Designing and Evaluation Procedures for Interdisciplinary BIM Use – An Explorative Study

Building information modeling (BIM) tools are increasingly present in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This software tool chain not only requires new knowledge on the level of technology, but moreover, a new knowledge of people related skills and re-configuration of the process. There is hope that BIM tools will increase the degree of process integration and support the multi-disciplinary planning practice. In order to test this assumption and gain first insights in multi-disciplinary collaborative planning process using various BIM tools, an experimental study in an university course on multi-disciplinary design was carried out. The results of our analyses indicate that BIM software is perceived as highly useful but not interoperable. The lack of interoperability and resulting problems are also the main topic of focus group discussions conducted after the course. Architects are less satisfied with the interdisciplinary planning process. Early coordination, concerning organization and software, proofed positive for later collaboration.