A Strategy for Building Design Quality Improvement through BIM Capability Analysis

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been proven to bring noticeable benefits to the lifecycle of buildings. Thus, construction organizations have increasingly leveraged BIM in their projects. Even though BIM benefits the design process by generating an accurate 3D model, conducting automatic clash detection, and providing an online platform for effective coordination, BIM is not yet capable of addressing certain aspects of the design process. In this paper, the authors present an in-depth examination of design quality management capabilities of BIM in building projects. By analyzing 160 leading indicators of high priority design defects, the authors identify the relationship between design quality drivers and BIM capabilities. To promote proactive design defect mitigation strategies, the authors explore non-BIM-supported leading indicators, analyzing timing of the indicators within the design process and their associated design defects, and considering the impact scores of these design defects. Lastly, the authors propose future directions of BIM advancement for design quality improvement. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the design quality research domain by exploring the limitations of BIM with respect to design quality. Furthermore, it enables industry practitioners using BIM to plan appropriate actions for design defect prevention, and it suggests future technology development.