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Adoption of Building Information Modelling in Malaysia Road Construction

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DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

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Adoption of Building Information Modelling in Malaysia Road

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2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

Adoption of Building Information Modelling in Malaysia

Road Construction

A T B Yung1, E Aminudin1,2, C N S Liat1, M Neardey1, R Zakaria1, A R A

Hamid1, F Ahmad1 and L Y Yong3
1
Department of Structures and Materials, School of Civil Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
2
Construction Research Centre, UTM CRC, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310
Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.
3
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia
Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has changed the road development industry
in the most recent decades. In spite of the fact that there are activities by administration of
Malaysia to improve the selection of BIM in road development, yet the usage of BIM is still
not true to form because of misty guide of BIM reception plan in Malaysia. Along these lines,
it is essential to recognize the issues and difficulties in usage of BIM so as to improve the
selection of BIM in this industry. This paper plans to analyze the street development industry
in Malaysia to build up an unmistakable comprehension about BIM execution and to give the
key arrangements and system for street development industry to expand the reception of BIM
in Malaysia. This paper has built up broad BIM understanding which makes ready for the
investigation by means of subjective and quantitative technique where the information is
gathered through study poll among the street development partners in Malaysia and the
gathered information is dissected with Average Index utilizing SPSS Software. The outcomes
indicated the degree of current BIM usage in Malaysia street development industry is still
extremely low and the issues and difficulties of BIM are distinguished in six zones incorporate
specialized, process, legitimate, return of venture, government and individuals. Government
has been recognized to assume a significant job in offering help to improve appropriation of
BIM in Malaysia. The result of this investigation is communicated as a system for the usage of
BIM in Malaysia involving issues that require thought for association to advance on BIM
development stepping stool. This investigation clears a firm establishment for association to
settle on choice in the appropriation of BIM in street development inside the general
association structure.

1. Introduction
In highway construction, changes in the project scope will bring enormous impact to the project completion time
and project cost due to the size of the project. [1] For example, minor changes in road design drawing will affect
the overall road design due to its complication of project. Issues, for example, absence of assets, poor contractual
worker for the board, less worker, structure deferrals and planning and scheduling inadequacy are among the
reasons for delay in road development which are regularly been perceived something that is unavoidable would
now be able to be illuminated effectively by utilizing Building Information Modeling. Building Information
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

Modelling able to solve the traditional design problems which make the all highway construction phases from
inception till operation more efficient and east to be managed. Although there is a great deal of advantages
of adopting BIM in road construction and design that have been proved theoretically and practically, application
of BIM is still comparatively slow in developing countries such as Malaysia due to its high investment in time
and cost in the early stage of construction and lack of awareness about the software . The execution of BIM in
road development still cannot be ventured into broad around the world with different answer including reluctant
of more seasoned age to adapt new abilities and designer's moderate nature with regards to an innovation that
presently not yet to be tried and attempted. However, a proliferation of noticeable advantages, BIM has been
broadened excessively application than just building.
Although there are initiatives by government of Malaysia under Highway Authority Malaysia, but the usage
of BIM in road construction is still not as expected because there is no clear road map of BIM adoption plan in
Malaysia. Besides, many industry players are more conservative and not prepared to embrace new innovations
such as BIM into their company because there is currently no site clear for BIM market and they are not
confident in using the new technology. Over the years, many pilots and live projects have been completed in
Malaysia and the acknowledgment of the advantages of BIM is dependent upon an appropriate execution of BIM
at a hierarchical level and its reconciliation at the business level. Study has demonstrated the guide for usage of
BIM in UK development industry [2], but currently there is still no clear BIM acknowledgement for the
framework has been developed for Malaysia road construction industry. Hence, this paper provides the
understanding on the adoption of BIM implementation, issues and challenges in road construction besides
providing the framework based on the best implementation of BIM road construction in Malaysia.

