The use of cloud enabled building information models: an expert analysis

The dependency of today's construction professionals to use singular commercial applications for design possibilities creates the risk of being dictated by the language-tools they use. This unknowingly approach to converting to the constraints of a particular computer application's style, reduces one's association with cutting-edge design as no single computer application can support all of the tasks associated with building-design and production. Interoperability depicts the need to pass data between applications, allowing multiple types of experts and applications to contribute to the work at hand. Cloud computing is a centralized heterogeneous platform that enables different applications to be connected to each other through using remote data servers. However, the possibility of providing an interoperable process based on binding several construction applications through a single repository platform 'cloud computing' required further analysis. The following Delphi questionnaires analysed the exchanging information opportunities of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as the possible solution for the integration of applications on a cloud platform. The survey structure is modelled to; (i) identify the most appropriate applications for advancing interoperability at the early design stage, (ii) detect the most severe barriers of BIM implementation from a business and legal viewpoint, (iii) examine the need for standards to address information exchange between design team, and (iv) explore the use of the most common interfaces for exchanging information. The anticipated findings will assist in identifying a model that will enhance the standardized passing of information between systems at the feasibility design stage of a construction project.