An Investigation of the Adoption of BIM and Value Engineering Barriers in the South African Construction Industry

BIM has proven to be a great tool to facilitate Value Engineering. BIM and Value Engineering are tools that help projects be completed on time and within budget and can increase stakeholder involvement. This paper, therefore, presents findings on the barriers contributing to the level of implementation of BIM and Value Engineering in the South African construction industry. Primary data was obtained through unstructured interviews. BIM experts and construction professionals who work with BIM were interviewed. Secondary data was obtained through a systematic review of literature from different academic sites, namely, google scholar, Scopus, Taylor Francis and ASCE Library, based on keywords related to the study. The findings confirm that BIM and VE are practised in the construction industry in South Africa, and the participants found them to be a valuable experience that is efficient and effective. The findings also confirm that although BIM is used, there are barriers to its adoption, which affect Value Engineering processes. These include lack of skills, high cost, lack of government involvement, BIM Infancy, IT Infrastructure and Resistance to change. The study addresses barriers that construction professionals encounter in implementing BIM and VE. This could lead to efficient problem-solving techniques and strategies based on the identified barriers.