Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 2016, 6(2), 78-89

Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Iran: An Exploratory Study

M. Reza Hosseini¹, Ehsan Azari², Linda Tivendale³, Saeed Banihashemi⁴, and Nicholas Chileshe⁵

¹Lecturer, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, Email: reza.hosseini@deakin.edu.au (corresponding author).

²BIM Specialist, Tehran Institute of Technology, Tehran, Iran, Email: azari.ehsan.iran@gmail.com

³Lecturer, School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, Email: linda.tivendale@deakin.edu.au

⁴PhD Candidate, School of Built Environment, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, Australia, Email: Seyed.S.BanihashemiNamini@student.uts.edu.au

⁵Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, Email: nicholas.chileshe@unisa.edu.au

Engineering Management

Excellent Paper of EPPM2015 Conference

Received December 18, 2015; received revision April 19, 2016; accepted April 21, 2016

Abstract: BIM has received considerable attention from academics and innovative construction companies in recent years within the Iranian context. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies, which give a picture of the current state of BIM in Iran. To address this gap in the body of the knowledge, this study intends to present an account on the current state of BIM with a focus on barriers and drivers associated with its adoption in Iran based on the perceptions of Iranian construction practitioners. Drawing upon a questionnaire survey completed by 44 construction practitioners and through deploying data visualization alongside statistical analyses, it came to light that industry practitioners in Iran are inexperienced as to BIM’s use and the level of BIM implementation in the country is at the lowest level of BIM maturity. That is, 29.5% of construction companies are involved in some level of BIM adoption whereas 56.8% have had no exposure to BIM and 36.4% do not even have any plans to adopt BIM in the near future. The findings also showed that the highest ranked barriers to adoption of BIM in Iran are almost entirely associated with the structure of the Iranian market, the nature of the construction industry and the predominant business environment in the country as well as lack of attention by policy makers and the government. On the other hand, major drivers were found to be associated with monetary gains and enhancing competitiveness in the market. The clear message is that widespread adoption of BIM in Iran will not occur in the absence of a supportive regulatory environment and financial assistance by policy makers. The paper contributes to the field by sharing the preliminary findings of the first study conducted on BIM adoption in Iran, which provides a sound basis for further inquiries on the topic.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), barriers, drivers, status quo, construction industry, Iran.

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Citation: Hosseini, M. R., Azari, E., Tivendale, L., Banihashemi, S., and Chileshe, N. (2016). Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Iran: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management, 6(2), 78-89.

DOI: 10.32738/JEPPM.201607.0002

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