Practice-oriented development of a cost-effective entry pathway for Building Information Modeling (BIM) in small-scale residential construction projects (construction costs < €5 million).
Initial situation
The German government wants the construction industry to work holistically with “big-open BIM” in order to increase cost transparency, efficiency, and adherence to deadlines while also strengthening SMEs. A shortage of skilled workers and ambitious infrastructure and building construction projects are increasing the pressure to optimize planning and construction processes. Clients need practical standards and templates so they can put BIM services out to tender with low barriers to entry, even with limited knowledge. Contractors need to make the switch from conventional to BIM-based processes economically and technically sound. This is particularly true for smaller projects (< $5 million), where low margins, scarce personnel, and a lack of integrated solutions are slowing down the transition. There is a need for a reliable, step-by-step roadmap with understandable templates for direct BIM application that does not ignore the realities of small projects.
Objective
The aim of the research project is to facilitate the introduction of a digital, BIM-supported working method in small-scale residential construction (construction costs < €5 million) in a practical manner and to promote the widespread use of BIM. To this end, conventionally executed residential construction projects of this size are first selected and systematically analyzed in terms of their typical project structures, roles, services, information flows, and process flows. On this basis, it will be determined how and to what extent BIM can be integrated into these existing processes in an economically viable manner: Suitable BIM use cases will be identified, specified, and prepared in the form of comprehensible profiles, attribute lists, and technical specifications. In addition, a step-by-step implementation and transformation strategy with milestones is developed, as well as a modular toolkit of recommendations for action, templates, and sample files, which enables clients and contractors to get started with BIM in a low-threshold, realistic, and economically viable manner.