This paper proposes a set of guidelines for using Building Information Modelling (BIM) to manage client requirements in the context of social housing projects. A process model representing main activities involved in requirements management has been devised, as well as nine constructs that can be used for assessing the effectiveness of using BIM for client requirements management. The process of managing and modelling clients’ requirements is important to improve value generation, considering the limited resources usually available for social housing projects, as well as the need to deal with the diversity of user profiles. The use of BIM-based tools to support this process can potentially improve the performance of those projects in terms of environmental and social sustainability. Design Science Research was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation. The main outcome of this study, the set of guidelines, emerged from an empirical study carried out in a social housing project from Brazil. This study explores the managerial perspective of client requirements modelling, proposing practical contributions, such as understanding the challenges of managing requirements in social housing projects, and theoretical contributions, such as descriptions of the activities involved in client requirements management and their interactions, and constructs for assessing BIM-based solutions for that problem.

Purpose: This paper proposes a method for managing client requirements with the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM). The development of healthcare projects demands a large amount of requirements information, in order to deal with a diversity of clients and frequents changes in healthcare services. The proposed method supports healthcare design by adopting a process-based approach for client requirements management, with the aim of improving value generation.Design/methodology/approach: Design Science Research was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation. The main outcome of this study emerged from an empirical study carried out in a healthcare project in Brazil.Findings: The proposed method involves three stages: (1) capturing and processing requirements; (2) product and requirements modelling, which involves the connection between requirements and the BIM 3-D model and (3) supporting design solution refinement, through the communication of requirements and the assessment of design in relation to updated client requirements information.Originality/value: This study explores client requirements management from a process perspective, proposing activities and their interdependences and possible sources of data, including healthcare services information. The main theoretical contributions are related to the understanding of the nature and complexity of the information involved in client requirements management, and how this can be modelled.

Healthcare facilities are well known for their complexity. Frequent changes in healthcare processes, as well as the introduction of new technologies, demand changes in the internal layout and in the performance of buildings. Moreover, there are several stakeholders involved, with distinct and sometimes conflicting requirements, including medical staff, patients, visitors, cleaning and maintenance teams, among others. Some of those requirements have been translated into a complex set of norms and regulations. This paper reports the initial results of an ongoing investigation that has explored opportunities for improving value generation in the design and installation of healthcare facilities by using BIM and Lean concepts. The aim of this study is to understand how user requirements can be modelled to support decision making in the design process. Modelling requirements involves several steps: identification, structuring, establishing priorities, translating and representing in a BIM model. It depends not only on the individual user requirements but also on how some critical healthcare processes have been defined. The main contributions of this paper are concerned with the definition of how different types of requirements can be modelled to support the assessment of the healthcare building designs.

O gerenciamento de requisitos do cliente visa a melhorar a geração de valor em empreendimentos de construção através de um processo sistemático de captura de requisitos, processamento desta informação, tornando-as explícitas para a equipe de desenvolvimento do produto, bem como controlar se os requisitos de diferentes clientes são atendidos de forma equilibrada. Isto é particularmente importante quando os recursos são limitados, como em empreendimentos habitacionais de interesse social (EHIS). A modelagem dos requisitos dos clientes é complexa, à medida que existe uma grande quantidade de informações qualitativas e é preciso considerar a diversidade de requisitos que normalmente existem entre os diferentes envolvidos no processo. O objetivo deste artigo é propor um método para modelar requisitos de clientes de EHIS com suporte de Building Information Modeling (BIM). Este método foi concebido para apoiar os processos de tomada de decisão durante as fases de desenvolvimento de projeto bem como a avaliação de projetos que já foram entregues. Este artigo está focado nas principais atividades envolvidas na aplicação do método: explorar diferentes abordagens de modelagem de requisitos, estruturar requisitos e utilizar o software dRofus para gerenciar requisitos em distintas etapas de projeto. Uma das principais contribuições do estudo refere-se à estruturação de requisitos genéricos que podem servir de base para o desenvolvimento de novos empreendimentos de habitação de interesse social.