Project managers as involuntary policy implementers? The case of implementing BIM

Systemic innovation such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) is commonly said to integrate the fragmented construction process and its diverse actors, and increase productivity and innovation in the construction industry (Azhar, 2011). Such promises have driven public client organisations in many countries (for example Hong Kong, UK and Sweden) to make policy decisions to implement BIM. Such policy decisions eventually turn up as additional expectations on the public client’s project manager when specifying demands during procurement of consultants and contractors. However, little is known about how policy decisions to implement BIM are translated and how the translation of BIM impacts contractual and managerial issues in client organizations (Porwal & Hewage, 2013; Kassem, & Succar, 2017).This paper is exploring how public client’s project managers translate BIM through procurement. The purpose is to develop better understanding of the public project manager’s role as change agent in the translation of systemic innovation such as BIM. Findings are based on 10 semi-structured interviews with project managers at the largest public infrastructure client in Sweden and the analysis is done from the theoretical perspective of sociology of translation (Callon, 1984). Findings indicate that project managers struggle when interpreting BIM into specifications, that they often hesitate to accept the policy and that they are not yet willing to prioritise BIM. Hence, project managers are not enrolled, making BIM translation and implementation challenging. Findings contribute to research on BIM in relation to procurement, and to research on the project manager´s role as change agent.