Black boxing BIM: the public client’s strategy in BIM implementation

Abstract

Building information modelling (BIM) is widely discussed in both industry and academia and studies have argued that public clients play an important role in industry’s implementation of BIM. While public client initiatives have gained much interest in previous research, there is still a lack of knowledge exploring the public clients’ role and choice of strategies when implementing BIM with the aim to change industry. Based on a case study of BIM implementation at the largest infrastructure client in Sweden, this paper applies the theory sociology of translation to explore the role of the public client as a driver for industry change and the strategy used during this process. The case study shows how the public client tries to influence its own organization and the construction industry as a whole. Findings show that the main strategy for enrolling actors to implement BIM is to demand its use in the procurement of all construction projects, thereby attempting to establish the BIM issue as a Black Box. A Black Box, a locked network element, which includes associated inscriptions aimed at prescribing BIM use in projects conducted by this client. The acceptance of this Black Box has however been problematic, resulting in a diverse influence on the demand for BIM in procured construction projects.