Building Information Modelling (BIM) Adoption by Quantity Surveyors: A Preliminary Survey from Malaysia

Abstract

Inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of delivering construction projects have negatively impacted the construction industry for decades. However, the emergence of BIM technology has influenced the construction process with its many benefits towards project success. Among the benefits offered by BIM are reduced project time and cost; and enhanced team collaboration and communication through the improvement of project quality and its performance. Consequently, BIM applications are claimed to provide more reliable working practice for Quantity Surveyors especially in establishing their cost estimates. Despite its well-known advantages that drive BIM employment worldwide, its usage in Malaysia is still at infancy level, with the lack of implementation by the Quantity Surveyors. Thus, this paper aims to explore BIM usage amongst Quantity Surveyors in Malaysia. A preliminary survey was undertaken to capture their views on BIM awareness, the application of BIM software, BIM usage by project stages, prospects of BIM and its importance. The findings from the survey show that BIM implementation amongst the professionals was still low. The application of BIM tools was used mostly for cost estimating and preparing Bills of Quantities (BQ) for tender documentation purpose only. Although BIM was mostly rated as important, most of the respondents were only aware of BIM but were not using it in their practice. However, they showed their interest in knowing more on how BIM would benefit their practice. The significance of this preliminary study is in terms of getting input on BIM adoption level amongst the construction players focusing on the quantity surveying field, which could be used as a reference point and benchmark towards BIM development in Malaysia.

Lean Practices Using Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Digital Twinning for Sustainable Construction

“…This theme gives important insight into the barriers of the adoption process and mainly contributes to developing directions for future studies. While there is a rich literature on technology acceptance [55,56] and BIM adoption [57][58][59], there are a few systematic investigations of technology acceptance for lean purposes. Each theme will be discussed in Section 6.1 and Section 6.2 Figure 9 shows the frequency of themes and critical concepts discussed in three databases.…”

“…Figure 9 also shows that other concepts received much attention, such as application development, big data, optimization, developing digital tools, and interoperability issues. Many current studies focus on the integration of these technologies for lean purposes [55,60]. These topics would most likely be continued in the following decade to address the practitioner's needs.…”

Drivers for implementation of building information modeling (BIM) within the Nigerian construction industry

“…For example, studies have shown that improved decision-making process results in improved productivity of construction processes as highlighted by Liu et al (2015), Nowak et al (2016), Stransky and Dlask (2018), facilities management contributing to harmonization of real-time information (Babatunde et al (2020) and considered vital by the management and construction professionals (Sunil et al, 2017). This is also a major fulcrum upon which the BIM adoption and acceptance in the Nigerian construction industry is Ismail et al (2019), also reported that BIM adoption among the construction players has increased rapidly as a result of its numerous benefits. Furthermore, BIM has been described as a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility creating a shared knowledge resource for information about it and thus forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life cycle, from conception to demolition (Eastman et al, 2011;Suranga and Weddikkara, 2012).…”

“…Studies have shown that BIM estimating greatly improves the accuracy of estimates, and visualize realworld conditions through a virtual three-dimensional construction of the building (Sylvester and Dietrich, 2010). The cost estimating process regardless of methods adopted is necessary for estimates to be reliable and accurate (Ismail et al, 2019). The inherent ability of BIM models to be used for easy estimating has also been identified among the major reasons for BIM usage projects by professionals and clients (Madugu et al, 2016).…”

The Revolution of Quantity Surveying Profession in Building Information Modelling (BIM) Era: The Malaysian Perspective

“…Olatunji et al (2010) described that, BIM is a major challenge to the services conventionally provided by quantity surveyors and other construction disciplines as the adoption of BIM may redefine traditional professional boundaries in construction. A recent study by (Ismail, Adnan, & Bakhary, 2019) found that majority of quantity surveyors were aware of BIM usage, and have moderate knowledge of BIM but they did not use it in their practice.…”