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Analysing BIM implementation in implementation

BIM

the Egyptian construction industry construction

in Egyptian
Mohamed Marzouk
Structural Engineering Department, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt, and
Heba Elsaay and Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman
Department of Architectural Engineering, The British University in Egypt, Received 14 July 2020
Cairo, Egypt Revised 4 January 2021
4 April 2021
16 May 2021
Abstract 23 June 2021
Accepted 24 August 2021
Purpose – This research is built up upon exploring the concepts of building information modeling (BIM)
adoption and strategy formulation with the aim to develop a strategy for implementing BIM in the Egyptian
construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The development of the BIM implementation strategy was based on two
pillars, namely the literature review and results of the survey questionnaire and interviews. First, the review of
literature helped investigating the BIM challenges and international strategies developed to implement BIM
worldwide.
Findings – The research presented recommendations to assist policymakers in Egypt to facilitate BIM
implementation.
Originality/value – Although multiple frameworks have been proposed to aid in BIM implementation, a
practical strategy to implement BIM in Egypt is still lacking. Moreover, current market scale studies neglect
nonsoftware aspects of BIM adoption, do not identify market gaps or reflect market-specific criteria. As such, it
cannot be used by policymakers to facilitate BIM diffusion.
Keywords Construction industry, BIM implementation, BIM diffusion, Developing countries, Macro adoption
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Building information modeling (BIM) is considered an improved process to the traditional life
cycle phases of construction facilities. It combines a facility’s virtual aspects, systems and
concepts into a single 3D environment throughout the project life cycle. This provides
different stakeholders with the opportunity to inquire, simulate and monitor needed activities
during the whole lifecycle of the project. A broad range of applications are available to
simulate time, cost, constructability and activity sequences that are supported by BIM
(Gerges et al., 2017). BIM provides better management of information, enhanced collaboration
and coordination, better stakeholder engagement as well as better decision-making. As
nations realize the value of BIM, its adoption rates are increasing (Hore et al., 2017). This
reflects the increasing popularity of BIM implementation in both public and private projects
in the industry worldwide due to its promising benefits and quality results. With the different
levels of BIM implantation journeys, developed countries have engaged in developing
various BIM standards ranging from conceptual to platform-specific; yet, developing
countries are still lagging (Bui et al., 2016; Walasek and Barszcz, 2017; Oraee et al., 2017; Ezcan
et al., 2013; Khodeir and Nessim, 2017; Cao et al., 2017; Mehran, 2016). Unsatisfactory rates of
BIM adoption in developing countries ranged between 10 and 25% with a limited BIM uses,
such as 3D coordination, design authoring and clash detection, which represents a very
limited application within the whole supply chain. Furthermore, (Bui et al., 2016) reported that
80% of organizations are neither using BIM nor involved in its adoption. Although multiple
frameworks have been proposed to aid in BIM implementation, a practical strategy to Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management
implement BIM in Egypt is still lacking. Moreover, current market scale studies neglect © Emerald Publishing Limited
0969-9988
nonsoftware aspects of BIM adoption, do not identify market gaps or reflect market-specific DOI 10.1108/ECAM-07-2020-0523
ECAM criteria, and it cannot be used by policymakers to facilitate BIM diffusion (Bui et al., 2016;
Sistani and Rezaei, 2012).
The need for this research has been emphasized in recent publications, which
encouraged the use of BIM worldwide and in Egypt to enhance the whole industry
performance. With the aim of exploiting this opportunity, Egypt needs to adopt a new
digital design and construction culture. Hence, BIM is essential as its implementation in the
Egyptian construction industry cannot be achieved at one step; shifting to new and more
advanced digital models requires new information technology (IT) skills, as well as new
coordination and collaboration processes. This is in addition to the required investment in
technology infrastructure and software purchases. All this can lead to a state of uncertainty
to industry stakeholders as well as clients. Thus, the BIM implementation strategy
developed by this research enables decision makers to respond to the industry-specific
needs. It aims to develop a strategy to fulfill the mission of adopting BIM in the construction
industry in Egypt.