2. Literature review

2.1. Issues and Challenges of BIM Adoption

BIM in road construction has its own benefits however the barriers encounter needs to be solved in order to
increase the adaptation of BIM in Malaysia construction industry. Majority of the players in construction
industry see BIM as a “disruptive technology” that change the traditional construction process. Implementing
BIM in road construction is never an easy task because there are a lot of things to be considered. Although BIM
has been promoted as “one of the most promising recent developments in the architecture, engineering and
construction (AEC) industry”, equipped for lessening venture cost, improving efficiency and quality and
diminishing the ideal opportunity for venture conveyance, distinguishing the difficulties of execution of BIM has
been viewed as a prelude for upgrading BIM appropriation [3]. There are numerous difficulties and issues in
BIM selection into road development since it is accepted as a generally new innovations for road development
industry in Malaysia. To begin with, specialized difficulties that incorporate the distinctions, absence of
completely embraced BIM work process for street development venture, far reaching execution cost and
necessity for better equipment to deal with huge volumes of information. Among all difficulties, absence of
interoperability as one of the significant specialized difficulties when comes to executing BIM in street
development. Interoperability can be characterized as the capacity for a framework, for example, programming
to work with different frameworks with no exertion with respect to the end client of the framework, particularly
with regards to trading data between frameworks. Furthermore, process-related test is likewise one of the
obstructions in BIM reception. These difficulties incorporate the requirement for the business to streamline the
business procedure after the utilization of BIM, change of job in the undertaking partners, absence of standard
and legally binding dialects. So, it is imperative to build up an exacting benchmarks and definition that would
streamline the business procedure [4]. Thirdly, legitimate difficulties. It remembers absence of understanding for
the lawful provisions about the computerized marks, stamps and expectations, uprightness of information during
transmission, classified data and protection strategies to cover duties of partners. So, as to defeat this difficulties,
solid arrangements, for example, expressing proprietorship and obligation of the information in contracts are
essential to polish the procedure of BIM advancements reception in the street development industry [5].
Ultimately, return of investment (ROI) is additionally one of the primary worried in BIM appropriation since
greater expense of BIM selection will in the end increment the expense of road development. return on initial
capital investment challenges incorporate expanded of speculation for procurement of BIM empowered
programming, updating current IT frameworks, teaching engineers and changing current venture conveyance
technique and expectations. Despite the fact that the push-pull impact of the market will in the long run lessen
the cost and increment the availability of BIM innovation, yet at the present phase of advanced upheaval, there
are as yet activity that has be finished by the governing body in order to grow the modification of BIM among

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

tremendous industry players by the organization to construct the change of BIM among colossal industry
players. [2]. Table 1 has shown the identification of issues and challenges in adoption of BIM.

Table 1. Identification of issues and challenges in adoption of BIM.

Identification of Challenges in Implementation of BIM References
challenges in adoption 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
of BIM
Technical challenges Lack of clear BIM workflow. * * * *
Existing hardware incapable of running basic *
BIM software.
Lack of ability to exchange data with other * * * *
systems.
BIM software is complicated to use. * * * * *
Process-related Change of Business Model (Type of contract bid *
challenges for).
Change in responsibilities of Stakeholders. * * *
Lack of standard regarding BIM. * * * *
Lack of contractual language. * *
Legal Challenges Lack of agreement on the legal clauses about the *
digital signatures.
Lack of insurance policies to cover * *
responsibilities of stakeholders.
Return of Investment High investment for acquisition of BIM enabled * * * * * * * *
Challenges software
High cost of upgrading current IT system. * * * *
Changing current project delivery method. * * *
High training cost. * * * *
Governance Lack of handouts from Government. *
Challenge Government departments are not ready to accept *
3D submission.
Building plan approval is tedious as model re- *
working is expensive.
Lack of BIM mandate by government *
departments.
People related Insufficient availability of BIM training. *
Challenge Lack of awareness of BIM benefits. * * *
Reluctant to initiate new workflows for the *
implementation of BIM.
*References: 1= [3] ;2= [4] ; 3= [2]; 4= [5]; 5= [6]; 6= [7]; 7= [8]; 8= [9]

