Exploring the effects of building information modeling on projects: longitudinal social network analysis

Abstract

Building information modeling (BIM), as a technological artifact, has been acclaimed to have significant effects on construction projects by overcoming inherent problems such as poor communications. However, little has been empirically verified. This paper investigates the effects of BIM on construction project organizations using social network analysis (SNA) with empirical data from two comparable projects, one using BIM and the other without. Longitudinal SNAs of both projects showed that BIM is closely related to (1) changing the organizational structure by making it looser and flatter and involving more roles of building service and fewer design-related professionals; (2) showing the potential of increasing communication efficiency; and (3) reorganizing the collaborative processes by shifting most communication among different professions to earlier stages and engaging more roles in early-stage communication. This research not only validates the effects of BIM on projects from an organizational standpoint with SNA method, but also articulates the pathway through which such effects are made.