Total BIM Project: The Future of a Digital Construction Process

Paper in proceeding, 2022

Although the construction industry strives to implement Building Information Modeling (BIM) to improve efficiency and quality, adoption in the actual construction phase is still limited. However, in Scandinavia, recent years have seen the rise of an idea known as Total BIM - An approach where the BIM is the legally binding construction document and no traditional 2D-drawings are used on-site. In this paper we present a case study of a successful Total BIM project. We investigate the prerequisites for – and outcomes of – implementing the Total BIM concept, where commonly found individual and isolated BIM uses is turned into an all-inclusive approach to achieve a more efficient design and construction process. Our analysis shows that the success was contingent on factors from within several different areas, including strategy and innovation, organizing, and technology, but also on the commitment shown by the construction management company responsible for the project. In addition, three key elements were identified; BIM as the legally binding construction document, cloud-based model management, and user-friendly on-site mobile BIM software.