Worlobah, A M (2025) Investigating the implementation of building information modeling in the construction sector in Liberia. PhD thesis, National University, USA.
Abstract
Investigating the adoption and implementation of building information modeling (BIM) in the construction sector in Liberia. The problem addressed in this study was the miscalculations of material quantities, procurement of unsuitable materials, and repeated redesigns and reworks associated with construction projects executed by most Liberian-owned construction companies. Presently, most construction companies in Liberia use two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software for their entire design processes. When using 2D and 3D CAD software to design a building, the 2D design lacks better visualization for team members and clients who are not trained to understand the 2D drawing; when designers use 3D modeling software that has no BIM functionalities, designers primarily create drawings and models without information to represent the actual building and its parts. In this mixed methods study, the researcher investigated the opportunity of implementing BIM in the construction sector in Liberia, identified barriers to adopting BIM, and presented recommendations to help promote the technology in the construction sector. The researcher used regression and correlation analyses to analyze the data and displayed the results using charts, graphs, and tables. The target population for the research was 15 construction companies in Monrovia and its suburbs. The researcher selected 45 individuals across the 15 companies including students from Architecture and Civil Engineering colleges. The Levene’s test result indicated rejection of the null hypotheses with a P-value less than 0.05 while the Anderson Darling test showed P-value for each of the predictor variable to be significantly less than the threshold significance level of 0.05. The overall results of the research showed that the predictor variables are strongly correlated confirming the ANOVA result with P-value for the model given as 0.0393 < 0.05. The P-value indicates that the predictor variables are significant in predicting the response variable. The findings emphasized the significance of standards in the sector and the role of top management in addressing performance problems. By implementing the recommendations, companies can create a supportive and competitive work environment that fosters a culture of best practices in the industry.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Goldstein, G |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | culture; population; standards; 3D modeling; building information modeling; civil engineering; visualization; Liberia; best practice; client; designer |
| Index terms: | best practice, work environment, implementation, 3D modelling, Liberia, redesign, building information modelling, mixed method, designer, correlation analysis, top management, population, construction project, computer aided design, visualization, construction sector, design process, drawing, functionality, rework, construction company |
| Subjects: | Geography, production management, demography, organization, computational design, contractual arrangements, design features, operations management, management, design practice, statistical analysis, information systems, industry analysis, design methods, business, profession, data collection methods, technical documentation |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Project Management, Procurement, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Organizational Design |
| 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