Claims have been a source of dispute within the construction industry. Contractors fear its impact on their cash-flow while clients are wary of its effect on the project’s budget. Several methods have been adopted to mitigate its effect on project costs and time but most of these have proven to be time-consuming and costly due to poor evidence and loss of crucial records. BIM has been suggested to bridge the gap created by the traditional process of manually managing and presenting claims. Despite the potential innovation presented by BIM in claim management, quantity surveyors (QSs) have been reluctant in its use. BIM-based claim management practice is lagging within the quantity surveying (Q.S) practice due to deficient recordkeeping practice, as well as organisational factors such as lack of willingness to fully implement BIM, cost of BIM adoption or the perception that BIM might replace Q.S professionals in the construction market. Researchers are however beginning to study the cause of low adoption. Considering this, this research seeks to investigate the barriers to the use of BIM in claim management by Q.S professionals and to develop a framework that would encourage the use of BIM towards claim resolution. This research adopted Design Science Research (DSR) to develop a framework that describes claim management at both design and construction stages using BIM. The framework is designed as a contribution towards the improvement of claim management services in quantity surveying practice. Research techniques such as literature review, semi-structured interview, observations, and documental evidence informed the development of the framework. Findings from this research suggest and advocate the use of CDE for project information management, the adoption of ‘Intelligent or Smart’’ BIM contracts and adequate level of detail for project data. This research creates an insight for information management software developers on how to resolve the problem of access restriction when dispute occurs among contracting parties. The result of this research will encourage professional bodies to include and emphasize information management in published standard conditions of contract while adhering to prevailing digital trends in the industry. The research, therefore, contributes to the contractual and strategic decision-making on matters relating to information management and control between project stakeholders through inclusion and emphasis on information management in standard contract documents. Findings from this research is envisaged to positively impact the cost management functions that QSs perform through access to adequate information thus enabling Q.S firms to create value for clients as opposed to being a burden on the supply chain. The theoretical contribution of this research addresses the gap in literature by reviewing, synthesizing and integrating the existing knowledge in BIM, claim management and quantity surveying practice and ultimately presenting a BIM-based claim management framework for QSs. This research further describes the challenges and the benefits experienced by QSs in delivering BIM-based claim management service.
| Date of Award | 2 Jun 2025 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Chamindi Malalgoda (Main Supervisor) |
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