The impact of BIM Implementation on Architectural Design Management in Small and Medium Practices in the UK

Abstract

Design management embodies managing design activities and this requires extensive information management and sharing. While some of these needs have been met partially by other existing management practices, BIM (building information modelling) which has become widely adopted in the AEC industry holds tools for supporting and improving design management practices through its functionalities and capabilities.
The aim of this dissertation is to study the impact of BIM implementation on design management in architectural SMES. Extensive literature reviews on BIM, its benefits, barriers to its implementation, design management problems, the design process and how it directly affects design management success were discussed and further supported using triangulation under the mixed method approach. Data collection instrument employed were, 4 semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire survey of 32 respondents from a sample of BIM users in small and medium practices in the UK
Study findings show that majority of the firms have an acceptable knowledge of BIM, and is being used occasionally regardless of project size. The most significant reasons for BIM implementation were enhanced visualization, secondly, improved quality of buildings and thirdly to remain competitive. Also the most significant benefits of BIM were improved collaboration and communication between stakeholders, improved design quality, and generation of accurate and consistent drawings resulting in significant time, reduced rework and finally cost.
Syntheses of study findings suggest that with BIM the practice of separate departmental systems and a culture that each function remains independent in all aspects including information storage, exchange reuse, and retrieval will gradually seize to exist as firms see the potential of BIM solving interface problems, and bridging the gap helping disciplines within the firm act as a whole that co-exist.
Despite these significant savings major barriers to its successful implementation were cost of training and software, lack of skilled personnel, compatibility problems and an unclear responsibility boundary between project parties.