Insights and Issues of Building Information Modelling (BIM) Implementation in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Sectors of Sub-Sahara Africa

BIM has received worldwide uptake because it improves the productivity and performance of projects. However, uptake is still in its infant stages across Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Therefore, this study explores stakeholder perceptions of the benefits and barriers of implementing BIM in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sectors of SSA. Based on a structured review of recent literature, a suite of known benefits and barriers to implementing BIM were identified. These were used to create an online survey questionnaire that was shared among AEC professionals working across the SSA region. The opinions, collated from 145 participants across 15 different SSA nations, were ranked using a weighted average method. Results reveal the main benefits are: (i) clients will increasingly insist on us using/ adopting BIM; (ii) adopting BIM reduce/ will reduce human resource and man-hours; and (iii) adopting BIM brings/will bring cost efficiencies; whilst the main barriers are: (i) lack of training and skills; (ii) high cost of implementation (BIM software, licences and associated applications); (iii) lack of in-house expertise. Based on these findings, the study recognises that BIM capabilities are fundamental for BIM adoption and implementation across SSA. Therefore, the study recommends the need for future research to explore the BIM capability and BIM maturity of organisations across the AEC sectors of SSA and, in doing so, create frameworks and/or highlight pathways to enable greater uptake.