Impediments to the Implementation of Building Information Modelling for Project Planning

BIM is an information management system that has eliminated many pitfalls that have plagued the industry in countries that have adopted it. BIM is widely used as a pre-construction tool where a digital representation of the facility is defined by the information added by different professionals through BIM's interoperability functionality. BIM improves the quality output of projects through features such as clash detection, which significantly reduces the need for Requests for Information (RFIs) and reworks. To seek ways to improve project quality and customer satisfaction and restore the construction industry's global market share, an assessment of the impediments to BIM usage for project planning is needed, which is what this study focused on. A quantitative research methodology was employed to retrieve data for this study. Data were retrieved using a questionnaire survey distributed to professionals in the South African built environment. The data retrieved were analysed using descriptive analysis. The study revealed that the top three impediments to implementing Building Information Modelling for project planning in the South African construction industry are a lack of support from top management, a lack of awareness of BIM benefits and a lack of BIM education. The study concluded that the various impediments to BIM implementation for project planning could be attributed to stakeholders' lack of knowledge about BIM in the construction industry. The study recommended government intervention by enforcing BIM within the industry or introducing policies encouraging BIM adoption.