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Al Awad, O S (2015) The uptake of advanced IT with specific emphasis on BIM by SMEs in the Jordanian construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of the Built Environment, University of Salford.

  • Type: Thesis
  • Keywords: building information modelling; client; competition; construction companies; documentation; government; information technology; interview; investment; Jordan; SMEs
  • ISBN/ISSN:
  • URL: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/35638/
  • Abstract:
    Construction industry within Jordan (whilst it is sensitive to changes in economic activity; demographic factors and social development) it is progressively becoming more successful, as Jordan itself modernizes. As a result of this, there is agrowing need for specialized Information Technology (IT) software. The SMEs in the Jordanian construction industry are facing many challenges including competition from regional and international contractors. SMEs needs to change and modernize, especially in terms of using advanced IT as it can enable them to perform better and increase their ability to reach a high standard and have more credibility in the eyes of clients. The findings showed that SME contractors in Jordan are behind in the use of advanced IT such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and that AutoCAD dominated the production of engineering drawings and Microsoft application packages, e-mails and web browsers were among the top software utilized by the industry. The use of such technology is still lacking and this is mainly attributed to a number of social, cultural, financial, technological and legal factors. Therefore this research embarked on a journey to develop a framework for the Uptake of Advanced IT with Specific Emphasis on BIM by SMEs in the Jordanian Construction Industry. Using a mixed method research, interviews and questionnaires were conducted to find out why BIM adoption in Jordan is so slow and why the status quo, which is no adoption of BIM among SMEs at all. The research found that there were several barriers hindering the adoption of BIM among SMEs. The number of barriers spanned from product issues (i.e. the technology itself), process issues, to people or cultural issues. Some of these barriers are: Lack of Awareness of BIM, cost and time of investment, low level of education, lack of knowledge and skill, culture, training, etcetera. Therefore, using these findings and also with the help of literature, the research developed and tailored this framework to the context of construction SMEs in Jordan. The framework is structured in such a way to allow construction SMEs to adopt BIM properly. The framework was validated using Member Checking technique and the participants approved of the usefulness and the applicability of the framework. The hope is that the framework will serve as a stepping-stone to the future adoption of BIM among construction SMEs in Jordan and even the large construction companies may find it useful. Lastly, it was resolved that in order to resolve the issues of adoption, Project Owners; Public sector (government) and Private sector clients; Construction Associations; and Large construction companies would have to join hands to create awareness through training, seminars, courses, other programmes, practical adoption of BIM on projects and documentation of results.