Reducing material waste with the application of Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Abstract

Every year approximately 13 million tonnes of unused materials go to waste from construction sites. Construction professionals should strive to reduce wastage through the principle of right-first-time. Material waste directly affects the profitability of the contractor and it is a measure of competency and competitive advantage. The construction has a great influence on several industries by procuring products, as well as by providing products to other industries, therefore, by reducing waste there could be great cost savings to the construction industry. The Building Information Modelling (BIM) tool can be used in a construction of a project to motivate the design, construction, and operation of a project from start to finish. Therefore, the 3D BIM model can assist the construction industry in reducing material waste. The aim of this study is to identify the main causes of waste in the South African construction industry and develop a flow chart through the application of BIM to reduce waste. The objectives of the study include the identification of causes and sources of material waste on construction and the use of BIM to aid in waste minimisation. The tools used for data collection included questionnaires and site observations. The sample population for data collection included architects, project managers, quantity surveyors, and engineers. A programme called Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS) was employed to analyse the data. Mean score rankings, factor analysis, and Cronbach alpha test were adopted for data analysis. The structured questionnaire indicated whether construction professionals in South Africa have sufficient knowledge of BIM. Key research findings indicate that BIM has the ability to assist in reducing material waste. BIM enhances practices such as collaboration, detailing, visualisation and simulation, clash detection and improved communication. BIM has a strong influence on the reduction of waste material. BIM has the potential to address the causes of waste, relative to design changes, ineffective coordination and communication, and improvements towards waste minimisation through the construction stage of a project. The results from the data analysis, revealed that the most common contribution to waste on a construction site included material handling and storage factors, design and documentation factors, procurement factors, site management and practice factors and operation factors. The use of the developed flow chart on the application of BIM in the delivery of a project will minimize material waste. The model developed is recommended to be adopted for use in the South African construction industry for the delivery of projects with minimal wastage costs.