BIM implementation within infrastructure projects A study to evaluate the work and information flow within the construction industry Master’s thesis in Master Program Design and Construction Project Management SHAKRIN AHMED DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Gothenburg, Sweden 2022 www.chalmers.se www.chalmers.se Master’s Thesis ACEX30 BIM implementation within infrastructure projects A study to evaluate the work and information flow within the construction industry SHAKRIN AHMED Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Division of Construction Management Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg, Sweden 2022 BIM implementation within infrastructure projects A study to evaluate the work and information flow within the construction industry SHAKRIN AHMED © SHAKRIN AHMED, 2022. Supervisor: Mikael Johansson, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Supervisor: Peter Bolt, Transportation Sweden at AFRY Examiner: Mikael Johansson, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Division of Construction Management Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Gothenburg Telephone +46 31 772 1000 Cover: Cover page, https://www.subpng.com/png-9poepe/, retrieved 2022-03-10 Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Gothenburg, Sweden 2022 iv BIM implementation within infrastructure projects A study to evaluate the work and information flow within the construction industry SHAKRIN AHMED Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Chalmers University of Technology Abstract The construction industry has for many years worked hard to streamline communi- cation and information flow as digitalization grows rapidly within the industry. The Swedish construction industry’s clients, contractors and consultants are dependent on each other and contribute together to create societal benefits. A new approach called Building Information Modeling (BIM) has during the last decade been the most promising and well known development system in the AEC industry. This approach works like a support function and allows information in a project to be shared in an efficient way through 3D models and visualization techniques. To be able to follow the digital development in the sector, AFRY and the other actors in the industry have to become more digital and productive. This study has been car- ried out in collaboration with the business area Transportation Sweden at AFRY, which currently strives to develop a new internal framework in order to improve the work and information flow in their projects. The aim of this master thesis is to investigate and establish how the business area Transportation Sweden is working towards innovation and digitalization. By study- ing the business area’s current framework, an analysis has been conducted in order to identify the opportunities and challenges with BIM implementation within infras- tructure projects. An abductive method approach has been applied which includes both qualitative and quantitative data. The collection of data starts with a litera- ture review, followed by a questionnaire survey and an interview study to gain an understanding of how BIM maturity levels are perceived within the business area Transportation Sweden and how the employees can contribute to streamline the work and information flow. Conclusively, this study demonstrates that there are numerous potential possibili- ties and benefits when working with model-based projects. The overall perception of the main challenges points at a lack of collaboration skills and knowledge regarding models within project management. Moreover, there are technical challenges and a lack of overall knowledge of the subject which creates confusion and can be a re- stricting factor for the BIM implementation process. However, the main possibilities are that this working procedure gains time and economical benefits for clients and other actors in the industry. This study confirms the benefits of BIM, if applied right in appropriate projects. Keywords: BIM, workflow, information flow, construction industry, implementation, communication, collaboration vi BIM Implementering inom infratrukturprojekt En studie som utvärderar arbetssätt och informationsflöde inom byggbraschen SHAKRIN AHMED Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering Chalmers University of Technology Sammanfattning Byggbranschen har under många år jobbat för att effektivisera informations- och kommunikationsflödet inom infrastrukturprojekt, detta i samband med den snabba digitala utvecklingen inom branschen. Svenska byggbranschens beställare, konsul- ter och entreprenörer är beroende av varandra och bidrar tillsammans till samhäll- sutveckling. Ett nytt arbetssätt, Building Information Modeling (BIM), har under de senaste åren varit det mest omtalade och lovande systemet i AEC branschen. Detta arbetssätt fungerar som en stödfunktion och bidrar till informationsutbyte genom 3D modeller och visualiseringsteknik. För att vara delaktig i branschens digitala utveckling, måste AFRY såväl som andra aktörer jobba mer digitalt och ef- fektivt. Denna studie har genomförts i samarbete med affärsenheten Transportation Sweden på AFRY, som för nuvarande jobbar med att utveckla ett nytt arbetssätt internt i syfte till att förbättra och effektivisera informationsflödet i projekten. