Current state of practice associated with the use of building information modeling (BIM) in the custom home building industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) entered the construction industry and is permeating the commercial sector. Research is being performed to expand the capabilities and applications within the industry. However, research has historically been primarily focused on the commercial sector and has seen limited study in other sectors of the industry, specifically the residential sector. This study focuses on the custom home building segment of residential construction in the United States because of the unique and complex nature of each project. These project characteristics may assist in the realization of some purported benefits of BIM implementation, like those experienced in commercial applications. Utilizing the Delphi method, industry experts identified and achieved consensus on the most common uses, benefits, and challenges they faced in their implementation of BIM. The primary uses of BIM in residential construction identified by this expert panel were design and visualization, the creation of construction documents, and quantity takeoffs. The leading benefits identified were client visualization, plan accuracy, improved client communication, and ease of plan revisions. The leading challenges identified by the panel were high software costs, the steep learning curve when training employees, and the time-consuming nature of creating and maintaining models correctly.