BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING ADOPTION

AND ITS OPPORTUNITIES IN THE NIGERIAN

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

BY
ENGR MANSUR HAMMA-ADAMA
B.Eng. (Civil), MSc (CPM), PGCert. (Research Method)
m.hamma-adama@rgu.ac.uk

Research Student Lecturer

Architecture and Built Environment Department of Civil Engineering
Robert Gordon University College of Engineering
Riverside East Garthdee Road Kaduna polytechnic
Aberdeen - UK Kaduna - Nigeria
 Background of the study
• Construction industry is known to be a very conventional and
traditional group to bring on board (Walasek & Barszcz, 2017)

• The industry is fragmented: all the professional stakeholders are

generating information and managing them independently
(Onungwa et al 2017)

• The industry is also characterised with a “blame game” (Ayedun et al.,

2011; Dimuna, 2010)

• The Nigerian construction industry is suffering from huge loss

annually through cost overrun, poor performance and building
collapse
 Introduction to BIM concept
• Construction Industry has had its biggest breakthrough since the
development of Building Information Modelling (BIM)

• BIM is the most recent paradigm shift in the construction sector

and a promising concept to tackle and remedy the well
documented industry’s fragmentation (Azhar, 2011; Zhao et al., 2016)

• BIM is defined as a set of interacting policies and processes being

enabled by technologies in generating a methodology to procure
building works from inception to completion down to the entire
lifecycle of a building in a digital format (Succar, 2009)
Introduction to BIM concept (cont.)

(Succar, 2009)
BIM CONCEPT
BIM CONCEPT (cont.)
 BIM in Nigeria
• It was revealed that the adoption level of BIM in the Nigerian is about
23% (mostly Architect) lagging behind South Africa with about 5years
(Hamma-adama et al., 2017)
 The Industry’s challenges

• Building failure and collapse mostly caused by: the use of sub-
standard building materials; construction issues and design
issues (ranked descending order)

• About 30% of construction materials used are ended as waste

• Project delay and cost overrun are amongst the lingering

challenges of the industry significantly caused my inefficiencies
 BIM capabilities
• Early participation of professional stakeholders

• Collaborating and integrating abilities

• Encouraging off-site fabrication or precast

• Simulation abilities

• Clash detection

• Information reuse for post-construction stage (facility

management)
 Conclusion
• There are numerous challenges in the Nigerian construction
industry (specifically, building collapse, inefficiencies, cost
overrun and late project delivery)

• BIM has potentials to overcome the identified challenges and

even beyond

• Low level of BIM adoption with reasonable level of awareness

but serious lack of experts in the field

• Lack of policy and guideline (i.e. Noteworthy BIM Publications)

for possible adoption
 Recommendations

• Continues awareness is the 1st key to utilise an ‘epidemic’

diffusion model

• Regulatory bodies and professional societies are critical to

recommending this digital shift to the authorities

• Education and training is another point of attention for the

industry to utilised the ‘social learning’ – probit diffusion model;
thus, overcome the experts deficit
 References
Ayedun, C.A., Durodola, O.D. and Akinjare, O.A., (2011). An empirical ascertainment of the causes of building
failure and collapse in Nigeria. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(1), pp.313-322.
Azhar, S., (2011). Building information modelling (BIM): Trends, benefits, risks, and challenges for the AEC
industry. Leadership and management in engineering, 11(3), pp. 241-252.
Walasek, D. and Barszcz, A., (2017). Analysis of the Adoption Rate of Building Information Modeling
[BIM] and its Return on Investment [ROI]. Procedia Engineering, 172, pp. 1227-1234.
Dimuna, K.O., (2010). Incessant incidents of building collapse in Nigeria: a challenge to stakeholders. Global
Journal of Researches in Engineering, 10(4), pp.75-84.
Hamma-adama, M., Salman, H. S., & Kouider, T. (2017). Diffusion of innovations: The status of building
information modelling uptake in Nigeria. Journal of Scientific Research & Reports, 17(4), 1-12. DOI:
10.9734/JSRR/2017/38711
Onungwa, I.O., Uduma-olugu, N.N.E.Z.I. and Igwe, J.M., (2017). Building Information Modelling As A
Construction Management Tool in Nigeria. WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, 169, pp.25-33.
Succar, B. (2009). Building information modelling framework: A research and delivery foundation for industry
stakeholders. Automation in Construction, 18(3), 357-375.
Zhao, X., Hwang, B., & Lee, H. N. (2016). Identifying critical leadership styles of project managers for green
building projects. International Journal of Construction Management, 16(2), 150-160.
THANK YOU