Malaysia government specialists have effectively arranging mindfulness building exercises. Singapore and
Hong Kong governments are as of now a long way ahead with BIM appropriation; notwithstanding, they
embraced the ideas from Malaysia. Malaysia government is taking a gander at an approach for another economy
and BIM is especially in its core. CIDB and LLM are attempting to improve the selection of BIM as they are
assuming a significant job to characterize job and bearing of BIM in Malaysia development industry. There is
not sufficient help for BIM by government, in contrast to Singapore. The way toward building plan endorsement
is dreary in Malaysia and structures will continue changing and this impedes BIM use as changes for model is
costly. Moreover, Malaysia government divisions are a long way from having the option to acknowledge 3D
entry. In order to increase the adaptation of BIM in this industry, it is important for the organizations to
understand that they should change the way the work currently, change in staffing needs and change in the way
they use information in road construction project. According to Peter Smith in his studies on global strategies of
BIM implementation has found implementation of BIM in construction has showed visible improvement by that
provide consistent national standards, BIM protocols and legal contracts, quality of model, national BIM product
database and libraries and changes in business model [10]. A study done by Tristan in understanding the
application of BIM has suggested organization should re-evaluate and reengineer business practice, provide
defined responsibility to all parties, provide consistent national standard and develop a clear adoption policy for
BIM models as BIM implementation strategies [11]. Ali has suggested that implementation of BIM can be
improved assigning BIM managers and lead inter-operational professional, provide BIM protocol document and
provide cybersecurity for BIM tools outcome [12].

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2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

Besides, study done by Taqiadden has proposed to provide staffs with BIM training opportunity, provide
consistent national standards for BIM, development of project procurement system based on Integrated Project
Delivery (IPD) and provide introduction of BIM in undergraduate or graduate program in order to increase the
rate of implementation of BIM in construction. There is an additionally requirements for instruction and
preparing of potential BIM collaborator. A methodology to accomplish this could be through the presentation of
BIM in the educational plans for undergrad and graduate projects in the fields of design, building and
development. [13]. As far as government intercession in the business in connection to the selection of new
advancements, there are three applicable viewpoints: data support, budgetary help and staff support [14]. An
effective national procedure for advancing household advancement regularly incorporates the dynamic
investment of a nation's financial improvement board. Table 2 has indicated the ID of usage procedure of BIM.

Table 2. Identification of usage procedure of BIM.

Identification of Strategy in BIM implementation References
Usage Procedure of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
BIM
Skills Provide staffs with BIM training * * * * * *
opportunity.
Provide introduction of BIM in * * *
undergraduate or graduate program
Process-related Re-evaluate and re-engineer business * *
solution practise by firms.
Provide defined responsibility of who * * *
owns and can act upon monitored
performance data.
Provide free and easy access to online * *
BIM building data and libraries with
international consistency.
Provide a BIM protocol document. * * *
Provide cyber security for BIM tools * *
outcomes.
Support from top management of the * *
organisation.
Provide contractual arrangement for *
BIM adoption.
Mandate the use of BIM in publicly * * *
funded project.
Legal solution Develop a clear adoption policy for BIM * * *
models
Optimization of upfront cost in BIM *
Implementation enhances the benefits
associated with BIM.
Return of Investment Enhancements in college industry *
solution collective innovative work (R&D)
connections and focused on innovation
advancement programs
Government- related Support in relation to taxation. *
solution Provide consistent global and national * * * * * * *
standards.
Increase of government incentives in *
BIM implementation.
Awareness Provide awareness of the benefits of * *
BIM.
Provide chance to observe efficiency of *
BIM tools.
*References: 1 = [10];2= [15] ; 3= [11]; 4= [16]; 5= [13]; 6= [17]; 7= [12]; 8= [5]; 9= [14]; 10= [18]; 11=
[19]

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2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

