A review of currently applied building information modeling tools of constructions in China

Building information modeling (BIM) is considered as a vital technology to achieve building sustainability in China. Many local companies have developed BIM assisting tools to accelerate the transformation of the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) industry. The industry believed the use of BIM tools would increase the informatization. However, no investigations have been made to evaluate the status of the tools providing BIM service in China. This study reviewed the typical features of BIM tools in China and illustrated the workflows of some representative tools. The common tools were counted. The different building projects where the tools were used and common functions of these tools were summarized. An assessment of their performances based on eleven criteria was conducted after the illustrations. The review of the tools finds that BIM software can be classified into three types, integrated platforms, instant service services, and supplementary works based on the workflow illustrations. The collaboration of these three types would contribute to cleaner production. The assessment revealed that the aspects where these tools played a role in improving engineering efficiency and what areas were needed to be improved. Three suggestions and three potential schemes of BIM tools in construction projects are discussed at the end. Developers need to further explore the cloud data usages, and thus, collaborations of different tools can be promoted.