Building Information Modeling Project Execution Planning Research Project
This document describes a detailed description of the process used to complete the research to develop the BIM Project Execution Planning Guide and the related resources. The Guide was developed through a multistep research procedure that included a detailed literature review; industry expert interviews; focus group meetings; quasi-experiments; surveys; and fundamental process and information mapping tasks. After the Guide was developed, it was implemented on several case study projects to evaluate the ease of implementation and identify areas for improving the core planning procure documented in the Guide. It was also released for public comment with over 3,250 downloads from the project website.
The research goal as defined in the original project proposal is to develop and broadly disseminate a method to create a BIM Execution Plan in the early stages of a building project. The execution plan defines the scope of BIM implementation on a project, the team characteristics needed to achieve the modeling, the process impacts of using BIM, contract recommendations for BIM implementation, and the value proposition for the appropriate level of modeling at the various stages in the project lifecycle. The research objectives for the project include:
- Identification of BIM methods and implementation strategies organized by project phase (planning, design, construction, and operations) and the definition of potential benefits, costs, and strategies for adopting these methods;
- Develop the implementation guidelines and best practices for BIM implementation at various stages in the project; and
- Disseminate the results through A) a BIM Execution Planning Guide; B) execution planning templates that will lead a project team through the collaborative planning process; C) presentations at buildingSMART, CII and other national conferences, e.g., AIA, BIM Forum, DBIA; D) a CII research summary and CII research report; and E) articles in industry and academic publications.
To achieve the research goal and objectives, the following research steps were conducted:
- Conduct Detailed Literature Review;
- Perform Industry Interviews to Define Primary BIM Uses;
- Develop the Draft BIM Project Execution Planning Procedure;
- Validation the BIM Project Execution Planning Procedure; and
- Revise and Update the Procedure, Guide and Templates.
The research methodology used throughout this study focused on the development and assessment of a comprehensive planning method which leverages information and input from many sources. The procedure is grounded in fundamental business process management techniques and lean theory for information management with targeted adaptations to meet the needs of planning the implementation of BIM throughout the project lifecycle. The procedure was tested through an extensive case study evaluation along with industry surveys and feedback. We received a large number of comments from industry members, both formal and informal, regarding the guide and the corresponding templates which have ultimately added to the quality of the final product of this research.
