Emerging risk from the application of building information modelling through the life cycle of projects

(Embargoed until 1 August 2021) Over the last decade, the use of BIM methodology, both in terms of technology and process, has experienced a rapid growth in the construction industry, there is a worldwide increase trend on the use and investment in this new technologies. Although, the benefits associated with the use of BIM in the construction industry, the literature has been demonstrated that BIM as a digital collaborative environment between construction stakeholders is here to stay. However, some aspects of the technology are still unfamiliar within the industry, several problems associated with BIM application and adaptation has been surfaced. Unsurprisingly when new technologies are used, such of these problems will appear, this is because BIM approaches represent new concepts and untested in construction industry. Therefore the challenge to overcome problems facing a using BIM, and identify the key risk factors becomes tangible more than any time before. From this perspective, the aim of this study is to identify the emerging risk that influence BIM use in the projects, investigate these risks based on the perception of academics and professionals from the Western world. In this research was to identify 128 of the risk factors based on a review of previous literature, these factors have been categorized into five key clusters (contractual, legal, technical, managerial, application and security). The study employs an online survey, which was sent to 426 respondents. The respondents were drawn from websites and professional networks. The statistical techniques of descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, ANOVA analysis, and analysis of variance were used for data analysis. The analysis findings show that four contractual risks were assessed to be important: LC2 Trades on site may not be working from the model, LC1 Unclear how to deal with BIM documents' precedence, and LC5 “Misplaced assumptions that the design team, with a “push of a button” is able to produce a perfectly coordinated series of documents through BIM”. In the legal risk cluster, the respondents agreed on the importance of L.IPR1 Lack of clarity of the ownership of the BIM objects; LD4 Lack of knowledge of the missing data and likewise, LP1 “Modelling participant does not meet the standard of care required” risk factors. The research findings also indicate that four technical risks will have an influence on BIM usage: TC1 “Complexity of transferring modelling data between programs from one program to another, TI2 Lack of understanding of BIM for the different software platforms, TI3 Interoperability shortcomings, TQ9 Failure to discover errors in the model, and TI1 Risks of different software platforms”. The results appear to show that the respondents thought ten managerial risk factors are of relevance: MX5 Lack of understanding of the expectations from BIM modelling; MX4 Lack of experience and skilled personnel”; MC4 Lack of clarity on integration BIM with the current business practice; MS1 Conflict due to dissimilar expectations from BIM; MS4 Lack of collaborative work processes and standards; MX7 Lack of understanding of BIM processes; MX6 Lack of understanding of modelling behaviors; MX8 Lack of expertise within the project team; MX9 Lack of expertise within the organizations; and MS3 Lack of criteria for BIM project implementation. Only three application risks were deemed important: PS6Implications of amendments are unclear or not defined; PT10 Lack of updating the designed model to incorporate the BIM changes made during construction; and PT11 Model not updated along with progress reviews risk factors. The results showed that the respondents strongly agreed that eight out of ten BIM security risks are relevant in BIM application and are very likely to emerge: S9Disclosure of confidential information that need to integrate with BIM programs; S6 Lack of understanding or ignoring security policies; S3 Disclosure of BIM data; S10 Unauthorised access and remote access; S5 Weakness in technical controls; S4 Weakness in security procedures; S8 Corporate surveillance; and S7 Opening non-trusted e-mail risk factors. The ANOVA analysis results revealed a variety of interrelationships between the identified risks based on respondents' profiles, affect in adapting with application and the use of BIM, this requires to be considered by BIM stakeholders, and developing an international standard for BIM risk management, finding optimal solutions for such these identified factors, in addition to further studies and researches in this field. This thesis investigates the emerging risks from BIM application and delivers an original contribution to knowledge in the form of identifying and classifying BIM application risks, which will enhance the level of stakeholder awareness and avoid any risks associated with usage of BIM in the future projects and assist in the maturity of BIM usage.