An assessment of pictographic instructions derived from a virtual prototype to support construction assembly procedures

•Virtual prototyping (VP) is defined as an nd-BIM technology integrating AEC.•VP can be used to leverage user-specific knowledge that informs project delivery.•Pictographic instruction derived from a pre-figured VP assembly model is assessed.•Imagery from VP assembly scenarios can be used to communicate constructability.

Three-dimensional imagery derived from a building information model (BIM) based virtual prototype can be used to non-verbally communicate constructability information. This paper describes an assessment of using instructive pictographs to characterize prefigured assembly information for construction assembly procedure. It employs industry-recognized virtual prototyping software to model the assembly configuration of a real world mobile test laboratory. The findings of the research show that virtual prototyping as an nd-BIM technology has the potential to better integrate architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) information to project delivery with user-specific constructability knowledge.