BIM competencies for delivering waste-efficient building projects in a circular economy

Competency measures are increasingly becoming effective ways for construction organizations to measure their ability to deliver waste-efficient projects. Despite the ongoing efforts in achieving the goals of the circular economy through BIM adoption, there is still a paucity of studies on building information modeling (BIM) competencies for delivering waste-efficient building projects. This paper, therefore, aims to identify and investigate critical BIM competencies for delivering waste-efficient building projects in a circular economy. The study adopts a pluralistic approach, using a combination of the review of extant literature, focus group discussions and questionnaire survey. Analysis of the focus group discussion along with the result of the literature review revealed forty-three preliminary BIM competencies, which were subjected to rigorous statistical analyses. Four broad categories of BIM competencies for delivering waste-efficient building projects emerged from the analyses. These are project management-related, construction-related, procurement-related, and design-related BIM competencies. Construction firms could use the BIM competencies identified in this study to enhance the delivery of waste-efficient building projects as well as assess their BIM competency requirements at an individual and organizational level.