2. Literature review
2.1 BIM adoption challenges
Researchers argued that the most challenging aspect when implementing a new IT system is
not technical related but human related. Factors which lead to a weakened implementation
include lack of user awareness, poor management and resistance to change culture (Ezcan
et al., 2013; Russell and Hoag, 2004). This was also supported by Ezcan et al. (Ezcan et al.,
2013) findings which indicated that technical issues such as complex software and presented
benefits had low and insignificant relation to adoption rates. Moreover, industry
unwillingness to change and having a shortage in experience and knowledgeable BIM
practitioners or educators adds to the challenge and slows the adoption rates (Smith, 2014).
Additionally, Saka and Chan (Saka and Chan, 2019) reported that the main challenges for
BIM adoption in Africa were people/process-related barriers followed by technology-related
barriers and economic-related barriers. The study listed lack of training, lack of awareness,
lack of demand, contractual uncertainty, lack of skilled personnel, lack of government
support, lack of collaboration, lack of management support and resistance to changes are all
part of human-related factors. The economic-related factors are lack of investment, high cost
of implementation, lack of clear BIM benefits evaluation, initial implementation impends and
productivity. And finally, interoperability, lack of BIM standards, inadequate infrastructure,
legal risk and insufficient technical knowledge are the technology barriers. Another study by
(Reza Hosseini, 2018) argues that lack of proof for financial benefits to organizations,
specifically small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can be a major obstacle towards
adoption. Furthermore, lack of research and development also hinders information and
communication technology implementation (Khodeir and Nessim, 2017).
Researchers suggested that efforts made to transfer BIM standards to the developing
countries cause additional pressure as it is considered a foreign concept. These transferred
standers require tailoring to match the country’s regulations and requirements, since the
nature of developing countries is totally different than developed countries (Khodeir and
Nessim, 2017; Miettinen and Paavola, 2014). Other challenges which contribute to the low
adoption rates in developing countries are related to its social, economic and technological
characteristics, such as IT-literate practitioners and lack of national implementation
strategies (Bui et al., 2016; Jellings, 2010; Olawumi et al., 2017). Jung and Lee (2015) reported
Middle East countries, Africa and South America, to still be in the early adoption phases; the
percentage of organizations currently using or planning on using BIM is as low as 20%
(Gerges et al., 2017). Moreover, lack of knowledge on BIM is noticed where professionals
consider BIM as just an advance AutoCAD tool.
 Although Egypt was found to have the highest number of BIM publications, followed by BIM
Nigeria and South Africa, research highlighted that implementation rates and awareness implementation
rates are not matching, since high level of awareness did not translate to high level of
adoption; this could be explained by the faced challenges. Another study conducted in Egypt
in Egyptian
by (Elyamany, 2016) reported that only 48% of respondents used BIM for 2D and 3D construction
modeling. More than half of the respondents, 79%, believed that the government is not
providing enough support to BIM adoption. Moreover, 70% believed that the construction
industry is not clear enough on the application of BIM. One more study conducted by
(Othman et al., 2018), surveyed 42 respondents, reported that BIM diffusion in Egypt is rising,
yet it was detected that there is still low understanding of the aspects of BIM implementation.
The research highlighted some factors that contributed to this, such as lack of proper training
on software, processes and technology as well as lack of proper knowledge of BIM aspects
and resistance to change.
The study further presented that 80% of respondents have less than two years of
experience in working with BIM, and only 20% have been using BIM between two and five
years. Furthermore, results showed that 10% of respondents have learned BIM through
home courses, 45% were self-taught and 45% learned it in university. Perhaps the most
critical results reported were that 29% of respondents stated that they were not sure about
what BIM could be defined as, 32% reported that they believed it is a piece of modeling
software and 17% reported that they believed it is a network-based integration.
This also matched results found by (Elyamany, 2016) as the highest percentage, 35%, of
respondents were hesitant about the main concepts of BIM. Furthermore, only 29% reported
their knowledge about BIM implementation aspects, 24% reported that they are not
knowledgeable and 47% reported that they were not sure (Othman et al., 2018). These results
highlight a critical challenge as most of respondents lacked the basic awareness and
knowledge about BIM which hinders its adoption and presents an obstacle that require
attention to assure successful implantation. On the other hand, 91% of respondents hear
more about BIM these days, and 95% of the respondents reported that they believed that BIM
is the future of project information. Moreover, 70% agreed that BIM help in achieving strong
buildings (Elyamany, 2016).

