Involvement matters: BIM implementation at project level in the AEC industry

In recent years enabling technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) has appeared in the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Despite that both the industry and researchers have devoted considerable resources in the development of numerous aspects of BIM, the fundamental implementation process at project level is still poorly understood. In this paper we investigate a real life project taken from Statsbygg, The Norwegian directorate of public construction and property. We use a theoretical framework to examine which factors are significant for successful BIM implementation at the project level. The case study deals with Statsbygg’s request of using BIM and Lean-constructioninspired work principles in the design phase of a medium sized refurbishment project. The analysis finds that a successful implementation largely depends upon a participative and co-operative process. This means that significant project participants must be involved in a discussion of a BIM-implementation-plan which should reflect interests and goals of the involved parties.