of case-studies less reliable
and therefore makes such research less valid.
Research around these questions will deliver important results making

the understanding of BIM and its effects better understood.

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6.7 Afterword
As seen in other countries, UK and Norway for example, large public
actors have power to set demands on the industry in regards to BIM. This is
largely the case because of the large amount of facilities they own and are
constructing. In Sweden the single public client Byggnadsstyrelsen was
divided into many different public companies with the responsibilities for
specific parts of the facilities previously owned by Byggnadsstyrelsen. Now,
five of these public companies are collaborating to establish demands and
standards regarding BIM adoption in their projects. These five companies are
Akademiska

Hus

Fortifikationsverket

Riksdagsfrvaltningen

Specialfastigheter Sverige and Statens Fastighetsverk. This means that the

development I call for is currently underway in the Swedish AEC-industry. How
this will affect the adoption rate of BIM, however, will be revealed in the
future.
After the completion of this thesis it has come to my attention that
there is new research questioning the accuracy of the low or negative
development of productivity in the AEC-industry. Depending on how
productivity numbers are measured very different results emerge. This new
research will however not affect the potential usefulness of BIM in regard to
increasing the productivity. Even if the AEC-industry is not lagging behind
other production industry in regards to productivity, its productivity numbers
can still increase by improving upon the level of collaboration in a
construction project.

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7.

References

Aranda-Mena, G., Crawford, J., Chevez, A., & Froese, T. (2009). Building
information modelling demystified: does it make business sense to adopt
BIM?. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 2(3), 419-434.
Arayici, Y., Khosrowshahi, F., Ponting, A. M., & Mihindu, S. (2009). Towards
implementation of building information modelling in the construction
industry.
Azhar, S., Hein, M., and Sketo, B. (2008). Building Information Modeling (BIM):
Benefits, Risks and Challenges. Proceedings of the 44th ASC Annual
Conference (on CD ROM), Auburn, Alabama, April 2-5, 2008.
Bernstein, P.G., and Pittman, J.H. (2005). Barriers to the Adoption of Building
information Modeling in the Building Industry. Autodesk Building Solutions
Whitepaper, Autodesk Inc., CA.
Ding, L., Drogemuller, R., Akhurst, P., Hough, R., Bull, S. and Linning, C. (2009).
Towards sustainable facilities management. In P. Newton, K. Hampson, & R.
Drogmuller, Thechnology, Design and Process Innovation in the Built
Environment. pp. 373-392. Taylor & Francis.
Eastman, C., Teicholz, P., Sacks, R. and Liston,K. (2011). BIM Handbook, a
Guide to Building Information Modelling 2nd Ed. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.
Fischer, M., Kunz, J. (November 12, 2006). The Scope and Role of Information
Technology in Construction [WWW document]. URL
http://cife.stanford.edu/online.publications/TR156.pdf
Ghauri, P., Grnhaug, K., (2010). Research Methods in Business Studies 4th Ed.
Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
Gu, N., London, K. (2010) Understanding and facilitating BIM adoption in the
AEC industry. Automation in Construction, 19 (8) (2010), pp. 988999
Gu, N., Singh, V., London, K., Brankovic, L., & Taylor, C. (2008). BIM:
expectations and a reality check. In Proceedings of 12th International
Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering & 2008
International Conference on Information Technology in Construction.
Tsinghua University Press.
Howard, R., Bjrk, B. C. (2008). Building information modellingExperts views
on standardisation and industry deployment. Advanced Engineering
Informatics, 22(2), 271-280.

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Howell, I., and B. Batcheler. (2005) "Building Information Modelling Two Years
LaterHuge Potential, Some Success and Several Limitations Retrieved."
Available from: LaiserinLetter< http://www. laiserin.
com/features/bim/newforma_bim. pdf>(accessed 1 November 2010) (2005).
Isikdag, U., Aouad, G., Underwood, J., & Wu, S. (2007, June). Building
information models: a review on storage and exchange mechanisms. In
Bringing ITC knowledge to work, 24th W78 Conference Maribor (Vol. 26, No.
29.6, p. 2007).
Johnson, R. E., & Laepple, E. S. (2003). Digital innovation and organizational
change in design practice. CRS Center, Texas A & M University.
Khemlani, L. (November 22, 2007). Top Criteria for BIM Solutions, AECbytes,
October issue [WWW document] URL http://www.aecbytes.com.
Kiviniemi, A. (2013) Public clients as the driver for open BIM adoption-how
and why UK government wants to change the construction industry?,
Conference at Clareon Hotel Airlanda airport, Open BIM. 2013-04-22.
Rizal, S. (2011)"Changing roles of the clients, architects and contractors
through BIM." Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 18.2:
176-187.
Steel, J.,Drogemuller, R., Toth B. (2012) Model interoperability in building
information modelling. Software & Systems Modeling February 2012, Volume
11, Issue 1, pp. 99-109
Thompson, D.B., and Miner, R.G. (November 23, 2007). Building Information
Modeling - BIM: Contractual Risks are Changing with Technology [WWW
document] URL http://www.aepronet.org/ge/no35.htm
Tse T K, Wong K A and Wong K F (2005) The utilisation of building information
models in nD modelling: A study of data interfacing and adoption barriers.,
ITcon Vol. 10, Special Issue From 3D to nD modelling , pg. 85-110,
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Vanlande, R,. Nicolle, C,. Cruz, C,. (2008). IFC and building lifecycle
management. Automation in Construction, iss: 18 pp. 70-78
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7.1 References case-studies

Akademiska Hus (2013), BIM-instruktion fr projektledare, Version 1, 2013-0410, [WWW document], URL:
www.akademiskahus.se/downloadpubl.php?lPublID=165
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NKS-bygg (2012) 1 Fakta om projektavtalet fr Nya Karolinska Solna, [WWW

document], URL:
http://www.nyakarolinskasolna.se/PageFiles/556/Faktablad_om_projektavtale
t_NKS_feb2012%5b1%5d.pdf
Nya Karolinska Solna (2012), Framtidens universitetssjukhus, [WWW
document], URL: http://www.nyakarolinskasolna.se/sv/Det-nya-sjukhuset/

7.2 Interviews
Case-study 1 Campus Utbildningshus
Project manager for KTH (2013), interview spring 2013
Responsible for the use educational use of the building (2013) interview spring
2013
Developer of Akademiska Hus BIM manual (2013), interview spring 2013
Case-study 2 Nya Karolinska Solna
BIM usage of Coor Service management (2013), interview spring 2013
BIM deliveries at Skanska (2013), interview spring 2013

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