2.2 BIM implementation strategies

Previous research highlighted some recommendations that can aid in overcoming challenges
of BIM implementation in developing countries such as developing specific strategies to
address the different nature of developing countries. The BIM process has to match the daily
activities performed (Cao et al., 2017; Bui et al., 2016; Son et al., 2015; Dong and Martin, 2017),
and an active support from the government is essential (Gholizadeh, 2018; Jellings, 2010).
Walasek and Barszcz (2017) suggested that new communication strategy is needed once the
adoption rates increase. The strategy needs to focus less on the scarcity and shift to focus on
social proof to speed up the adoption. Further recommendations were stated by (Hamma-
Adama and Kouider, 2019) such as mandating BIM use to help speed up the adoption and
lessen education and training challenges. The research also recommended incorporate
different diffusion dynamics to help in the process. Accordingly, increasing awareness to
BIM benefits would help changing the stakeholder’s perception, which will aid in the
implementation. Furthermore, (Matarneh and Hamed, 2017) argued that industry
practitioners and academic organizations should work together to develop a program that
matches the industry practices and processes. Moreover, for BIM to be adopted in developing
countries, a demand needs to be found from clients and contractors as well as support from
government (Bui et al., 2016; Sistani and Rezaei, 2012).
Since governments are the most benefited client from BIM implementation, governments
become active in promoting BIM applications using different policies and initiatives. These
ECAM different strategies can be categorized into three main approaches: a government-driven
approach, an industry-driven approach and a mixed approach. The government-driven
approach is based on the issuance of a series of policies or mandates that pushes the industry
to adopt BIM applications.
Research highlighted the notable impact of a government-driven mandating as a driver
force for BIM implementation in countries such as UK, Netherlands, China, South Korea,
Japan and Singapore. The industry-driven approach reflects an active industry where the
applications of BIM are widely spread by the industry, such as the case in the USA. The
mixed approach is a mixture between both approaches, which is incorporated by most
countries (Yang and Chou, 2018). Nevertheless, (Tuckwood, 2016) argued that developing
legalization is a long-delayed process; mandates, on the other hand, provides a better
alternative. Mandates create a demand and motivation for people to adopt BIM without the
need for issuing legalization.
Hadzaman et al. (2015) conducted strategic analysis elements in Malaysia BIM roadmap
pillars based on the lesson learnt from Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong roadmaps. These
roadmaps were selected due to their recorded performance in BIM adoption. BIM adoption in
Australia is steered by public organizations and is following a timeline approach for the
strategy implementation where stakeholders are motivated to adhere to the dates established.
Yet, the Australian strategy does not include any incentives plan for adopters. As for
Singapore, the strategy is more focused on the development in the facility management
sector. The strategy takes into account the collaboration means, research and development as
well as obstacles and productivity measures. Moreover, the strategy is focused on the design
for manufacturing and assembly which matches the government goal by 2020 to establish a
technologically advanced industry with competent workforce. The Hong Kong strategy on
the other hand does not include a clear timeline for implementation goals, yet it focuses on
communicating BIM adoption benefits and providing incentives to adopters. Additionally,
the strategy incorporates communicating adoption risk management as well as global
competitiveness.
Literature review investigated BIM adoption challenges in different location around the
globe, yet human-related factors were found to have a great influence on the adoption. These
factors included, and not limited to, lack of awareness and resistance to change. Furthermore,
it was concluded that awareness levels and adoption rates are not related since high
awareness levels does not translate in high adoption. Thus, improving awareness only should
not be the only strategy followed. Successful implementation strategies were found to
respond to human-related challenges through the different channels and industry players.
Furthermore, strategies presented have stressed on the importance of responding to each
country’s nature and culture emphasizing on the importance of government role in speeding
up the adoption. In the next section, BIM adoption challenges and opportunities are discussed
to provide bases for formulating the strategy to respond to the countries’ specific nature and
challenges.

