Simulating the dynamics of social agents and information flows in BIM-based design

Design work entails collaboration that increasingly requires dynamic and complex information exchanges among multi-disciplinary teams. Although Building Information Modelling (BIM) is frequently advocated as a solution to myriad issues, poor workflow still plagues the design process resulting in rework, delays, cost overruns, and errors which are detrimental to the project. This can be attributed to a lack of consideration of inherent problems in communication and behaviours of design teams when adopting BIM. This study aims to examine whether BIM adoption can improve design workflow by concurrently considering social interaction mechanisms and information flow dynamics. Accordingly, the research method adopts agent-based modelling and social network analysis to analyse and measure information flow in BIM-based design. Cross-analyses of results from a case study indicate that using BIM as production tool does not explicitly improve workflow or achieve the full potential unless fundamental conditions are present, namely collaboration and changes in traditional mindsets.