Author(s)

C. Allen, W. Shakantu

Abstract

In Joseph Schumpeter’s Theory of Economic Development, the innovator-entrepreneur brings about disturbance to the equilibria through ‘a process of creative destruction: technological and organisational innovations’ that realign the new reality. Contrary to other industries that drive the world economy, the construction industry still operates at the level of a craft industry, which leads to immensely inefficient practices including the generation of massive amounts of waste. This is not only detrimental to the cost of the final product but is also unsustainable from a commercial as well as environmental perspective. Furthermore, the business of construction is seen as a high risk environment and is characterised by the lack of cooperation, limited trust and ineffective communication between various members of the project team which has led to non-productive work, contractual disputes and adversarial working relationships. As “communications provide the foundation for interaction that sustains cooperation in an organisation”, the link to how organisations are structured to deal with the arrival of digital information within the construction industry, in the form of building information modelling (BIM), will be critical in improving delivery results on projects. This study of the literature identifies a rethinking of the way the business of construction will be structured and projects delivered. It highlights that a far more efficient way of delivering projects to the market place is evolving and that a process is already underway that will completely reshape the business of construction. By determining how BIM, the business process re-engineering tool, is used as the platform upon which the project delivery process is changed, a model for the construction business of the future can be created, a digital revolution for the construction industry.

Keywords

BIM, communication, business process re-engineering, information management, integrated project delivery (IPD), lean production