www.itcon.org - Journal of Information Technology in Construction - ISSN 1874-4753
ITcon Vol. 21 (2016), Čuš Babič & Rebolj, pg. 86
CULTURE CHANGE IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: FROM 2D
TOWARD BIM BASED CONSTRUCTION
SUBMITTED: March 2016
REVISED: May 2016
PUBLISHED: June 2016 at http://www.itcon.org/2016/6
EDITOR: Amor R.
Nenad. Čuš Babič, Assistant Professor,
University of Maribor,
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture, Maribor, Slovenia
nenad.babic@um.si
Danijel Rebolj, Professor,
University of Maribor,
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and Architecture, Maribor, Slovenia
SUMMARY: Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become accepted as an approach that should deliver
substantial gains to all the stakeholders within the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.
Recently, several researchers have pointed out the need for cultural changes as a necessary step for radically
transforming the industry. In order to provide answers to these requests, the culture should be described in a more
explicit way, and industry issues interpreted correctly. This paper via qualitative research of variety of sources
explores the stability and persistence of a traditional 2D paper-based approach in the light of Institutional theory.
The paper illustrates how the traditional approach is embedded within AEC culture by considering the regulative,
normative, and cultural-cognitive aspects. These aspects support each other, thus providing even more stability
and support for the existing values and ways of working. The aim of this work is to provide some insight into
reasons for slower penetration of the BIM based construction. The paper also explains the local character of the
industry, which slows down transference of best practices within the AEC industry. Understanding of existing
patterns reveals new insights into how to make the transition easier and more functional, especially within the
contexts of existing priorities and values.
KEYWORDS: building information modelling, institutional theory, 2D paper based working, work practices in
construction.
REFERENCE: Nenad Čuš Babič, Danijel Rebolj (2016). Culture change in construction industry: from 2D
toward BIM based construction. Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon), Vol. 21, pg. 86-99,
http://www.itcon.org/2016/6
COPYRIGHT: © 2016 The author. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 unported (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited