Building information modeling (BIM), the emerging digital technology, is undergoing increasing application in developing countries including China. Both the governmental policy and industry motivation have indicated that BIM is becoming the mainstream innovation in China’s construction industry. Nevertheless, one major concern lies in the uncertainty of BIM investment for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms. Specifically, AEC firms should have the knowledge of areas BIM investment could focus on (such as BIM software); the expected returns from BIM investment; methods to enhance the returns from BIM usage; and the risks in implementing BIM. This study adopted a questionnaire survey–based approach to address these concerns related to BIM application and risk in China. BIM practitioners from multiple AEC fields and different experience levels were recruited as the survey sample. It was found from the questionnaire survey that both internal and external collaborations should be the BIM investment priority, together with the interoperability among multiple BIM software tools. Improved multiparty communication and understanding was the highest recognized return from BIM investment. Survey participants had a high expectation of BIM application in green building projects. Subgroup analysis conveyed the information that gaining BIM practical experience would provide professionals with more confidence on returns from BIM adoption in enhancing communication and understanding. Compared to survey participants from other professions, architects tended to have more conservative views on BIM’s effect on marketing their work, project planning, and recruiting/retaining employees. The findings from this empirical study provide an overview of BIM investment, return, and implementation-related risks for AEC professionals at different stages or levels of BIM practice, as well as suggestions for relevant public authorities when developing BIM guidelines (e.g., BIM applications in prefabrication construction). As an extension of existing BIM implementation studies in developed countries, this study provides insights of BIM practical experience and associated risks in China by adopting a holistic approach and summarizing the perceptions from AEC professionals across disciplines and experience levels. The knowledge gained from this study could be further applied in other developing countries where the application of information technology is growing in AEC projects.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a pedagogical practice in the project-based assessment of architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) students’ interdisciplinary building design work adopting BIM. This pedagogical practice emphasizes the impacts of BIM, as the digital collaboration platform, on the cross-disciplinary teamwork design through information sharing. This study also focuses on collecting students’ perceptions of building information modeling (BIM) effects in integrated project design. Challenges in BIM adoption from AEC students’ perspective were identified and discussed, and could spark further research needs. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a thorough review of previous pedagogical practices of applying BIM in multiple AEC disciplines, this study adopted a case study of the Solar Decathlon (SD) residential building design as the group project for AEC students to deliver the design work and construction planning. In total 13 different teams within the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, each group consisting of final year undergraduate students with backgrounds in architecture, civil engineering, and architectural environmental engineering, worked to deliver the detailed design of the solar-powered residential house meeting pre-specified project objectives in terms of architectural esthetics, structural integrity, energy efficiency, prefabrication construction techniques and other issues such as budget and scheduling. Each team presented the cross-disciplinary design plan with cost estimate and construction scheduling together within group reports. This pedagogical study collected students’ reflective thinking on how BIM affected their design work, and compared their feedback on BIM to that from AEC industry professionals in previous studies. Findings: The case study of the SD building project showed the capacity of BIM in enabling interdisciplinary collaboration through information exchange and in enhancing communication across different AEC fields. More sustainable design options were considered in the early architectural design stages through the cross-disciplinary cooperation between architecture and building services engineering. BIM motivated AEC student teams to have a more comprehensive design and construction plan by considering multiple criteria including energy efficiency, budget, and construction activities. Students’ reflections indicated both positive effects of BIM (e.g. facilitating information sharing) as well as challenges for further BIM implementation, for example, such as some architecture students’ resistance to BIM, and the lack of existing family types in the BIM library, etc. Research limitations/implications: Some limitations of the current BIM pedagogy were identified through the student group work. For example, students revealed the problem of interoperability between BIM (i.e. Autodesk Revit) and building energy simulation tools. To further integrate the university education and AEC industry practice, future BIM pedagogical work could recruit professionals and project stakeholders in the adopted case studies, for the purpose of providing professional advice on improving the constructability of the BIM-based design from student work. Practical implications: To further integrate the university education and AEC industry practice, future BIM pedagogical work could recruit professionals and project stakeholders in the adopted case study, for the purpose of providing professional advice in improving the constructability of the BIM-based design from student work. Originality/value: This work provides insights into the information technology applied in the AEC interdisciplinary pedagogy. Students gained the experience of a project-based collaboration and were equipped with BIM capabilities for future employment within the AEC job market. The integrated design approach was embedded throughout the team project process. Overall, this BIM pedagogical practice emphasized the link between academic activities and real-world industrial practice. The pedagogical experience gained in this BIM course could be expanded to future BIM education and research in other themes such as interoperability of building information exchange among different digital tools.

The global movement of building information modeling (BIM) is spreading the implementation of BIM from developed countries to other developing countries. Practitioners’ perceptions of BIM implementation in these developing countries, such as China, a giant building market that is increasing the application of BIM in the industry, have not been thoroughly understood. This research used the questionnaire method to survey 94 randomly recruited Chinese BIM professionals to investigate BIM practice and its related perceptions. Reductions in design errors and resultant construction rework were considered the top benefits of using BIM. The most important factor in achieving BIM value was noted as interoperability among various BIM tools. A comprehensive evaluation of BIM at the company level was considered a major difficulty of implementing BIM. The owner was considered the party that received the most benefits from BIM. Subgroup differences based on two major categories (i.e., participants’ profession and BIM proficiency level) were analyzed in the survey sections related to BIM implementation. Statistical analysis revealed that, generally, neither the profession nor BIM proficiency level affected participants’ perceptions of the benefits, factors, challenges, or benefited parties in BIM implementation.