CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE RELEVANCE OF USING 3D PRINTING AND CAD SOFTWARE BY PROFESSIONAL GRAPHIC DESIGNERS REFERRING TO THE PRACTICE IN THE NIGERIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY.

ABSTRACT

The Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry is characterized by its fragmented, complex, and multidisciplinary nature. Hence, the project completion is heavily pivoted on its effective collaboration among the stakeholders during various project phases. The exchange and management of massive project information under various project delivery methods are cumbersome in modern-day’s projects. Information Technology applications are playing a vital role in overcoming this difficulty; however, technological adoption and its full utilization has always been slow in emerging economies. Among these technologies, Building Information Modelling (BIM) dominates the AEC sector. The main purpose of this research was to establish the influence of Building Information Modeling adoption on the completion of construction projects in the case of Abuja. Specifically, the research sought to achieve the following objectives: to establish the influence of Building Information Modelling budget estimation on the completion of construction projects; to determine the influence of Building Information Modelling error minimization on the completion of construction projects; to assess the influence of Building Information Modelling time estimation on completion of construction project and to establish the influence of Building Information Modelling quality improvement on completion of construction projects. A descriptive survey research design was adopted in this study so as to enable the researcher to use quantitative techniques to measure and describe the influence of Building Information Modeling adoption on the completion of construction projects. Both open-ended and close-ended questions were used. The study had a total population of 30 elements. The researcher sampled out 28 AEC firms out of the target population using purposive sampling. Primary data was collected using personally administered questionnaires. The researcher sought the assistance of the supervisors in reviewing the instruments for validity and used the Cronbach Alpha test to confirm reliability. The Cronbach Alpha score was generated from SPSS to give a score of 0.75 which was within the recommendable range. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages, and mean aided by SPSS. The data is presented in frequency and percentage distribution tables. The findings revealed that 85% of the respondents strongly agreed that BIM budget estimation enhances the completion of projects. 94% strongly agreed BIM time estimation ensures the completion of projects. On the aspect of BIM error elimination, 85% agreed that error elimination promotes the completion of projects. 74% strongly agreed that BIM quality improvements ensure the completion of construction projects. The study recommends that the government and key players in the construction industry need to develop an institutional framework on BIM adoption in various projects to increase awareness of the BIM adoption benefits so more firms will be able to adopt and reap its benefits. It is suggested that further research may be done on related areas including the interoperability standards, programs, and legal framework of the BIM.

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Construction is a labor-intensive industry that has remained relatively unchanged for hundreds of years. Traditionally, a construction project, consisting of drawings and specifications, is delivered by architects and engineers to the owners/clients of the proposed project, with a warranty that the design is complete and free of any defects. Owners then put the project up for bid among a selected list of contractors; the lowest bid typically being awarded the job. Once the construction documents are in the possession of the general contractor and construction begins, the relationship between general contractors, architects, and engineers also begins. This relationship tends to be typically limited and distant. Any changes or discrepancies that occur in the drawings are corrected, typically, by a long trail of paperwork, for a contractual period of time per each request for information (RFI). This can stifle productivity on the job site because of trades waiting for pertinent information, and it can decrease morale among crew members, which also decreases productivity.

The construction industry experiences many changes concerning how to increase the efficiency of its processes. Building information modeling (BIM) promotes a modern collaborative method of working in the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (ACE) areas where each participant that have assigned an individual task, should adopt a new behavior based on the interchange of knowledge and information, with the aim of overcoming new challenges and increment the common benefits of the group. The new trend is partially motivated by the necessity of being successful on the development of complex projects, which creates the necessity of collaboration between designers, owners, stakeholders, financial firms, administrations, contractors, and subcontractors. As a result information and communication technology has grown up really past in the last years trying to offer precise tools to satisfy these new requirements (Bryde et al.2013).

