Development of 5D BIM-Based Management System for Pre-Fabricated Construction in China

Nowadays, the dramatic growth of global population and the rapid development of urbanization are the main reasons of a continuously increasing demand for thousands of architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) projects particularly in China, which is the largest AEC market in the world. However, along with that come severe challenges of high energy consumptions, massive resource wastes and serious productivity decline to the traditional AEC industry in China. Therefore, a technological concept named pre-fabricated construction is being highly embraced in recent years to help solve these challenges and meanwhile realize "Lean Construction" which is mentioned in the sustainable development of urbanization. This concept is proposed for decades, but its implementation in practice is facing technical barriers including lack of efficient management patterns, inefficient collaborations of stakeholders, outdated means of information collection and processing. To overcome these barriers and narrow the gap between the concept and practice, an emerging digital technology called Building Information Modelling (BIM) is suggested to accelerate the digitalization of AEC industrial management pattern and the implementation of efficient pre-fabricated construction. This paper aims to introduce an innovative framework for a digital management system that integrates the concept of five-dimensional (5D) BIM with the technique of radio frequency identification devices (RFID). This BIM-based system is developed in order to realize efficient management from off-site pre-fabrication stage to on-site assembly phase for pre-fabricated construction projects in China. It is also expected that 5D BIM can provide modeling, schedule simulation, and cost estimation to maximize the value of information flow for improving the productivity of pre-fabricated construction process.