System Dynamics Outlook on BIM and LEAN Interaction in Construction Quantity Surveying

Abstract

Lean construction and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are increasingly utilized in quantity surveying (QS) production, yet the dilemma of BIM and LEAN interaction is largely ignored. The main problems occurred in traditional quantity surveying services among public and private organizations are experiencing collisions, uncertainties, ambiguities and complexities, which are expected to be mitigated through the implementation of BIM-LEAN practice. However, due to the absence of enough knowledge and confidence to encounter BIM-LEAN for QS practices, quantity surveyors are hesitant to prosecute this new technology but default back to conventional inefficient working methods. Through a questionnaire survey, this paper is to identify the challenges and strategies in implementing BIM-LEAN in QS practices as well as to develop a conceptual system dynamics model to assist this effort. The challenges related to financial issues such as hardware and software cost and training cost could have more impact on small-and-medium-sized QS firms. Lack of BIM-LEAN experts in organizations could be another barrier to implementing BIM-LEAN in QS practice, and this, in turn, could further affect the decision-making process to adopt BIM-LEAN thus initiating a death spiral.