2.3 Research gap

Although efforts are directed towards providing finances and developing an agenda to
respond for the Egyptian national demands, there is a need to establish a construction sector
mechanism. Research highlighted the increasing interest in adopting BIM globally since it
presented a huge potential in overcoming the industry challenges as well as facilitating
project execution and operation. This atmosphere created a highly competitive environment
where countries compete to implement it in order to reduce its expenses and grasp the
potential benefits. The adoption rate in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region is still
slow, which puts it at a huge risk of not catching up. Moreover, there is lack of empirical
studies on adoption and implementation of BIM in African AEC. In the case of Egypt,
although research recommends the implementation of BIM to overcome current challenges BIM
and meet national demands, there is a lack of a clear strategy to do so. Thus, there is a need for implementation
a tailored strategy, which facilitates BIM adoption within the Egyptian industry.
in Egyptian
construction
3. Research methodology
The research involves conducting in-depth literature scanning of BIM implementation
challenges and different strategies adopted worldwide for BIM implementation. In total, two
macro-adoption models were used to conduct the study which are diffusion areas and
diffusion responsibilities. Data collection is achieved through an online survey, which was
developed by BIMe initiative and was hosted on the BIMexcellence.org website. The research
adopted this survey to conduct the analysis. A purposive sampling technique is used in this
research as one of the types of nonprobability sampling for both quantitative and qualitative
samples. The purposive sample could be referred to as judgment sampling and is considered
a form on nonprobability and nonrandom sampling methods. In this method, people who are
knowledgeable of the needed information were approached. Therefore, the sample used in
this research had a strong relation to the investigation. Participants have applicable work
experience in BIM and are actively involved in different BIM related activities. Second, semi-
structured interviews were developed and conducted; information is gathered and
categorized into themes and sub-themes to perform content analysis.

4. Data collection
Data collection is divided into two parts which are (1) analysis of the survey questionnaire
questions and (2) development of structured interviews with subject matter experts. The
analysis of the survey questionnaire questions considers two macro- adoption models
(Section 5) to provide an in-depth explanation to the macro-adoption dynamics in Egypt.
Respondents were selected based on using expert nonprobability sampling method. The
purpose of the questionnaire was to investigate the levels and dynamics of BIM diffusion in
Egypt. The total number of responses for diffusion areas and diffusion responsibilities models
are 38 and 30, respectively. Since the size of the population is unknown, the author depended
on previous similar study conducted to decide on the sample size (Kassem and Succar, 2017).
The estimated time for completing the survey is 30 min. Mean values were calculated for
each model.
The second part includes the development of structured interviews with subject matter
experts, mainly targeting policymakers, to provide more in-depth understanding to the
current situation of BIM diffusion in Egypt. Expert nonprobability sampling method was
adopted to get a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the studied topic. This part
focuses on assessing the current BIM diffusion status form the point of view of policymakers
and industry associates. Furthermore, the results were checked with questionnaire findings.
The research follows the method of content analysis in which results were classified into
themes and sub-themes to provide quantifiable and comparable data (Langos, 2014). A total
number of five interviews were conducted.
For clarification, the research focuses on the market diffusion dynamics and not
individual organizations or projects. In this study, diffusion represents the spread of the
process/technology within a population and not within an organization.

5. Questionnaire results
5.1 BIM diffusion models
The first model, named diffusion areas, provides nine areas of BIM diffusion. These areas are the
result of intersection of the three BIM fields, namely, technology, process and policy, and three
ECAM BIM capability stages, namely, modeling, collaboration and integration. The model clarifies how
BIM field types (technology, process and policy) interact with BIM capability stages (modeling,
collaboration and integration) to generate nine areas for targeted BIM diffusion analysis and
BIM diffusion planning (Succar and Kassem, 2015). The study results show irregular diffusion
rates, as shown in Figure 1, modeling technology appears to be the most mature area with 61%,
followed by 50% for modeling process and 40% for collaboration technology. This is further
illustrated in Figure 2 showing that modeling capabilities are higher with ranking of 5.6 followed
by 4.2 for collaboration capabilities and 3.2 for integration capabilities. These values were
calculated by adding the mean values for the three categories in each capability.
The second model, named diffusion responsibilities, classifies nine industry stakeholders
who are/can be involved in the diffusion of BIM within the industry. The model further
categorizes the nine stakeholders into the three BIM fields, namely, technology, process and
policy (Succar and Kassem, 2015). The model helps in identifying stakeholders’ involvement,
which is essential when developing the national BIM plan. Survey results show that
technology developers, followed by communities of practice and educational institutions, are
the stakeholders with highest impact on the diffusion of BIM. This indicates the unbalanced
role among the involved eight stakeholders (Kassem and Succar, 2017). The results reveal the
existing role of technology developers and educational institutions in BIM adoption and present
an opportunity for development in regard to policymakers’ area (see Figure 3). Respondents
were further requested to expand their responses to get more in-depth understanding. One
response was received and confirms the low contribution of stakeholders in Egypt and
specifically highlights the low contribution of policymakers. The response confirms the
efforts currently taking place to develop the code of practice.