3. Methodology

3.1. Research instrument

This research focuses on assessing the current readiness and maturity level of Malaysia road cosntruction
industry in adopting BIM and their expectation towards the development in this area. Poll review was utilized as
a strategy for gathering information as this is a progressively compelling methodology in gathering objective
based and quantifiable information, which assume a significant job in this examination. The survey is designed
into four (4) segments involving for the most part close-finished inquiry. The essential territory (1) is to perceive
the respondent's profile and nuances of their enthusiasm for BIM. Area two (2) level of execution of BIM in
respondent's association, three (3) issues and difficulties in selection of BIM and finally in segment four (4)
usage technique for BIM in road development. Questions in section three(3) and section four (4) adopted Likert-
scale questions where the respondents are asked to choose the numerical scale from “1” to “5” where “1”
indicated “Strongly disagree” , “3” indicated “Undecided” and “5” indicated “Strongly agree”. Prior to
information assortment, a pilot study had been directed with experienced academicians and related nearby
specialists to get fundamental substance validation for the surveys. Average Index analysis was adopted in the
data analysis of survey responses where the data was analyzed using SPSS Version 25 software.

3.2. Demographic profile of respondents

Aggregate of 85 polls were conveyed to the respondents in a time of (1) week, to whom has encountered in street
development venture either from private or open association in Malaysia. Out of 85 surveys dispersed, 40 polls
were finished with the portrayal of 47.67%. The reaction rate is proper for a development look into. Table 3
decide to recognize the respondent's job and association.

Table 3. Profile of Respondents

Profile Category Frequency (%)
Number of respondents Age 20-30 16 40
Age 31-40 12 30
Age 41-50 6 15
Age more than 50 6 15
Category of organization Government agency 8 20
Developer 5 12.5
Engineering consultancy 13 32.50
Quantity Surveying firm 3 7.5
Contractor 10 25
Supplier and manufacturer 1 2.5
Year of experience in Less than 1 year 6 15
construction industry 1 – 4 years 9 22.5
5 – 9 years 5 12.5
More than 10 years 20 50
Size of organization 3 – 19 5 12.5
20 – 49 8 20
59 – 199 12 30
200 and above 15 37.5

4. Result and discussion

Respondents` organization on BIM implementation was investigated through section B of the questionnaire. The
result has shown that the implementation of BIM in Malaysia road construction is still low. None of the
respondent`s organization has reached BIM level 3 where full life cycle integration considering maintenance and
operation. 15% of the respondents have implemented BIM up to level 2, 27.5% reached BIM level 1 where 2D
and 3D design integrated with product data management and 57.5% has not implemented BIM in their
organization with just Level 0 BIM. Among the respondents who have implemented BIM in their organization,
all the respondents use Autodesk Revit because it does support for topography coordinate systems just that it is
better to design road below 30km to prevent precision issues. BIM is still considered a new technology in
Malaysia especially road construction industry.

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2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

Level of BIM implemented in

respondents' organization
30
24

20

10
10 6

0
None 3D 4D 5D 6D 7D

Figure 1. Level of BIM used in respondent’s organization BIM tools.