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka och påvisa hur affärsenheten Transportation Sweden jobbar med innovation och digitalisering. Affärsenhetens nu- varande arbetssätt har studerats för att identifiera möjligheterna och utmaningarna med BIM implementering inom infrastruktur projekt. Detta har genomförts med en metodkombination bestående av båda kvalitativ och kvantitativ data. Rapporten börjar med litteraturstudie, följd av en enkätundersökning och intervjustudie för att skapa en uppfattning om hur anställda på AFRY jobbar med BIM samt kan bidra till och påverka utvecklingen av BIM inom branschen. Resultaten i denna studie visar att de potentiella möjligheterna och fördelarna är enorma när man jobbar med modellbaserade projekt. De största identifierade ut- maningarna grundar sig i bristande samarbete och kunskap om modellbaserad pro- jekthantering inom projektledning. Det finns även tekniska utmaningar så väl som kunskapsbrist inom ämnet, vilket kan skapa förvirring och leda till fördröjning av BIM implementeringen. Dock medför denna arbetsmetod stora ekonomiska och tidsmässiga fördelar för beställare och övriga aktörer inom branschen. Denne studie bekräftar fördlerana med BIM om arbetsmetoden används på rätt sätt och i rätt projekt. Nyckelord: BIM, arbetssätt, informationsflöde, byggbranschen, implementering, kom- munikation, samarbete vii Acknowledgements This master thesis has been conducted as the final part of the master’s program Design & Construction Project Management at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. This thesis has been conducted in collaboration with the business area Transportation Sweden at AFRY. I would like to thank my supervisor Mikael Johansson for great tutoring throughout the thesis process. A special thank to Peter Bolt, digital manager at AFRY, for the continuous support and guidance throughout this study. You have been very helpful by providing necessary and valuable data for my research. I would also like to thank my colleague Tobias Lidén and everyone that agreed to be a part of this study by sharing their knowledge and insights, especially the participants in the interview study and the questionnaire survey. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude towards my family and friends for their support and continuous encouragement throughout the entire thesis process. This accomplishment would not have been possible without you. Thank you! Shakrin Ahmed, Gothenburg, June 2022 ix x Contents Abstract vi Sammanfattning vii Acknowledgements ix Dictionary xiv List of Abbreviations xiv List of Figures xv List of Tables xvii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Purpose and research questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3 Delimitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 Theoretical framework 5 2.1 BIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.1.1 BIM Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2.1.2 BIM benefits throughout different project phases . . . . . . . 9 2.2 Procurement approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2.1 Collaboration forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 2.2.2 LOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.3 BIM application within infrastructure projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3 Context of the study 19 3.1 AFRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.1.1 Transportation Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.1.2 Working procedure at Transportation Sweden . . . . . . . . . 20 3.2 STA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 3.2.1 Current situation description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4 Methodology 25 4.1 Research approach & method selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.2 Questionnaire Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 xi Contents 4.2.1 Preparation for the questionnaire survey . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.2.2 Analysing the results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.3 Interview study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.3.1 Preparation of the interview questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.3.2 Analysing the results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.4 Research Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5 Results and Analysis 31 5.1 Questionnaire Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.1.1 BIM education and competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.1.2 Utilization of BIM in everyday work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.1.3 The client perception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.1.4 Correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.2 Interview Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 5.2.1 BIM Awareness and LOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 5.2.2 BIM Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 5.2.3 Digital Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 5.2.4 BIM in the studied organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 6 Discussion 49 6.1 BIM knowledge and usage in everyday work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 6.1.1 Quality and validation before delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 6.1.2 BIM maturity level and LOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 6.2 Implementation challenges and solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 6.2.1 Contract impact on BIM implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 7 Conclusion 59 7.1 Answering the research questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 7.2 Further research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 7.3 Improvement suggestions & recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 BIBLIOGRAPHY I A Appendix - Interview study III B Appendix - Questionnaire survey V C Appendix - Questionnaire survey Results from question 21-36 XV D Appendix - Mind map XXIII E Appendix - Samplings XXV F Appendix - STA’s mission description XXVII xii Contents Dictionary Authority Myndighet BIM Coordinator BIM-samordnare Contractor Entreprenör/konsulter Clash detection Kollisionskontroll CAD designer CAD-projektör Client/Owner Beställare Contract changes ÄTA-arbeten Data Coordinator Data-samordnare Discipline Teknikområde/disciplin Design review Granskning av handlingar Design-Bid-Build Utförandeentreprenad Design-Build Totalentreprenad Design document Bygghandling Design manager Projekteringsledare Design phase