5.2 Models verification

5.2.1 Participants evaluation. In order to verify the understanding, representation and
usefulness of each mode, experts who participated in the questionnaire were requested to rate

Figure 1.
Study result–diffusion
dynamics in Egypt
 6.0 BIM
5.0
implementation
in Egyptian
4.0 construction
3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
Figure 2.
Modelling Collaboraon Integraon Capabilities ranking
Capability stage Capability stage Capability stage

Technology Advocates
Communies of pracce
Industry Associaons
Technology Service Providers
Technology developers
Construcon organisaons
Educaonal Instuons Figure 3.
Policy Makers Diffusion
responsibilities
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

each model for three aspects, namely, clarity, accuracy and usefulness. This verification is
important where “clarity” verification indicates if participants well-understood the models,
“accuracy “verification assures that each model represents its intended concepts and
“usefulness” verification indicates if the models achieve their intended purpose (Succar and
Kassem, 2015). Table 1 lists the ratings of each model, highlighting highest result for each in
bold. These values were calculated by measuring the mean value of the ratings provided by
the respondents. Respondents were provided five values to pick from, namely, low (0),
medium-low (1), medium (2), medium-high (3) and high (4). After the mean was calculated for
each model, percentages were concluded and presented in the table. All three aspects, clarity,
accuracy and usefulness, were rated as medium and medium-high.
5.2.2 Experts interviews. Each question that was asked in the interview is associated with
an analysis of its intended aim and results of the interviews. Findings of the interviews are
illustrated in Figures 4–6. According to the interview findings, 60% of the participants are
aware that efforts are in place to develop a BIM code in Egypt. Out of five respondents, four
responded that the highest challenge for BIM adoption in Egypt is “lack of BIM Awareness
and knowledge” followed by “resistance to change”, “lack of regulations” and “lack of client
demand” ranked by 2 out of 5. Also, three out of five respondents rated government and
educational institutions to be the main drivers or champions that could facilitate BIM
adoption in Egypt. Furthermore, respondents agreed that providing incentives and
spreading awareness would be the best strategies for promoting a wide spread of BIM
in Egypt.
ECAM Degree Diffusion areas model (%) Diffusion responsibilities model (%)

Clarity High 13.1 30.0

Medium-high 36.8 33.3
Medium 36.8 26.6
Medium-low 13.1 2.60
Low 0 0
Accuracy High 15.7 20.0
Medium-high 34.2 23.3
Medium 47.3 43.3
Medium-low 2.60 13.3
Low 0 0
Usefulness High 34.2 30.0
Medium-high 18.4 16.6
Table 1. Medium 31.5 50.0
Evaluation of macro- Medium-low 13.1 3.33
BIM adoption models Low 2.60 0

0
ge st es ns d ts dg
e
in
g
an co s iv tio an alis le m
ch n en ul
a
em ci ow u
to tio in
t g d pe kn ns
e ta re nt s co
nc en of of l ie IM s
& e
st
a
em ck k fc fB es tim
i pl La ac o o en is
es L k
ck
R Im c ar ss
La La aw e
Figure 4. oc
M pr
BIM challenges BI M
of BI
in Egypt ck
La

5.3 Interviews results

In this section, the expert nonprobability sampling method is adopted to get an in-depth
understanding of the studied topic. This research method has been developing since early 90s
as a qualitative method designed to get an understanding of expert’s knowledge in a specific
field. This part focuses on assessing the current BIM diffusion status form the point of view of
policymakers and industry associates. The interview questions are presented with their
intended aim along with a sample of received from the expert’s interview comments and
results in Appendix.

