Establishing Lessons for Ireland's BIM Policy Through a Systematic Review of International BIM Programmes

Introduction

BIM usage is accelerating rapidly across the globe, driven by the major private and government owners who want to embrace the benefits of faster, more certain project delivery and more reliable quantity and cost (Hore et al., 2017a; McGraw Hill Construction Report, 2014a; WEF, 2016, 2018). The intended benefits of BIM are now well known which includes the potential to improve coordination, communication, data management, analysis, simulation, construction productivity and facilities management (Puolitaival & Forsyth, 2016).

Learning from leading jurisdictions, governments who are embarking on the transformational journeys have been convinced that the strategic use of BIM can support a leaner, more innovative construction sector, thus addressing declining productivity (Kelly et al., 2013). For governments, BIM is now recognised as an effective process which can improve efficiency and productivity within the industry (Construction, 2020). Post construction, public sector bodies can use the model to automate the creation of inventory lists for equipment, populate current FM systems and reduce redundancy in the maintenance of facility data for FM activities (Brindal & Prasanna, 2014).

The support of central government for BIM implementation can be regarded as the key driving force leading to higher utilisation of BIM (Wong et al., 2009, 2011).

Consultation, expert input and research evidence indicate that strong leadership of government and industry, focusing on standards, education and procurement change, is critical to any successful digital transition programme in construction (NBC, 2017).

The authors chose to build on results of their recent Global BIM 2017 Study (Hore et al., 2017a) and BIM in Ireland 2017 Study (Hore et al, 2017b and 2017c). The Global BIM Study focused primarily on evidence of regulatory BIM, key champions and noteworthy publications in particular jurisdictions. The study led to the authors making connections with persons involved in national BIM programmes in most of the 27 countries investigated. This networking led to the opportunity to deepen the conversation with particular international contacts, learn how their BIM programmes were organised, managed and the levels of governmental support and initiatives that were evident.

Table 1 provides a list of the target organisations consulted.