Virtual Teams, Virtual ECI & BIM: A Multiple Case Study in the Swedish Context
2017
The AEC industry has traditionally been connected to a lack of collaboration and
adversarial relationships leading to problems regarding both cost and quality in
projects. Early contractor involvement (ECI) is a newly implemented concept in the
Swedish AEC industry, aimed to manage these problems. Further, Building
information modelling (BIM) is becoming more adopted throughout the industry as a
step to increase efficiency through the use of digital practises. With the goal of
increasing efficiency and innovation in the industry, the Swedish Transport
Administration (STA) decided to use both ECI and BIM in a major infrastructure
project, carried out in the city of Gothenburg.
This master’s thesis investigated how ECI is used together with BIM in a major
Swedish infrastructure project. Furthermore, it clarifies the managerial aspects in need
of consideration for achieving successful ECI projects where BIM is used. The
research questions were answered through a qualitative and abductive methodology
consisting of a literature review and a multiple case study. The literature review
explores the concept of ECI and other collaboration forms together with BIM, and the
relation between them. The empirical findings revealed inexperience of ECI causing
unclear roles, expectations and perceptions. Further, that lack of maintenance aspects
and cultural issues were hindering BIM adoption.
It was concluded that BIM and ECI can both hinder and facilitate one another. There
is a need of managing the collaboration to bridge the different perception of ECI and
unclear roles in the case study projects, since these are hindering both the BIM and
ECI process. This master’s thesis contributes towards covering the knowledge gap
currently existing regarding BIM usage and adoption in ECI projects.
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