BIM and the small construction firm: a critical perspective

Journal article


Dainty, A., Leiringer, R., Fernie. S. and Harty, C. (2017). BIM and the small construction firm: a critical perspective. Building Research & Information. 45 (6), pp. 696-709. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2017.1293940
AuthorsDainty, A., Leiringer, R., Fernie. S. and Harty, C.
Abstract

The need for technological and administrative innovation is a recurrent theme in the UK construction-reform agenda, but generic improvement recipes are beginning to give way to a more focused prescription: building information modelling (BIM). The current strategy is to mandate the use of BIM for government projects as a way of integrating the design, construction and operation of publicly procured buildings. This aspiration represents a partial turn away from a focus on managerialist agendas towards a belief in the power of digital practices to achieve the aspiration of integrated working, collaboration and innovation, a trend that is being reflected globally in relation to both national and firm-level policy interventions. This paper subjects this so-called ‘BIM revolution’ to critical scrutiny. By drawing on theories of the digital divide, a critical discourse is developed around the ways in which political reform agendas centred on BIM might not stimulate innovation on a wider scale, but could act to disenfranchise small firms that are unable (or unwilling) to engage with them. This critical analysis presents important new research questions around the technocratic optimism that pervades the current reform discourse, the trajectory of industry development that it creates and the policy process itself.

Year2017
JournalBuilding Research & Information
Journal citation45 (6), pp. 696-709
PublisherTaylor & Francis
ISSN1466-4321
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2017.1293940
Publication dates
Print01 Mar 2017
Publication process dates
Deposited31 Oct 2022
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Additional information

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Building Research and Information on 01/03/2017, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09613218.2017.1293940

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