5.4 Discussion of findings

The analysis of the results highlighted uneven diffusion rates in the Egyptian construction
industry. Efforts are being influenced by large and small organization towards BIM
 5 BIM
implementation
4 in Egyptian
construction
3

Figure 5.
1 Main drivers or
champions that could
facilitate BIM adoption
0
in Egypt
Educational instituts Client Government Contractors

Figure 6.
0
Proposed strategies for
Incentives Regulations/mandate Awarness Government BIM adoption in Egypt
ownership

implementation, while the government role remains inactive. The models indicated a great
potential since Egypt is more mature when it comes to modeling technologies, which reflects a
high-level of intraorganizational maturity, However, more efforts are needed to improve the
collaboration processes between organization, interorganizational maturity, process as well
as collaboration technology. These results reflect higher levels of intraorganizational maturity
and lower levels of collaboration processes and policies which are reflected in the low
percentages at 18–28% and 30%, resulting in unbalanced distribution of diffusion areas. The
unbalanced distribution of diffusion areas would face different adoption challenges
compared to countries with well-distributed diffusion across the nine areas (Kassem and
Succar, 2017). For Egyptian construction industry, improvement can be achieved by the
involvement of the government in the implementation through different mechanisms, such as
communicating, engaging and monitoring, to encourage these organizations to collaborate.
Another opportunity is observed in the learning and education, champions and driver
domains. This indicates the willingness of the Egyptian industry to improve and learn new
technologies; however, a clear plan for implementation remains unknown. Policymakers’
involvement is relatively low, with no noticed influence, yet technology developers,
communities of practice and educational institutions are observed to be with highest
influence on the diffusion of BIM. Although governments’ role can be very influential when it
comes to technology implementation, large organizations and educational institutions appear
to be the key to influence the adoption of BIM within the Egyptian industry.
ECAM The study concluded that Egypt is relatively mature when it comes to applying modeling
technology and processes. It was also apparent that middle-out diffusion is the dominant
diffusion dynamic in Egypt. Moreover, it was found out that technology developers, followed
by communities of practice and educational institutions, are the stakeholders with highest
impact on the diffusion of BIM. This indicates that the most efforts being made are by large
organizations or industry associates, followed by efforts from small organizations. Results
reflect that government efforts are the lowest in motivating BIM adoption. Since Egypt is
classified as a developing country (World Bank, 2017), the government is usually pressured
to provide political and economic stability; thus, lower efforts in development are noticed
(Othman and Ahmed, 2013). This suggests that private sector and large organizations need to
assist the government in implementing new developments such as BIM.
These findings come in line with the interview findings where responses described large
organizations as the main drivers to BIM implementations. They explained the reasons for
that either to respond to a client need, since they deal with international clients, or to grasp the
possible benefits of the implementation such as cost and time savings. Respondents also
emphasized the interest of small organizations to catch up and enhance their performance
through implementing BIM. However, respondents explained that implementing BIM might
be a challenging step for them. Moreover, responses show that large companies may have
BIM departments but are not fully used. This highlights the interest of large and small
organizations to implement BIM in its projects; however, the implementation is still in its
early stages and contains many challenges.
On the other hand, the study revealed lower levels of integration technology and
collaboration processes and modeling policy. In addition, government efforts towards
implementing BIM were observed to be low. The study suggested developing an incentive
governmental strategy to encourage BIM implementation, for example, tax breaks for projects
using BIM or even facilitating the building permit process. Finally, lack of having an
implementation strategy to assure an organized BIM implementation is problematic; this could
be due to improper implementation that can cause more waste and risks, BIM use can become
less appealing to engineers since, thus, using the traditional methods would become more
appealing. Also, it would be hard to compete in the global market using the traditional methods.

