BIM and construction dispute management

Construction disputes have long been considered chronic problems in the construction industry, which need to be better managed for the achievement of project success. The fast digital transformation in the construction industry has stimulated the broad research of BIM applications in the construction management field. Due to the limited integrated framework concerning whether and how BIM can be used to manage construction disputes more effectively, this research aims to bridge the gap between BIM and disputes by proposing a conceptual framework of the mechanisms of how BIM adoption can facilitate the management of construction disputes. A mixed method was employed for this research.A structured critical literature review was first conducted in the fields of BIM and construction disputes. Nine main common causes of disputes (e.g., change order, design error, and delay) and eight primary benefits of BIM application (e.g., improved visual management, enhanced collaboration, and design optimization) were identified. A conceptual framework was then developed illustrating the mechanism of how each BIM direct and indirect BIM benefit can facilitate each dispute cause in the overall lifecycle of construction projects. The framework indicates that design error, delay, and change order can be most significantly reduced by most of the BIM benefits, while improved visual management, improved information management, and enhanced collaboration are three of the most frequently adopted BIM benefits that can settle the majority of dispute causes.A cross-regional comparative study was then conducted to validate the critical review results and to compare the differences and similarities of the variables between China and UK. An online questionnaire survey was administered among the construction professionals in the two countries, with 170 valid responses returned for data analysis. Principal component analysis (PCA), mean score analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, and quartile analysis were employed to analyze the questionnaire data. In terms of disputes, PCA results indicate that the five most critical categories of dispute causes in the two territories are: delay-related problems, lack of communication, contractual problems, site conditions, and design problems. The importance of variation in quantities, breach of contract, misinterpretation of contractual terms and conditions, and poor contract management was perceived significantly differently by the respondents in the two countries, whereas design defects and failure to make compensation for additional work were the most critical common dispute causes in both countries. In terms of BIM, results indicate that improved visual management, improved information management, and enhanced planning and scheduling were perceived significantly differently by the professionals of the two countries, whereas design optimization was the only critical common BIM benefit in both countries.In order to map out how BIM can be practically used to manage construction disputes, the principles of Grounded Theory (GT) were further employed to analyze data collected from twelve semi-structured interviews with experienced professionals in the UK construction industry. A conceptual framework was developed based on the analysis of the qualitative data, which indicates that enhanced understanding, digital records, BIM facilitates collaboration, collaboration facilitates BIM, a workflow process, establishing the facts, unified BIM definitions, and set up requirements are the eight major BIM factors for effective management of major dispute types (e.g., design-related, delay-related, and communication-related disputes).