Projekteringsfasen ECI Samverkansaentreprenad Facility management Förvaltning Feasibility study Förstudie Municipality Kommun Maturity level Mognadsgrad Level of Development/Detail Informationsgrad Procurement process Upphandlingsskede Procurement approach Upphandlingsform Project manager Projektledare Pre study Förstudie Project planning document Systemhandling Quantity take-off Mängduttagning Requirement Krav och förfrågan Subcontractor Underentreprenör Stakeholders Intressenter STA Trafikverket Swedish Public Procurement Act LOU (Lagen om offentlig upphandling) Tender Anbud Tender documentation Förfrågningsunderlag xiii Contents List of Abbreviations AEC Architecture, Engineering and Construction BIM Building Information Modeling CAD Computer Aided Design CDE Common Data Environment DBB Design-Bid-Build (Swedish AB) DB Design-Build (Swedish ABT) BA Business area ECI Early Contractor Involvement IPD Integrated Project Delivery IFC Industry Foundation Classes (general file format) STA Swedish Transport Administration 3D Geometrical model in three dimensions 2D Geometrical model, two-dimensional drawings VDC Virtual Design and Construction LOD Level of Development/Detail AIA American Institute of Architects NPS Net Promoters Score PDF Portable Document Format LOU Lagen om offentlig upphandling DISC Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance (personality test) ÄTA Ändrings-, Tilläggs- och Avgående arbete AB Allmänna bestämmelser för Utförandeentreprenader ABT Allmänna bestämmelser för Totalentreprenader xiv List of Figures 2.1 Benefits of BIM throughout different project phases. . . . . . . . . . . 10 2.2 Self-illustrated chart over ECI, DBB and DB in the project life cycle. 12 2.3 Level of development/detail, re-illustrated from MaineBIM (2020) and United BIM (2017). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.4 Design review steps (for non designers) with and without iTwin by Ramström and Haas (2022). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.1 Structure for the business area Transportation, Sweden (AFRY, 2022) 20 3.2 Sales and Project model (Helin, 2022) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.3 CAD & BIM support process, re-illustrated from AFRY RAIL (2022) 21 3.4 The STA’s BIM staircase, re-illustrated (Trafikverket, 2015) . . . . . 22 4.1 Structure and content of the thesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 5.1 Responses from questions 1-5 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . 32 5.2 Responses from questions 6, 10 and 31-33 in the questionnaire survey. 33 5.3 Responses from questions 17, 30 and 13-15 in the questionnaire survey. 34 5.4 Responses from question 29 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . . 35 5.5 Responses from question 12 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . . 35 5.6 Responses from questions 25-26 & 27 in the questionnaire survey. . . 37 5.7 Responses from question 7 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . . 38 5.8 Responses from question 8 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . . 38 5.9 Responses from question 9 in the questionnaire survey. . . . . . . . . 38 5.10 Correlations between questions 2-3 and 2-14 in the questionnaire. . . 39 5.11 Correlations between questions 1-15 and 2-5 in the questionnaire. . . 39 5.12 Correlation between questions 14-17 and 2-19 in the questionnaire. . . 40 5.13 Correlation between questions 14-19 and 14-20 in the questionnaire. . 40 5.14 Best Practices shared on BIM workshop conducted autumn 2021. . . 47 6.1 Correlation between questions 7 and 12 in the questionnaire survey. . 56 6.2 Correlation between questions 7 and 8-9 in the questionnaire survey. . 57 E.1 Stratified sampling by Thomas, Laura (2021) . . . . . . . . . . . . . XXV xv List of Figures xvi List of Tables 2.1 The general steps to consider throughout the BIM implementation process by Eastman et al. (2011). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2.2 Project Mälarbanan in Stockholm, Sweden (Bensalah et al., 2018). . . 14 2.3 Project Röforsbron in Arboga, Sweden (Malmkvist, 2013). . . . . . . 15 2.4 Project East Link in Stockholm, Sweden (Bentley, 2021). . . . . . . . 16 5.1 Presentation of the interviewees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 xvii List of Tables xviii 1 Introduction This chapter provides the background, aim and research questions for this study. Moreover, the delimitation of this study will be explained and presented as well. 1 1. Introduction 1.1 Background In the last decades, the infrastructure industry has worked hard to digitally stream- line information flow and communication within infrastructure projects. To solve this issue, the construction industry is evolving and undergoing major changes throughout different project phases in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) projects (Barlish and Sullivan, 2012). A new approach called Building In- formation Modeling (BIM) has during the last decade been the most promising and well known development system in the AEC industry. This approach works like a support function and allows information about the project to be shared in an efficient way from 2D-drawings to 3D-models in a digital environment (Azhar, 2011). Enterprises, stakeholders and authorities are undergoing development towards BIM and digitalization in the construction industry (Trafikverket, 2021). The Swedish construction industry’s clients, contractors and consultants together contribute to create societal benefits. These actors are dependent on each other as their coop- eration is necessary and based on e.g., the understanding of each other’s driving forces, demands and needs. Infrastructure projects are critical in the industry for both regional and economic development due to its large contribution to economic and societal growth. Annually, the Swedish government invest approximately 111 billion SEK in the construction industry (Byggföretagen, 2021). In order to identify the possibilities and challenges with digital technology, InfraSwe- den2030, which is an innovation program, has initially taken action to a “Digital (AI) Journey" (InfraSweden2030, 2020). The aim of the digital journey is to aid Swedish infrastructure projects to recognize the possible benefits of digitalization in the construction industry. AFRY is one of the members of the innovation pro- gram and actively works with innovation in the infrastructure sector. At AFRY, the business area Transportation Sweden strives to develop a new internal framework in order to improve the work and information flow in model-based projects. To be able to fulfill client demands and contribute to the innovation projects, AFRY, together with other actors in the industry must become more digital and productive. 