The Adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) For Procurement of Works in Ghana

Abstract

The introduction of the Public Procurement Act in 2003 in Ghana is over ten years, however research has indicated that value for money was not being achieved in both government- and donor-financed procurement resulting in poor project performance. There is therefore the need to improve on the efficiency, timeliness, and quality of construction and maintenance work in many developing countries. The aim is to investigate the prospects of Building Information Modeling for implementation of procurement of works in Ghana. The following objectives were identified to be of paramount importance in achieving aforementioned aim: to conduct a comprehensive literature review on Building Information Modeling; to identify the benefits of Building Information Modeling on Procurement and determine barriers affecting the use of Building Information Modeling for procurement of works in Ghana. The research is qualitative; literature review was conducted to collect the data for barriers affecting the use of Building Information Modeling for sustainable procurement of works in Ghana and the level of awareness among the procurement professionals for works. A content analysis was conducted to identify the benefits of the use of Building Information Modeling procurement activities. From the study 30 factors were identified to be the barriers affecting the utilization of Building Information Modeling in Ghana. It was concluded that education of BIM as a subject be taught at the built environment departments of the tertiary institutions in Ghana.