A comparative review of building information modelling implementation in building and infrastructure industries

Rapid advances in building information modelling (BIM) offer new opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the construction process and enhance the use of emerging technology throughout project's lifecycle, not only in buildings, but also in infrastructures. Although some researchers have promoted the use of BIM in infrastructures and several reviews in BIM implementation have been conducted; the comparative study of BIM implementation between building and infrastructure industry in a holistic view has not been identified. Hence, the goal of this study is to explore the extent to which level of BIM implementation has achieved in building and infrastructure industries. This exploration was performed differently from two main sources, namely, academic studies and industrial cases, where conventional reviews in BIM were mainly focused on academic publications only. More than forty case studies in academic journals and conference proceedings and twenty four BIM cases in industrial reports were collected and analysed to determine the current BIM uses and emerging BIM applications in both industries. The results show that (1) BIM case studies in academic journals show the high level of BIM implementation in practice; (2) the initial development of BIM in infrastructure can be referred to the existing BIM experience from the building industry; and (3) the comparative analysis of BIM in infrastructure and building cases highlights the support of new BIM use, enhanced of traditional project management and transformation of project delivery method.