4.1. Issues and challenges in adoption of BIM

As summarized in Table 4, the data collected from the questionnaire were analysed to delineate the issues and
challenges in adoption of BIM in road construction. A total of twenty-one (21) variables are categorized into six
BIM factors (Technical, Process, Legal, Return of Investment, Government and People). As it is, the procedure
output has an overall raw alpha of 0.764 which is good considering that .70 is the cut off value for being
acceptable According to the findings from the respondents, five (5) challenges that are most frequently chose by
the respondents are lack of standard regarding BIM (mean = 4.325), high investment for acquisition of BIM
enabled software (mean = 4.225), government departments are not ready to accept 3D submission (mean =
4.200), insufficient availability of BIM training (mean = 4.175) and lack of BIM mandate by government
departments (mean = 4.15). The top challenge among all is the lack of standard regarding BIM. Although
Malaysia local authorities Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) has built a reference document aiming at providing a
unified BIM standard by JKR (Garis Panduan dan Piawaian BIM JKR and Garis Panduan Pengunaan Template
JKR) that can easily be easily adopted to suit different projects, but the consultants and contractors are still fail
of using those standards that creates better information exchange and communication because it is not
compulsory for them to use it since currently our government has not mandate the use of BIM in construction
industry yet. This study also focuses government-related factors in the issues and challenges of BIM adoption
that is ignored in the development of roadmap for implementation of BIM in the UK construction industry [2].
Two out of top five challenges listed above are governance related challenges which showed that our
government should come out with more initiative to boost the adoption of BIM in Malaysia. Neighboring nation,
for example, Singapore had effectively actualized BIM in nearby specialists from BIM consistence to
administrative prerequisite which helped in boosting the reception of BIM in Singapore. Hence, local authorities
need to play a significant role in increasing the adoption of BIM in road construction.
Within the Process context, all respondent agreed that there is lack of standard regarding BIM with the mean
value at 4.325. Inside the process setting, all respondent concurred that there is absence of standard in regard to
BIM with the mean an incentive at 4.325. Despite BIM has been in the market for quite a long while, there is still
no institutionalization BIM rule for organizations in Malaysia. BIM achievement factor is exceptionally
controlled by investment of government in setting the standard for BIM so as to clear uncertainty for all partners
in street development industry. In relation, respondents believe that there is lack of contractual language in BIM
with mean at 4.100. Prior developing any contract language, the most important item is to consider the overall
purpose of BIM implementation and there is no standard of what should be added in BIM contract language in
Malaysia since it is considered a new tool in road construction industry. In terms of technical challenges, all
respondents agree that there is lack of clear workflow for BIM in Malaysia which shows the same challenges
faced in the implementation of BIM in UK. During the implementation of BIM, there is no clear factor like
model exchange, storage, naming conventions and organization of model that allows seamless inclusion of

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

models throughout the life of documentation process. Importantly there is a need to have a clear plan for
implementation and support for organization to fully leverage the benefits of using BIM tools in road
construction.
In the area of legal challenges, all the respondents agreed there is a lack of agreement on the legal clauses
about the digital signatures with mean of 4.000. Under Malaysia law, although a written signature is not
necessarily required for a valid contract, but the use of digital signatures in road construction is still in a grey
area because there are cases that are specifically barred from digital signatures such as instrument effecting any
dealing with real property under the Malaysian National Land Code. Besides, it was agreed that legal were
among the least areas of understood and will represent notable risks to the project management team.
The return of investment challenges is high investment for acquisition of BIM enabled software which
ranked second overall with mean of 4.225. The respondents also agreed that adoption of BIM requires high cost
of upgrading current IT system (mean=4.075) and high training cost (mean=4.025). As BIM requires investment
of equipment, software, hardware and training, it would greatly impact on the cost of project.

Table 4. Mean score and rank of issues and challenges in adoption of BIM.
No. Factors Issues and Challenges in Adoption of BIM Mean S.D Rank
C1 Lack of clear BIM workflow 4.100 0.871 10
C2 Technical Existing hardware incapable of running basic BIM software 3.625 1.191 20
C3 challenges Lack of ability to exchange data with other systems 3.925 0.997 14
C4 BIM software is complicated to use 3.850 1.026 16
C5 Change of Business Model (Type of contract bid for) 3.600 1.057 21
C6 Process-related Change in responsibilities of Stakeholders 3.675 0.997 17
C7 challenges Lack of standard regarding BIM 4.325 0.656 1
C8 Lack of contractual language 4.100 0.778 9
C9 Legal Challenges Lack of agreement on the legal clauses about the digital signatures 4.000 0.716 13
C10 Lack of insurance policies to cover responsibilities of stakeholders 3.625 0.868 18
C11 High investment for acquisition of BIM enabled software 4.225 0.733 2
C12 Return of High cost of upgrading current IT system 4.075 1.022 11
C13 Investment Changing current project delivery method 3.625 1.102 19
C14 Challenges High training cost 4.025 0.831 12
C15 Lack of handouts from Government 4.100 0.672 8
C16 Government- Government departments are not ready to accept 3D submission 4.200 0.758 3
C17 related Challenge Building plan approval is tedious as model re-working is expensive 4.150 0.735 5
C18 Lack of BIM mandate by government departments 4.150 0.770 6
C19 Insufficient availability of BIM training 4.175 0.747 4
C20 People-related Lack of awareness of BIM benefits 3.925 1.022 15
C21 Challenge Reluctant to initiate new workflows for the implementation of BIM 4.125 0.723 7

