BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING AND THE CULTURE OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECT TEAMS: A CASE STUDY

misbe2011 Tracking Number 81

It has often been asserted that the collaborative use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in general and Building Information Modelling (BIM) in particular across the temporary project organisation (TPO) represents the future of construction project delivery. Anticipated benefits include greater design coordination, reduced conflict, efficiency savings, and a valuable information stream for use throughout the operational life of a building. However the success of BIM in a TPO is dependent upon the presence of participant firms that share compatible technologies, business processes, and cultures, led by people who hold attitudes and display behaviours conducive to collaboration. Research suggests that these conditions are unlikely to exist throughout a TPO, or even within the entirety of its first tier stakeholders, and that this arises as a consequence of their individual attitudes towards ICT-mediated collaboration, and their subsequent decision-making in this regard. Their collective interaction thereafter defines the culture of the TPO, more often than not resulting in differentiation, or fragmentation: true integration is the exception. This paper presents a case study of a TPO, identifying differentiated cultures within the project, and their causes. It suggests that careful selection of trading partners and thereafter focused attention to the establishment of a TPO may mitigate many of these negative outcomes. Keywords: ICT, BIM, TPO, culture