Design/Build firms can be extremely efficient because they house both the designers (Architects and Engineers) and the Construction Management professionals; however they still operate with the same flawed system of designers generating construction drawings and the construction team erecting the building. More advancements can be made to increase productivity in construction, reduce requests for information, eliminate coordination problems, decrease construction time, and increase quality. The BIM Software is the gateway to solving these issues. With dynamically linked on demand modeling, changes can be made by Designers in a remote location that would update digital construction drawings at the jobsite. Project managers on site can propose changes to the design team with no delay time. Means of construction can be displayed in 4-Dimensions for an increased understanding of construction sequencing by the contractor on site. Any and all questions can then be answered immediately and virtually from any location (Mosca, 2007)

The research study focuses on the influence of BIM Budget estimation, minimization of errors, time estimation and quality improvement on completion of construction projects.

1.1.1 Building Information Modeling

This technological advancement is being heavily promoted by Autodesk® with the program

Revit, which is used to develop Building Information Models. Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach is a dynamically linked interface designed to take the place of redundant computer aided drafting (CAD) work. Idea being, architects are free to design, and the software generates the plans, sections, and elevations. Any changes to the documents change any other instance of it throughout the drawings, to improve coordination. Reduction in coordination issues will reduce RFIs, which will increase productivity. Knowledge of the program is essential for the general contractor on site to make suggestions to the architects and engineers who address unanticipated field conditions, this will reduce non-productive time on a jobsite and increase construction job efficiency and productivity (Azhar, 2011).

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is being adopted by the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry in various regions in the world: In the UK, 2011 was the start of the BIM journey. At the time, around 40% of those we surveyed were not even aware of BIM, let alone implementing it in their projects. Four years later, we have very different picture. Driven by the UK Government’s construction strategy, we’re now at a point where only 6% are unaware of BIM and 39% are actively using BIM on their projects.  The UK Government as a client has recognised the benefits of BIM deliverables and therefore in the Government Construction Strategy 2011 specified the requirement for public sector projects to use fully collaborative BIM level 2 by 2016. The detailed benefits provided by BIM deliverables and the requisite for the application of BIM level 2 processes on public sector projects signifies the importance and urgency required for BIM adoption in the UK quantity surveying profession. (Cabinet Office, 2011).

One of the surveys, conducted by McGraw Hill Construction in partnership with Autodesk and Skanska, revealed that: 38 % of UK business owners expect that more than 75 % of their projects will involve BIM within two years, 67% of UK owners report that the central government mandate has a high impact on their use of BIM, UK owners are more aware of BIM use by the core project team members (general contractors and architects) than their US counterparts, most UK owners (88%) are formally measuring the impact of BIM and more UK owners agree that they have experienced key BIM benefits like enhanced visualization, fewer problems due to design errors, coordination issues or construction errors, and beneficial impacts on project schedule and the control of construction costs(McGraw-Hill Construction Report,2012). The UK government estimates that it saved £1.7 billion (2 billion Euro) on major public building projects since 2012 and that 66 per cent of the UK’s Major Project Authority portfolio is now being delivered on time and within budget, a substantial improvement on the 33 per cent seen in 2010. (Construction News, 2013).

According to a recent McGraw-Hill Construction Report (2012), BIM adoption in the USA expanded from 49% in 2009 to over 71% in 2012.  In 2003 in the United States the General Services Administration (GSA), through its Public Buildings Service (PBS) Office of Chief

Architect (OCA), established the National 3D-4D-BIM Program.  In 2006 the GSA mandated that new buildings designed through its Public Buildings Service use building information modeling in the design stage.  At that time GSA had an inventory of more than 342 million square feet of office space. GSA owns about half of that space, in 1,500 buildings, and leases the rest.  For all major projects receiving design funding in Fiscal Year 2007 and beyond, GSA requires spatial program BIMs be the minimum requirements for submission to OCA for Final Concept approvals by the PBS Commissioner and the Chief Architect. Since 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires the use of BIM for all military construction projects to improve construction time and costs (NIBS, 2006).

