Understanding barriers to BIM implementation: Their impact across organizational levels in relation to BIM maturity

This multiple case study of a contracting firm contributes to understanding the barriers that organizations face during the implementation of building information modeling (BIM) by providing insights into the impact of these barriers across different organizational levels (i.e., from top management to project teams) and by relating these barriers to different degrees of BIM maturity. First, we observe the dominance of barriers related to the motivation, competence, and time capacity of people across all levels of an organization. Second, the cluster of barriers at the middle-management level highlights the important role of this level in reducing these barriers. Third, only those cases with a low level of BIM maturity have struggled with lack of top management support, thereby highlighting the importance of such support in achieving BIM maturity growth. High BIM maturity situations are more prone to externally oriented barriers in attempting to further leverage the benefits of BIM. Our study provides insights on where to focus BIM implementation measures and how to enhance organizational BIM maturity.

Automated summary

This study reveals that organizations face common barriers related to motivation, competence, and time capacity during BIM implementation, with middle management playing a key role in overcoming these obstacles. Only organizations with low BIM maturity struggle with lack of top management support, indicating its importance in achieving BIM maturity growth.High BIM maturity situations are more likely to encounter externally oriented barriers in maximizing the benefits of BIM.