2 1. Introduction 1.2 Purpose and research questions The aim of this thesis is to investigate and establish how the business area Trans- portation Sweden at AFRY is working towards innovation and digitalization. The thesis also strives to provide the business area a foundation to work on for further improvement of the internal everyday work procedure. Furthermore, the thesis aims to identify the challenges and issues with BIM implementation and provide knowl- edge about what the business area needs in order to improve and fulfill their BIM implementation successfully. In essence, this study aims to answer these following research questions: • What is the BIM maturity level at AFRY and what are the challenges when working with BIM in infrastructure projects? • For which procurement approach is BIM most suitable? • How can the workflow be streamlined within infrastructure projects? 1.3 Delimitation The study will only concern the business area Transportation Sweden at AFRY, which primarily works with infrastructure and railway projects. A questionnaire sur- vey will be provided only to handpicked clusters in order to obtain relevant answers to the research questions. Several interviews will be conducted among employees with experience within project management, BIM and digital tools. Moreover, this thesis will only consider the information flow and BIM usage level internally at the studied business area. Complete answers of questions 25-36 from the questionnaire survey are presented in Appendix C. The most frequent answers are presented and discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. 3 1. Introduction 4 2 Theoretical framework This chapter will provide the necessary theory to comprehend the contents of this study. In order to give the reader a better understanding of the subject, the term BIM will be defined and explained. Furthermore, challenges and benefits of BIM implementation will be identified. Different maturity levels of BIM and its benefits throughout the different project phases will also be presented. Lastly, LOD within BIM models and the most suitable procurement approach for BIM utilization will be identified and explained. 5 2. Theoretical framework 2.1 BIM "A set of interacting policies, processes and technologies generating a methodology to manage the essential building design and project data in digital format throughout the building’s life cycle". In this definition of the term BIM by Succar (2009), it is stated that BIM is more than just software, also acknowledged by Azhar (2011) who describes BIM as a process which encourages integration among different actors in the construction in- dustry. BIM is a complex concept and stands for Building Information Modeling (Azhar, 2011). Beyond software, BIM can be described as a culture or collaboration method within an organization or between different actors. This concept, in the construction industry, helps architects, engineers and designers to visualize their vi- sion of a project in a simulated environment. When using BIM, it is not only about 3D models, it means making huge changes within the workflow and project deliv- ery process which encourages integration of stakeholders (Azhar, 2011). With BIM technology, an accurate digital model can be created and used for i.e., visualizations purposes, cost estimations, 3D-rendering, collision detection, planning, design and operation of facility management (Bensalah et al., 2018). BIM can be used for the following purposes: • Cost estimation: BIM software can be used to export material quantities. The data updates automatically when changes are made in the 3D-model. • 3D visualization: Photos and videos can be rendered through the 3D-model to simulate and obtain an overall picture of the project. • Code review: Fire protection demands of different objects or other data such as sound requirements can be integrated in the model and used by designers for review purposes within their projects. • Drawings: When the model is complete, fabrication or shop drawings can eas- ily be generated for various building system such as duct work. • Clash detection: When working with BIM, the model is created in 3D space which gives the possibility to combine all the major systems instantly and au- tomatically. This means that collisions between different objects or systems can easily be identified such as collisions between piping and walls. • Facility management: BIM is also beneficial for the facility management de- partment. The model can for instance be used for restoration purposes and space planning. According to Sebastian (2010), BIM has the potential to improve and streamline col- laboration between different actors and reduce the project time duration and project 6 2. Theoretical framework cost, granted that the technology is executed in the right way. Sebastian (2010) presents five success factors regarding collaboration and implementation of BIM in a hospital building project. The five success factors are identified as "POWER" (P= product information sharing, O= organization roles synergy, W= work process coordination, E= environment for teamwork, R= reference data