4D BIM application in AEC industry: Impact on integrated project delivery

As project delivery approaches that are supported by Building Information Modelling (BIM) are continuously acknowledged throughout the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, an innovative modelling approach called 4D BIM is starting to develop, which associates elements of 3D BIM with time and scheduling information. Traditional construction planning applications like bar charts and network diagrams fail to present and communicate the spatial and temporal or 4D components of construction schedules efficiently. As a result, they do not permit project managers to produce scheduling alternatives quickly to obtain the finest solution to develop a particular design. With 4D modelling, the whole period of a sequence of activities that is executed by those involved in the project can be presented visually. With the rising interest in BIM and the wider use of this and other technological innovations in the AEC industry, 4D BIM tools, which has been broadly employed, is becoming increasingly recognized among fundamental technological fields under BIM. This study aims to highlight and review numerous impacts of 4D applications on Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) on the AEC industry and suggest the ideal strategy to optimize the tools for rapid project delivery. © 2015, Maxwell Scientific Organization.