Singapore’s goal is simple, to implement the fastest building permitting in the world.  The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) led a multi-agency effort in 2008 to implement the world’s first BIM electronic submission (e-submission).  The BIM e-submission system streamlines the process for regulatory submission. Project teams only need to submit one building model, which contains all of the information needed to meet the requirements of a regulatory agency.  In 2010, nine regulatory agencies accepted architectural BIM 3D models for approval through e-submission. This was followed by the acceptance of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) and structural BIM models in 2011. To date, more than 200 projects have made BIM e-submissions. In 2010 the BCA implemented the BIM Roadmap with the aim that 80% of the construction industry will use BIM by 2015. This is part of the government’s plan to improve the construction industry’s productivity by up to 25% over the next decade. The government provides BIM funds to promote a broader usage of BIM technology (Singapore Government, 2013). Out of $250 million Construction Productivity and Capability Fund (CPCF), $5.7 million was reserved as BIM fund for adopting BIM (Keung, 2011b). This BIM fund covers cost for BIM supporting software and hardware as well training and consultancy. BCA launched Construction Productivity Centre and Centre for Construction IT (CCIT) which have been guiding and funding on training, technology adoption and improving the way things work in the construction sector (BCA, 2011b).

The International BIM Survey 2013, carried out by construction information provider NBS found out that 57% of the respondents in New Zealand were currently using BIM.

Awareness and use of BIM	Percentage (%)
Aware and currently using BIM approach	57
Neither aware nor   using BIM approach	2
Just aware of  BIM approach	41

Table 1.1: Awareness and use of BIM in New Zealand (International BIM Survey 2013)

 

Finland is a pioneer in BIM and has progressed beyond the pilot phase (TEKLA, 2009). According to Hartmann & Fischer (2007), Finnish AEC industry is leading the use of BIM worldwide. The Finish government support the use BIM through Senate properties firm. It has given almost half of its responsibility to senate properties to manage almost the Finnish states property assets. Senate Properties is Finlands largest and most comprehensive provider of property services in Finland. Since 2001, Senate Properties has carried out a number of pilot projects to develop and study the use of building information models and the company decided on October 2007 to require models meeting the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard in its projects and has provided the BIM requirement document. This document contains general operation procedures in BIM projects and specifies the detailed general requirements of building information models. (Kiviniemi, 2007)The International BIM Survey 2013, carried out by construction information provider NBS found out that 67% of the respondents in Finland were currently using BIM (NBS National BIM Report, 2014)

The South African building industry traditionally is an early adopter of technology, propelled by independent thinkers and doers who can make IT work to suit their needs. An open regulatory process encourages investigating new approaches for building design. The country’s dynamic political and social environment creates a can-do atmosphere that energizes the business sector, freeing it from the constraints of established and perhaps outdated ways of doing things. Many firms in South Africa already use AutoCAD, so they saw little risk in trying out Revit, which integrates with AutoCAD, on a working project. As a result, designers elected to use Revit on sizable projects right out of the gate, foregoing the traditional approach of proving the technology on a small, trial project. Enough projects are being developed by consultants to allow BIM to move into the construction phase (Autodesk, 2007).

The move to adopt Building Information Modeling in Nigeria’s private and public sector

(Client side) and amongst different building professionals (Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Civil Engineers etc) has been very slow. Architects have adopted but mainly for enhancing the visual quality of their presentation. This is unfortunate because of its enormous potentials to enhance efficiency, reduce disputes, save costs and curb corruption. The first step in promoting adoption will be to increase awareness of the technique, the tools employed and their benefits. Software vendors and training institutions have a role and commercial opportunity in promoting the awareness. Another critical step is for professional institutions such as the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors and the Nigerian Society of Engineers to organize training for their members and clients, including or perhaps especially public sector institutions. As this awareness grow, the construction press and other informed opinion such as analysts will join in the promotion of the critical cost management tool that the BIM represents. Egypt is engaged in intensive BIM outsourcing services that help to communicate work together and create design information related models to all involved in the process of design and execution (Journal of Environmental Sciences and Policy Evaluation, 2012).

