Managing change in BIM-Level 2 projects: benefits, challenges, and opportunities

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to validate perceived benefits and challenges of managing change in Building Information Modelling (BIM) Level 2 projects and to further explore the opportunities for enhancing the benefits and reducing the challenges. This research is timely because, hitherto, the benefits and challenges of managing change in BIM Level 2 remained largely unvalidated and the opportunities for enhancing the benefits and reducing challenges remained relatively unexplored. Design/methodology/approach: A combination of a questionnaire survey and interviews with BIM Level 2 practitioners in the UK was employed in this study. In all, 41 responses were received from the questionnaire survey and ten subsequent interviews with BIM practitioners were carried out to explore opportunities for reducing challenges and increasing benefits of managing change in BIM Level 2 projects. Findings: The study confirms benefits and challenges of managing change in BIM Level 2 projects identified and synthesised from literature, a much needed validation. Additional benefits and challenges were also identified in this study, such as cost saving and risk reduction (benefits) and social dimension issues in the BIM Level 2 processes (challenges). Opportunities identified to enhance benefits and reduce challenges were mainly socially driven, and were either reactive or proactive in nature. Research limitations/implications: Opportunities for reducing challenges and increasing benefits identified from this research can inform the change management processes in BIM-Level 2. Practical implications: The findings provide concrete basis for shaping BIM Level 2 change management processes and requirements. Social implications: The identification of behaviours as shaping the social requirements for BIM-Level 2 confirms the need for a socio-technical approach to successful BIM implementation. Originality/value: The identification of behaviours as shaping the social requirements for BIM Level 2 confirms the need for a socio-technical approach to successful BIM implementation.