Making friends with Frankenstein: hybrid practice in BIM

Purpose

Although the potential of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to generate process and performance improvement in the construction industry has been widely documented, very few projects operate in a wholly BIM environment. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that lead to hybrid practice in BIM across disciplines or project stages, and accommodations that must be reached within BIM project frameworks to allow for it.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with 38 BIM specialists from Australia and New Zealand, representing a variety of construction industry disciplines and roles. Data on current practice and experiences in BIM were analysed using a thematic approach within a qualitative framework.

Findings

Hybrid BIM practice is shown to be a common experience for practitioners in New Zealand and Australia. It is presented as a valid model of BIM adoption; both as a development stage in the process towards more complete BIM implementation, and also as an adoption model in its own right.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on data from New Zealand and Australia, which are currently developing BIM markets. Although surveys have demonstrated many similarities in BIM adoption processes internationally, results may be less applicable to more mature markets.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that instead of regarding hybrid BIM negatively as an unsuccessful implementation, companies should seek to identify and manage the causes and effects of hybridisation in order to improve project outcomes.

Originality/value

This paper addresses the management of transitional stages of BIM implementation, which is often overlooked in research.