Impact of BIM usage levels on project performance: public construction projects in Taiwan

Understanding how building information modeling (BIM) uses and their usage levels affect performance in a project is essential for developing effective BIM implementation plans and improving project performance. This study defined the usage levels of 15 BIM uses implemented in the planning and design stages of Taiwanese construction projects on the basis of the types of model information used, the types of output, and the level of information integration. Project performance was found to be significantly affected by BIM implementation and to vary with BIM usage level. According to the results of this study, five key BIM uses significantly influence the performance of construction projects in Taiwan: Analyze Lighting Performance, Author 4D Model, Author Cost Estimate, Author Design, and Analyze Engineering Performance. Project owners’ design satisfaction and satisfaction with design changes as well as the project cost variance are significantly affected by BIM implementation. Increasing usage of the aforementioned five BIM uses by one level can improve project performance by 0.645, and increasing the usage level to Level 3 or 4 can significantly enhance project performance. Therefore, a minimum usage level should be achieved for the aforementioned five BIM uses to maximize the benefits of BIM and improve project performance.