Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to study the radical innovation process behind the adoption and implementation of building information modelling (BIM) for a specialty contracting small or medium enterprise (SME). This paper offers two distinct perspectives on BIM adoption and implementation, which are underrepresented in the current literature: the SME perspective and the specialty contractor perspective. It also attempts to bridge the gap between the growing literature on BIM adoption and implementation and the established literature on innovation by developing the notion of embedded contexts in the innovation process. Design/methodology/approach: – A mixed-method, longitudinal case study approach was used in this research project to study the evolution of the innovation process and its impact on the Organisation over time. The objectives of this research were to investigate and document the different factors mediating the BIM adoption and implementation process for the Organisation across various contexts, the mechanisms put in place to facilitate this process and the perceived impact within the Organisation. Findings: – The initial transition to BIM represented a radical innovation for the Organisation. Subsequently, a series of incremental innovations took place to further advance the Organisation’s BIM capabilities. This innovation process is influenced by different layers of embedded contextual factors, which can be mitigated by, among others, a clear strategic approach towards the innovation process. Furthermore, despite a limited sphere of influence, specialty contractors can leverage BIM within their own supply chain to reap significant benefits. Originality/value: – This paper offers an in-depth study of radical innovation within a specialty contracting SME. This study discusses the influence of four embedded contexts on innovation for a specialty contracting SME: the industry context, the institutional context, the organisational context and the project context. It also offers insight into the factors, mechanisms and their impact on the innovation process.

The most common problem facility managers face is information accessibility. While BIM has been posited as a potential solution to increase the quality and availability of asset information to support facilities management (FM), few studies have captured the challenging aspects of developing and delivering this information within the context of real-world projects with owner-defined information requirements. Based on three longitudinal ethnographic case studies that included a set of comprehensive and formal information requirements within the supply contracts, this research contributes to a better understanding of the BIM-enabled asset information delivery process and its challenges by (1) characterizing the process in eight main activities with examples, and (2) mapping the challenges of using BIM for FM that have been identified in the literature and establishing connections between them. The results demonstrate that even with the early involvement of owners through the development of information requirements, several challenges still prevent owners from taking full advantage of BIM. There is still a limited understanding of how BIM can effectively support existing FM activities and how it impacts current design and construction processes in practice, which compromises the definition of clear and efficient information requirements. In that sense, the support provided by industry standards and guidelines remains limited. The contextualized understanding of the proposed BIM-enabled asset information delivery process and its challenges will help owners and facility managers with the decision-making process regarding the development of their information requirements, preventing inefficiencies and unrealistic expectations.