In Nigeria BIM adoption is at its infancy stage however gaining momentum due to increased awareness through conferences by Autodesk Nigeria, complexity of construction projects and foreign investors who have realized the influence of BIM in the project cycle

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Some of the problems in the AEC sector is there are so many different professionals working on different parts of the project (Structure, services, design, distribution among others) following a fragmented method of management. Each of this parts must be based on a common idea and follow the same criteria of others, they are key parts of information that all together allow to create the project. If information is not accurate and enough next stages will be affected. Building Information Modelling could make more efficient these stages in order to avoid many of the most typical mistakes when they work separately.

Through the use of Building Information Modeling in both design and construction process problems associated with the traditional methods and project changes; uncoordinated drawings, drawings with errors, delays in construction, late project completion, omissions among others are minimized. BIM enables virtue construction of the project before actual construction commences thus providing room for any amendments and finalization of drawings. Failure to adopt Building Information Modeling in the ACE industry will perpetuate problems associate with traditional methods like uncoordinated drawings, drawings with errors, delays in construction, late project completion, omissions, more RFIs from contactors, more defects at completion of projects, poor documentation, and stretched project budget among others (Eastman, 2008)

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of Building Information Modeling adoption on completion of construction projects: a case of Abuja, Nigeria.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

This study was be guided by the following research objectives:

• To establish the influence of Building Information Modelling budget estimation on completion of construction projects;
• To assess the influence of Building Information Modelling time estimation on completion of construction projects;

(iii)To determine the influence of Building Information Modelling error minimization on completion of construction projects;

(iv) To establish the influence of Building Information Modelling quality improvement on the completion of construction projects.

1.5 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

• To what extent does Building Information Modeling budget estimation influence the completion of a construction project?
• How does Building Information Modeling error minimization influence the completion of a construction project?

(iii)To what extent does Building Information Modeling time estimation influence the completion of a construction project?

(iv) How does Building Information Modeling quality improvement influence the completion of a construction project?

1.6 Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will hopefully enlighten the players in the construction industry (Architects, Engineers, Contractors, and clients) on the influence of BIM and the role it plays in ensuring the completion of construction projects with reference to cost, time, accuracy, and quality.  The study also hopes to encourage both stakeholders in the private and public to adopt BIM in their construction projects and enact legal framework to ensure better and sustainable utilization of resources.

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

The study was carried out in Abuja. The target population will be key construction players; project managers, Architects, Engineers, contractors and clients based in Nairobi,

Nigeria who have adopted BIM approach in their projects. Adoption of Building Information Modeling by the target population influences completion of construction which is the research interest thus they have been selected. The research will be conducted in Nairobi because only firms within Nairobi meet the criteria of selection and convenience for the researcher.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The study envisaged a limitation of access of local historical data that is not readily available due to the fact that the software is still in its infancy stage of implementation in the AEC industry in Nigeria, the change over by architects, engineers, project managers and contractors is very slow although most experts consider BIM to be the future of the construction industry.

However information will be derived from data collected from the study respondents, web pages, books, journals that cover topics focused on Building Information Modeling and interoperability.

1.9 Assumptions of the Study

The study assumed that the participants targeted were available and willing to participate. It further assumes that participants will give accurate feedback to inquiries presented to them by the researcher. It further assumes that they will have and provide the right information required for the study. The researcher will be granted access to relevant research data throughout the study.

1.10 Definitions of Significant Terms used in the study

Building Information modeling (BIM). It is the creation and use of computer models and collaborative work between architects, engineers, clients, project managers and contractors to improve the design and construction of facilities and other infrastructure.

Completion of construction projects.  This refers to the completion of a unique undertaking aimed at achieving specific predefined goals and objectives that are inherent with risk within a predetermined budget, time, and to acceptable quality standards.

Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. The sector of the construction industry provides services on architectural design, engineering design, and construction services.

Request for information (RFI). It refers a partnering tool to resolve these gaps, conflicts,  or subtle ambiguities during the bidding process or early in the construction process to eliminate the need for costly corrective measures.

Quality. It is defined as the level to which a product or service meets its specification or meets      the expectations of the users

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