Total BIM As a Digital Disruption

Paper in proceeding, 2022

Digital technologies and information systems are challenging the construction industry. Existing literature focuses on different digital technologies in construction projects and the intricacies around technology improvement itself. However, there are limited discussions about how construction management (CM) organisations respond to disruptive change and pursue business model innovation. Drawing from emerging literature on digital disruption, we argue how the ‘Total BIM’ approach can disrupt the way value is created in a construction project. ‘Total BIM’ could be described as an approach where the design process and BIM are focused on production orientated design and BIM is used as the legally binding construction document. A construction management company in Sweden implemented the ‘Total BIM’ concept that embraced it to the fullest in the Celsius project This paper is based on data from in-depth interviews with construction management company practitioners from the Celsius project. It frames such improvement as a digital disruption which transforms the current traditional business models heavily based on the parallel processes of producing and maintaining 2D drawings for the construction site. Findings illustrate how the ‘Total BIM’ approach disturbs the existing roles, relations, and processes,
creating cross organisational and systematic shifts.