6. Conclusions
There has been an increasing interest in adopting BIM globally due to its huge potential in
overcoming the industry challenges as well as facilitating project execution and operation.
This atmosphere created a highly competitive environment where countries compete to
implement it in order to reduce its expenses and grasp the potential benefits. The adoption
rate in the MENA region is still slow, which puts it at a huge risk of not catching up. Moreover,
there is a lack of empirical studies on adoption and implementation of BIM. In the case of
Egypt, although research recommends the implementation of BIM to overcome current
challenges and meet national demands, there is a lack of a clear strategy to do so. Thus, this
research develops a strategy which facilitates BIM adoption within the Egyptian industry.
The study identified the challenges of BIM implementations in the construction industry,
proposed the enablers of BIM implementations and provided a depth investigation about
BIM macro-maturity level and diffusion dynamics in Egypt. Moreover, the research identified
BIM implementation challenges and enablers within the Egyptian construction industry and
developed the BIM implementation strategy in the Egyptian context.
Although this research is limited to the Egyptian construction industry, the adopted
methodology could be referred to when reforming other sectors in other countries or Middle
East region. Strategies developed by this research provide a long-term sector development
plan; thus, it provides a valuable reference for policymakers and stakeholders to develop the
sector and promote economic growth. Government policy and public procurement methods BIM
are recommended as powerful tools to support this positive change in the sector. Without this implementation
top-down leadership, the sector is likely to continue its under-investment in information
technology and to deliver low value for money and mediocre productivity levels. This is
in Egyptian
especially true for its large and diverse SME sector. Governments and public sector construction
organizations can provide leadership to encourage the sector towards the untapped
opportunity of digital and in turn provide better public services and better value for
public money.

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Appendix BIM
implementation
in Egyptian
Q1: Are there any regulatory BIM framework currently being used/developed you are aware of? construction
Aim This question aims to assess awareness of respondents towards BIM updates as well as clarify
whether there are any frameworks are being used or developed
Results The results indicate (see Figure A1)
40% of respondents confirm that they are not aware of any framework is being used
60% of respondents mention that there are efforts to establish a code of practice
Q2: Does the government have any identified BIM objectives or milestones? If yes, how is it measured or
benchmarked? If no, why?
Aim This question aims to assess the government contribution to BIM implementation. Moreover, it
helps identify any plans or objectives being communicated by the government
Results 100% of respondents confirm that they are not aware of any plan being communicated by the
government to them
Respondents indicate that the reason are due to the current economic situation in the country, the
government has no experience in modern technology and the lack of government knowledge and
ownership
Q3: What are the major challenges for BIM implementation in Egypt?
Aim This question aims to identify the main challenges that hinder the BIM implementation in Egypt
from the point of view of experts
Results This was an open-ended question. Figure A2 illustrates the ratings of each mentioned challenge.
These barriers were extracted from the respondent’s answers and were categorized based on each
barrier
Results show that the most voted barriers are lack of BIM awareness and knowledge followed by
resistance to change, lack of regulations and lack of client demand
Q4: Who are the main “drivers or champions” that could facilitate BIM adoption?
Aim This question aims to identify the stakeholders who have the biggest influence on implementing
BIM in Egypt
Results This was an open-ended question. Figure 5 illustrates the ratings of each mentioned driver
challenge. These drivers were extracted from the respondent’s answers and were categorized based
on each driver
Results show that educational institutes and government are seen to be the most influential
champions
Q5: In your opinion, what strategies could be proposed to encourage the adoption of BIM in Egypt?
Aim This question aims to understand the best suited strategies that are suggested by experts to
facilitate the implementation process
Results This was an open-ended question. Figure 6 illustrates the ratings of each mentioned strategy. These
strategies were extracted from the respondent’s answers and were categorized based on each
category
Results show that spreading awareness about BIM benefits as well as providing incentives are the
most proposed strategies
Q6: From your opinion, what could be examples for incentives?
Aim This question aims to identify practical incentive methods to motivate industry players to adopt
BIM in order to develop a realistic BIM national implementation plan
Results This was an open-ended question; a list of responses is as shown
• GPRS provides extra points in sustainability for using BIM
• The insurance and revision process, which is now mandatory on most buildings in Egypt can be
the mean to offer an incentive for people who use BIM model
• Tax breaks or tax extensions for people who use BIM
• To be taught to undergraduates Table A1.
• People has to understand its savings benefits such in efforts, time and coordination Interviews analysis
ECAM

Not Aware
40%
Aware
60%

Figure A1.
Awareness of
participants of any
framework being
developed

Figure A2.
BIM challenges
in Egypt

Corresponding author
Mohamed Marzouk can be contacted at: [email protected]

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