An investigation of factors affecting BIM adoption in facility management : an institutional case in Australia

The primary objective of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is to support the whole-of-life project life-cycle. However, the adoption of this promising technology appears so far to have been limited to the design and construction phases, with little emphasis on facility management (FM). While some countries have or are developing policies on the adoption of BIM in FM, others, such as Australia, are in stasis in terms of BIM policy. The aims of this project are to investigate the current level of BIM adoption, to evaluate awareness of and willingness to adopt BIM, to identify the motivators and challenges, and to explore the strategies and potential issues of BIM adoption in FM through an institutional case study. A qualitative method was adopted, including in-depth interviews and open-ended questions to capture rich information to enable better understanding of the research question. The data were thematically analysed, revealing that the adoption of BIM by the case study institution is in its infancy. The organisation is still in the value realisation phase of the BIM-enabled FM implementation process. The external and internal motivators are outweighed by the major challenges faced by the organisation, which explains the current level of adoption.