Investigating barriers and workflows for BIM implementation by the Dubai construction industry

In Dubai, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has recently gained increasing attraction from major construction players, especially after Dubai Municipality’s (DM) directive to implement BIM by 1st January 2014. Some of the construction players have already applied BIM process to their projects, and many are in the process of implementation. Despite these facts, the implementation of BIM in the Dubai construction industry is still lagging. The BIM objectives published by DM were generic, with no guidelines issued demonstrating how and when these objectives should be achieved. The format of models created, required Level of Development (LOD), information requirement within the Model, responsibility for inputting the information and any Model submission requirement etc. are unclear to the industry. This research was inspired by the current level of uncertainty as to how BIM will affect the Dubai construction Industry. It investigates the actual barriers that hamper BIM implementation, how a national BIM roadmap should be developed, and what are the main factors that could enhance its pace of implementation in the Dubai construction industry and United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this study, a survey questionnaire and interviews of leading experts were carried out to understand the possible barriers, ideal workflows and driving factors for BIM implementation among the Dubai construction players, and actions that could lead to the speeding up of the implementation of BIM.