Sarigul, F. H. and Gunaydin, H. M. (2026) Integrated BIM, GIS and interoperable digital technologies in lifecycle management of building construction projects: Systematic literature review. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 15(5), pp. 1808-1845. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose – In the digital era, there is a growing interest in integrating building information modeling (BIM) and geographic information system (GIS) technologies throughout the construction lifecycle, including design, construction, operation, maintenance and demolition, using interoperable digital technologies. This study aims to provide a holistic assessment of the potential of BIM/GIS integration to improve construction quality by comprehensively analyzing the literature to reveal application areas, opportunities, most urgent problems/obstacles, technical solutions, gaps and future directions for BIM/GIS integration in construction. Design/methodology/approach – This review seeks answers to five identified research questions and conducts a systematic review process that includes content analysis and bibliometric analysis of 141 articles published between 2007 and 2024 from the Scopus database. Findings – Integrated BIM/GIS reveals that leading research topics in construction, including cutting-edge technologies, lifecycle management, data integration management, disaster management, urban management and construction activities (type and location), are gaining significant momentum. Additionally, topics such as circularity, cultural heritage, construction waste, construction safety, life cycle assessment (LCA) and supply chain management remain open for further exploration. The results indicate that the most significant challenge lies in converting and integrating geometric and semantic data from Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)/City Geography Markup Language (CityGML) or shapefile formats of BIM/GIS. The consensus suggests utilizing a single/third-party platform, with Infraworks software being a prominent option. Originality/value – This review offers practical recommendations to tackle current challenges based on the content analyses conducted while highlighting that future research should aim to integrate BIM/GIS-enabled digital twins for buildings and cities.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | BIM; building information modeling; geographical information system; GIS; integration; systematic literature review |
| Index terms: | exploration, disaster management, construction safety, construction waste, life cycle assessment, database, digital twin, methodology, integration, industry foundation classes, geographic information system, information system, digital technology, lifecycle, building information modelling, circularity, systematic literature review, construction quality, content analysis, building construction, option, bibliometric analysis, platform, construction activity |
| Subjects: | environmental resource management, decision analysis, building construction, research methods, data analysis and analytics, quality assurance, project delivery, computational design, sustainable materials, construction operations, environmental health, organizational analysis, geographical techniques and analysis, computing systems, waste management, research evaluation and metrics, digital engineering, financial risk, digital design, environmental impact, information systems, data management |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Project Management, Cost Management, Organizational Design, Geographical Context, Sustainability, Construction Technology, Site Management, Digital Applications, Quality Management, Information Management, Risk Management |
| 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