Building Information Modelling in the Framework of Knowledge Management: A Water Industry Case Study

Abstract

The UK private water industry has seen a lot of growth in expenditure since privatisation. Ofwat, Defra and DWI have set targets for the water companies to be customer focused, reducing bills, be innovative as well as encourage competition. The emergence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has offered opportunities to the water industry to achieve cost and programme efficiencies as the rest of the construction industry. This, together with emerging information technology has allowed organisations to take steps in collaborative working, making information available at the right time to the right people, which is fundamental to Knowledge Management (KM). There is limited research in the subject of BIM being used in the context of and tool for KM within the UK water industry. Hence the aim of the study is to explore and understand how the UK water industry is using BIM for KM. A qualitative case study was used for the collection and analysis of data with the results obtained through review of water company supply chain processes, documents, observations and semi structured interviews. The key finding from the study is the significant impact of organisational culture influence on the implementation of BIM & KM in which the water industry supply chain has been aligning its business goals, identifying needed knowledge, creating KM resources and sharing knowledge through BIM as one of KM resources or tools. In conclusion, research identifies that the water industry is heading in the right direction, with leadership and management at the forefront of instilling a positive KM culture, though it is still developing. Ongoing training and provision of resources for KM should continue to be invested in to yield cost, programme, quality and knowledge capture benefits. The close definitions for Information and Knowledge should be taken advantage of for development and implementing of KM strategies using BIM as one of its key tool or resource.