The Role of Professional Surveyors in the Emerging Trend of Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Abstract

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) process plays a vital role in the construction industry. It helps in understanding future operations and building maintenance. The main problem identified in this study is the lack of proper scientific knowledge about the process of BIM among professional surveyors in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to find out the possibility of surveyors reducing the most important components such as time and cost by involving in this BIM process, and if there are functions that surveyors can use in the BIM process because of this study. The knowledge regarding the BIM of professionals in the construction industry was assessed through a questionnaire survey. According to their responses, it could be identified that the involvement of the surveyors in the BIM process in the construction industry was not satisfactory. As the most useful BIM tools for the surveyors, Revit, ArchiCAD, and Leica Cyclone were identified. However, the usage of the Leica Cyclone BIM tool in Sri Lanka was very rare. According to the questionnaire survey data, the usefulness of the ArchiCAD BIM tool among the professional survey was taken more than the Leica cyclone. The BIM tool called Revit was able to be used in this study personally. Through a Revit BIM tool, building renovation, pipeline clashes detection, as-built surveys, data management, and effective documentation were some of the facilities offered. In a conclusion, there were no considerable barriers to implementing the BIM process among the surveyors.