4.2 Implementation strategy for BIM

Table 5 summaries the overall strategic solutions according to related factors. According to the findings from the
respondents, five (5) strategic solutions that are most frequently chose by the respondents are provide staffs with
BIM training opportunity (mean = 4.55), increase of government incentives in BIM implementation (mean =
4.425), provide cyber security for BIM tools outcomes (mean = 4.325), provide introduction of BIM in
undergraduate or graduate program (mean = 4.325) and improvements in university–industry collaborative
research and development (R&D) relationships and targeted technology development programs (4.300). Overall,
the findings show that all the implementation strategy has a mean score more than 3.500.
Skill-related solutions are the most impactful solution as two out of top five solutions are related to this
factor. All the respondents are strongly agreed that providing staffs with BIM training opportunity (mean = 4.55)
is able to improve the adoption of BIM in Malaysia. There are a lot of factors that need to be considered such as
size of firm and existing of expertise when it comes to planning for BIM training for staffs in order to teach right
skills to the right set of people with minimal disruption to the on-going project. Provide introduction of BIM in
undergraduate or graduate program (mean = 4.325) is also one of the most impactful implementation strategies
as it ranked third overall. As the technology that evolved rapidly in the construction industry, it is important to
constantly expose undergraduate with new construction technology in their curriculum in order to meet the
future needs of the construction industry.
In terms of process related solutions, providing cyber security for BIM tools (mean = 4.325) is perceived as
good solution as it is agreed by all respondents. A shared 3D model may expose to intellectual property to

