Adopting Building Information Modelling in Small and Medium Enterprises of Iraq’s Construction Industry

The main problem facing the construction industry in Iraq is the absence of proper management techniques during the project execution stages. Over the past decade, a new concept, known as Building Information Modelling (BIM), has been rising and developing as a new construction management tool in the AEC industry. Building Information Modelling is considered as modern technological advancement and referred to as a new revolutionary tool in the construction industry, due to its platform of collaborative working techniques and its growing computer software which can be involved among all the project tasks to increase the level of performance during the project life cycle as well as reduce the project's complexities and conflicts. BIM has many benefits that play a significant role in the project execution such as visualisation of the project by creating 3D models, reduce the project's cost, duration, and many other benefits will be investigated through this research paper. Recently, BIM is used and implemented in most of the developed countries such as the USA, UK, and EU, where it became an essential part of the construction projects to achieve the planned and anticipated project delivery. As of today, BIM is not applied in the Iraqi Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry and the companies are struggling in its implementation. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore the process of BIM adoption in the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) in the Iraqi construction sector. The validity for selecting SMEs comes from the fact that 80% of the projects executed by these companies do not involve the use of BIM, in addition to their limited knowledge about the subject. Moreover, to achieve the research aim and objectives a mixed method of data collection was adopted and consists of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with experts in Iraqi construction companies with different specialities such as architecture, engineers, construction projects managers, etc. out of 90 participants in the questionnaire 38 responded and only 24 responses were valid and considered in the data of this research. As well as 5 interviews were conducted to support the results produced by this research. The findings indicated that there are many barriers facing the adoption of BIM in the Iraqi construction companies despite the benefits of this technology.