Comparative analysis of drivers to BIM adoption among AEC firms in developing countries : a case of Nigeria

Babatunde, S; Ekundayo, DO; Adekunle, A; Bello, W

Abstract

Purpose – Building information modelling (BIM) adoption is vital to productivity and competitive nature of the construction sector. However, BIM adoptions have not been generally embraced by many Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firms, particularly in developing countries; and studies that investigate the important drivers to BIM adoptions among construction professionals through quantitative approach are limited. The study purpose is to address the aforementioned gap.

Design/methodology/approach – The study used a literature review, a pilot study and a questionnaire survey. The primary data were carried out using structured questionnaire distributed to the four different, selected BIM adopters’ AEC firms. These comprised architectural firms, facility management firms, quantity surveying firms and structural engineering firms in Lagos, Nigeria. Data obtained were analyzed using mean score, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and factor analysis.

Findings – The study identified 23 drivers to BIM adoption and the relative importance of the identified drivers was gauged from each selected BIM adopters’ AEC firm category. The result of the Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the perceptions of the four selected AEC firms in the mean ranking of the identified 23 drivers to BIM adoption. The findings from factor analysis categorized the identified drivers into two major factors to include: cost and time savings, and improved communication; and BIM awareness and government supports.

Practical implications – The study empirically identified important drivers to BIM adoption which will be useful for construction stakeholders to formulate strategies to adopt the full implementation of BIM in the Nigerian AEC firms and other developing countries. Also, this study is very important as it identified, analyzed, and compared the drivers to BIM adoptions from four different AEC firms; thereby providing robust and more reliable findings.

Originality/value – The study findings would inform the decisions of policymakers and construction stakeholders to make some policy recommendations capable of positively influencing the widespread adoption of BIM in AEC firms and construction industry at large. This study is important because the studies that comparatively and empirically analysed BIM drivers in AEC firms are rare, particularly in developing countries. Hence, this study could be used to benchmark future studies in developing countries.

Citation

Babatunde, S., Ekundayo, D., Adekunle, A., & Bello, W. (2020). Comparative analysis of drivers to BIM adoption among AEC firms in developing countries : a case of Nigeria. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 18(6), 1425-1447. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-08-2019-0217

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 1, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Feb 3, 2020
• Publication Date: Feb 3, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 3, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 3, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology
• Print ISSN: 1726-0531
• Publisher: Emerald
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1425-1447
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-08-2019-0217
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-08-2019-0217
• Related Public URLs: https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/1726-0531