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competitors where a fly-through visualization of a building could share sensitive information about the building
design-key structural components, locations of key building services, placement of CCTV or other security
equipment. A shared 4D model might expose period when assets could be susceptible to sabotage, or sites could
be vulnerable to thieves.
In the area of legal-related solution, mandate the use of BIM in publicly funded project (mean = 4.225) is
agreed by all respondents. Government role in implementation strategy of BIM has not been studied by the UK
roadmap case study before. Currently, Malaysia government is trying to mandate the use of BIM in government
project that worth more than RM100 millions by 2020 because BIM system could optimize the cost of a project
in line with the Construction Industry Transformation Program (CITP) according to Construction Industry
Development Board (CIDB).
Optimization of upfront cost in BIM implementation enhances the benefits associated with BIM is a
significant solution for return of investment related challenges. It is important for construction industry
participants to optimize the upfront cost of BIM as the gain of BIM implementation does not reflect immediately
upon the point of implementation because it is considered as a long- term investment to be more cost effective
and efficient in project delivery.
Improvements in university–industry collaborative research and development (R&D) relationships and
targeted technology development programs (4.300) that is related to government initiative is ranked fifth in
overall. This strategy has not been studied by the UK roadmap case study. Such collaborative research programs
increase the importance of the research opportunities, results and knowledge transfers between the participating
companies and universities. Companies are beginning to realize the importance of collaborative research in
evolving their core competencies and in making sound strategic decisions on how to best deploy their R&D
resources to maintain competitive advantage.
Increase of government incentives in BIM implementation (mean = 4.425) was ranked second overall. This
implement strategy is not mentioned in the Roadmap for implementation of BIM in the UK construction industry
case study. This strategy is vital because it shows the importance of Malaysia government initiatives in
improving the adoption of BIM in Malaysia. Local road construction authorities such as Highway Authority
Malaysia (LLM) has just started BIM initiative last year where they are still at data collection phase and has yet
to run any campaign to create awareness about use of BIM in road construction project. Thus, with the
increasing initiatives, Malaysia government will be able to produce more construction industry players that are
equipped with BIM knowledge which allowed tendering for BIM project to avoid the probability of project
failure. With the identified strategy in BIM implementation, framework for BIM adoption has been identified in
Figure 2.
Table 5. Mean score and rank of implementation strategy of BIM
No. Factors Strategy in BIM implementation Mean S.D Rank
S1 Technical-related Provide staffs with BIM training opportunity. 4.55 0.597 1
S2 solution Provide introduction of BIM in undergraduate or graduate program. 4.325 0.730 4
S3 Re-evaluate and re-engineer business practice by firms. 3.975 0.947 17
S4 Provide defined responsibility of who owns and can act upon 4.175 0.675 12
monitored performance data.
S5 Provide free and easy access to online BIM building data and 4.225 0.862 10
Process-related libraries with international consistency.
S6 solution Provide a BIM protocol document. 4.150 0.770 15
S7 Provide cyber security for BIM tools outcomes. 4.325 0.693 3
S8 Support from top management of the organization. 4.275 0.640 6
S9 Provide contractual arrangement for BIM adoption. 4.150 0.700 13
S10 Legal-related Mandate the use of BIM in publicly funded project. 4.225 0.768 9
S11 solution Develop a clear adoption policy for BIM models 4.150 0.736 14
S12 Return of Optimization of upfront cost in BIM 4.225 0.577 7
Investment- related Implementation enhances the benefits associated with BIM.
solution
S13 Improvements in university–industry collaborative research and 4.300 0.791 5
development (R&D) relationships and targeted technology
Government- development programs
S14 related solution Support in relation to taxation 4.225 0.630 8
S15 Provide consistent global and national standards. 4.200 0.608 11
S16 Increase of government incentives in BIM implementation. 4.425 0.630 2
S17 Awareness- related Provide awareness of the benefits of BIM. 4.025 0.800 16

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

S18 solution Provide chance to observe efficiency of BIM tools. 3.950 0.638 18

Figure 2. BIM implementation framework in road construction.

BIM has proven to be an effective technology with numerous studies had highlighted its potential
capabilities. However, in the context of Malaysia road construction industry, the implementation of BIM is still
in very slow pace. There are several factors that can be concluded that hinders the adoption of BIM has been
identified in this research (1) lack of standard regarding BIM, (2) high investment for acquisition of BIM
enabled software, (3) government departments are not ready to accept 3D submission, (4) insufficient
availability of BIM training and (5) lack of BIM mandate by government departments. As Malaysia government
is looking to increase adoption of BIM to prepare the industry for the future before 2020, it is important that the
issues and challenges are to be addressed for the improvement of the road construction industry in Malaysia.
Therefore, strategic BIM solutions should be implemented in order to increase the pace of BIM adoption in the
Malaysia road construction industry. Several implementation strategies have been identified in this research (1)
provide staffs with BIM training opportunity, (2) increase of government incentives in BIM implementation, (3)
provide cyber security for BIM tools outcomes, (4) provide introduction of BIM in undergraduate or graduate
program and (5) improvements in university–industry collaborative research and development (R&D)
relationships and targeted technology development programs. Finally, several limitations need to be
acknowledged. In general, the time constraint and relatively small sample size may lead to concerned on
generalizations of the research.

9
 2nd International Conference on Materials Technology and Energy IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 943 (2020) 012061 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/943/1/012061

5. Acknowledgments
Our thanks to Highway contractor PLUS Berhad Section S2 Malaysia for highly corporation with this study.
AUN-Seed Net by JICA and University Technology Malaysia for supporting financial grant, Cost Centre No:
R.J130000.7322.4B322, R.J130000.7322.4B3265, R.J130000.7322.4B332, R.J130000.4B334 &
R.J130000.7322.4B331.

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