Analyzing collaboration barriers and improvement pathways in bim-based teamwork of architects and structural engineers

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) offers a collaborative process that increases productivity at every stage in construction projects, preventing losses experienced in production among stakeholders associated in the industry. However, in the literature, it has been observed that there are various barriers, which hinder a collaborative working environment. This thesis aims to investigate the collaboration barriers and improvement pathways in BIM-based teamwork of architects and structural engineers within the Turkish context and to provide recommendations to alleviate the situation. The collaboration barriers are analyzed under five headings; namely, process, context, actor, task and team. A survey, which was prepared in line with the 26 collaboration barriers defined by Oraee et al. [1], was applied to a group of 60 architects and engineers. According to the findings, some of the barriers that are experienced in BIM-enabled projects worldwide are not perceived as important barriers by construction professionals in Turkey. It seems that this finding is due to the fact that sufficient progress has not been made yet in the BIM adaptation process in Turkey. The study revealed that the most significant barriers in BIM-based teamwork were lack of training, insufficient collaboration knowledge and ability of group members, lack of standards related to BIM models, and problems of interdisciplinary communication and coordination.