Feasibility Study On The Adoption Of The UK Level 2 BIM Mandate In South Africa And Its Impact On The Country’s National Development Plan Of 2030

Building Information Modeling(BIM)and its adoption became popular in many countries in the early 2000 s.The reason of its introduction into public sector construction projects is that governments in collaboration with the industry needed to reduce time and costs in the project life cycle and improve the efficiency of construction assets.However,the adoption of BIM in the construction sector remains a complex problem.Most studies in this area have focused only on the benefits and challenges of adopting BIM,but few studies have investigated the impact of global BIM adoption on new BIM –adopter countries.Therefore,this study aims to discuss the impact that global BIM adoption,particularly the UK BIM Level 2 Mandate,could have on the mandatory adoption of BIM in public sector construction projects in South Africa.The methodology used in this research is a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches.Qualitative approach was based on the literature review of the global BIM adoption and a detailed assessment of the BIM adoption process in the UK while a quantitative approach was employed through a well-structured descriptive-survey research which was designed based on the information gathered from the literature.Thus,the questionnaire survey of AEC professionals in South Africa was conducted to determine which strategies would be most effective.The obtained data were analyzed using inferential statistics and hypothesis testing.The results showed that the South Africa government could be considerably influenced by the UK BIM mandate by adopting six strategies which are establishment of BIM training programs,development of ISO standards and guidelines,and review of procurement and contract procedures.The analysis also showed that these strategies were implemented by countries leading the race of BIM adoption,for example the United States and Nordics.However,this study found that since the concept of BIM was established,the definition of BIM yet remains complex.In addition,over the past decades,BIM users have experienced similar barriers,such as the lack of client demand,a lack of internal expertise and training,as well as a lack of common standards.This study concluded by providing a basic BIM implementation strategic framework that combines the above strategies,and by recommending an in-depth global BIM implementation strategy for future related research.