Smart Location-Based Construction Planning of Large-Scale Projects in the Integrated BIM Environment

Abstract

Construction industry records unsatisfying results in terms of execution delays and budget overruns, which are result of insufficient planning, miscommunication, and efficiency issues, while it is among the least digitized sectors. Quality proven design, detailed construction schedule with precise data, and well-implemented progress monitoring process are the foundations of successful data-driven construction management. Integrated Building Information Modelling (BIM) is recognized as the technology that will most likely highly impact the industry. BIM increases the effort in the early phases of project design, improving stakeholders’ communication, early identifying and resolving design issues therefore preventing potential losses. Further, at the most cost-intensive project execution phase, BIM is often inadequately implemented or neglected, losing the huge potential of applying the BIM tools and methods for improving construction management processes. This paper analyses development of detailed construction schedule which considers multiple domains that need to be included in the planning process. Traditionally, especially for large-scale projects, it is an effort-intensive process that requires knowledge, focus and vast data inputs. Contrary to the construction industry, productivity in the manufacturing sector is quite enviable. Therefore, authors analyzed the assembly line concepts and Lean principles, applied in manufacturing, fitting them into the BIM environment to improve construction scheduling. The paper presents an advanced BIM model-derived location-based construction planning methodology (BIM-LBP) for development of construction schedules in the integrated 4D and 5D BIM environment making the most of available BIM model data.