Tan, T; Mills, G; Ma, X and Papadonikolaki, E (2024) Adoption challenges of building information modelling (BIM) and off-site construction (OSC) in healthcare construction: are they fellow sufferers? Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 31(13), pp. 390-410. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Off-Site Construction (OSC) has received much government and public attention during and after COVID. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an initiative discussed widely to promote OSC implementation. Although many policy promotions have been published, there are many challenges to implementing BIM and OSC in real life and questions of whether they really offer value to healthcare design professionals. This research aims to investigate BIM and OSC to understand their commonalities and differences of challenges by collecting empirical evidence from China’s healthcare construction. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory research adopted a mixed method with a questionnaire survey and interviews. A total of 261 questionnaires were received (with 183 valid), followed by 31 semi-structured interviews. Findings: This research reveals that although both OSC and BIM face similar adoption challenges and suspicious attitudes in real-life projects, their challenges' connotations and reasons are different. OSC faces scepticism for its customisation costs and technical constraints, while BIM is seen as limited in utility and complex to integrate. Highlighting these as socio-technical challenges, the research advocates for an integrated framework to effectively implement OSC and BIM, addressing both technical and collaborative needs in healthcare construction. Originality/value: This research examines OSC and BIM within the context of healthcare construction, a focus that is relatively underexplored. The research provides a juxtaposition of the perceived and practical challenges of adopting these technologies, revealing a gap between the industry’s expectations and the current capabilities of OSC and BIM, thereby contributing to the development of modern methods of design in healthcare.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adoption challenges; BIM; China; healthcare construction; off-site construction; questionaire survey; interview |
| Index terms: | off-site construction, implementation, exploratory research, building information modelling, customization, socio-technical, promotion, mixed method, China, methodology, evidence, questionnaire, face, survey, interview |
| Subjects: | information systems, building construction, Geography, management, research methods, contractual arrangements, construction manufacturing, psychology, data collection methods, evaluation and assessment methods |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Procurement, Business Strategy, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Organizational Design, Digital Applications, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here