## 8 BIM Implementation Impacts: Benefits and Challenges
### Overall Satisfaction with BIM Implementation  
Before we discuss the specific benefits and challenges related to the BIM implementation in this case study, it is worthwhile to provide the general picture of the project stakeholders' level of satisfaction. Although the BIM implementation was limited in this project, according to our research, more than 70% of the project participants still indicated that they were satisfied with the BIM implementation (Figure 25). Furthermore, all the research participants unanimously agreed that BIM made it much easier to identify and visualize the design issues and to understand them before actual installation on site. Although they believe that BIM was not used to its full benefit, many said they were willing to use BIM in their next project if they see the potential. The research team also investigated the stakeholders' level of satisfaction with the impact of BIM on different project aspects. The results are shown in Figure 26. Please note that none of the participating stakeholders in our research observed a very detrimental impact from using BIM in this project. According to this investigation, about 80% of respondents had a high level of satisfaction with how BIM impacted the decision-making process, followed by its impact on the communication and coordination process. An indication for this outcome is when the project team had to make a very complicated and significant decision regarding the sequence of the equipment delivery and the construction of the High Head Lab. It was clear that BIM played a critical role due to the numerous physical constraints, which made the advantages of BIM tangible for the project team. This was highlighted in an interview with a project team member:  
\"It was tight, and without the BIM model, we would definitely have said no to allowing the High Head Lab to construct before the equipment is in place\". --Design Builder's Project Manager  
On the other end of the spectrum, the project team was not very satisfied with the coordination process or with the production of project documents, indicating that the use  
Figure 25: Overall level of satisfaction with the use of BIM. of BIM made these processes more time-consuming, which is understandable considering the cumbersome process of accessing the federated model through a third party in this project. Furthermore, the researchers also explored whether each of the BIM uses described in the previous chapter matched the expectations of the project participants, as shown in Figure 27. Please note that none of the participating stakeholders in our research expressed the opinion that the BIM implementation fell significantly short of the initial expectations. Overall, 85% of the respondents indicated that the use of BIM either met or exceeded their expectations. Since the initial motivation to use BIM in this project was to validate the constructability of the massive equipment within a limited space of the existing facility, and that BIM was actually well utilized for this purpose, all the respondents considered that the use of BIM for constructability reviews met or exceeded their expectations. This is followed by the use of BIM for reality capture, with 90% of the respondents indicating  
Figure 27: Level of satisfaction with each of the BIM uses. Figure 26: Level of satisfaction with BIM impact on different project aspects. their positive opinions on laser scanning and using point cloud data, which was basically a fundamental part of the constructability reviews. Furthermore, as the scanning process took a very short time and was performed while the work activity was light, for example, over the lunch break, it did not disrupt nor delay the major construction work:  
\"So, it [BIM] allowed us to understand what our constraints were, and what space and room we had to work with. So, from that perspective, that was a huge milestone, that was extremely critical. Now, could we have done that without BIM? Probably. But could we have done it with 100% accuracy and confidence? No, probably not\".