consolidation). Furthermore, Sebastian (2010) states that open data standards should be used in order to achieve the optimal information flow between different actors in the AEC industry. It is believed that integration and collaboration within an organization are important factors, which can be achieved through incentives and common goals. This argument is also supported by Gu and London (2010), whom states that a successful BIM implementation within a project team might be achieved through al- teration in work practices as new integrated project requires improved collaboration and communication among the different disciplines. However, neither collaborative work nor BIM technology could possibly be standardized as the project conditions differs significantly depending on the project type, scope, client’s BIM demands etc. Therefore, processes and work approaches should be tailored by the conditions at hand. Moreover, in order to bridge the gap between building practice and technol- ogy invention, closer collaboration between research institutes, universities and the construction sector are necessary (Sebastian, 2010). Bensalah et al., (2018) explains three levels of maturity of BIM as presented below: Level 1 Used by one or more actors and includes the realization of the digital model but does not include the exchanges between the model automati- cally. Everyone updates their data individually and manually. Level 2 In this level, each respective discipline’s model are combined into a coor- dinated model. In level 2 project models, structured data, documentation and native file format (IFC) are to be delivered. Level 3 This level is the ultimate and most efficient work procedure. In this level, every actor shares an unique model that allows intervention by all actors in real-time. In addition to "Level 2", the model is stored on a central server where all the changes are saved and available for everyone immediately. 7 2. Theoretical framework 2.1.1 BIM Implementation When implementing BIM, significant changes will occur. Eastman et al. (2011) em- phasize two significant changes that companies are facing when implementing BIM technology. The first major change is using a coordinated set of models during the construction/production phase. The second change is when a shared 3D model is used intensively as basis for all work processes and cooperation during the design phase. These transformations in technology and work processes require time and education investments within the subject. According to Wondium et al. (2016), cooperation between the different parties is a game changer when implementing BIM within an organization. Wondium et al. (2016) states that collaboration between contractor and stakeholders is one of the main challenges and believe that changes in management are more challenging than in technology. This belief is also supported by Bryde et al. (2013) whom pinpoint changing roles among the stakeholders as a challenge. In order to achieve the po- tential benefits of BIM, stakeholders might need to change roles and work more cooperatively and in different teams. Another challenge when implementing BIM is the implementation cost that the organization or company must invest. BIM technology could only be successful if the BIM-users adapt and follow specific rules that suits the process. The learning process is time consuming and requires major human resources such as education and workshops. In order to enable the integration of BIM, an understanding of success factors and risks with BIM implementation must be understood (Gao et al., 2016). These fac- tors can be investigated both on individual, organisational and institutional levels. This is also supported by Eastman et al. (2011), whom emphasize the importance of considering every possible aspect of the company’s business plan in order to avoid producing the same thing but in a different way. Before implementation, an overall understanding of the term BIM, related processes and a clear plan for the imple- mentation process are required. Gao et al. (2016) believe that the process should be divided into steps or stages in order to make the implementation process more effective, where each step is dependent on the project conditions. Table 2.1 presents general steps that needs to be considered when implementing BIM, regardless of the AEC activity and the contractor’s specific conditions (Eastman et al., 2011). 8 2. Theoretical framework Table 2.1: The general steps to consider throughout the BIM implementation process by Eastman et al. (2011). Step 1 BIM adoption plan provided by the top level managers, that includes all aspects of the company’s business and an explanation of the impact that the proposed changes will have both internally and externally towards clients. Step 2 Assign an internal team that consists of key managers to integrate and fulfill the plan along with time, cost and performance budgets. Step 3 Start the integration by using the BIM technology on smaller pilot projects or on completed projects. When working with the pilot projects in parallel with existing systems. Step 4 Educate and guide continued implementation of the BIM software to- gether with team training. The senior managers need to be notified of the progress, issues that arose etc. Step 5 Extend the BIM utilization into new projects. It is important to engage external members of the project in new collaborative manners that allows integration and sharing of information through the project model. Step 6 Integrate BIM capabilities into the company’s business concept and add these new business processes as contractual points towards clients and business partners. Step 7 Periodically re-plan in order to reflect the benefits and issues that arose along the way. New goals that consider performance, time and cost, has to be set by the key managers. The company is now ready to further extend BIM facilitated changes to new departments and business units within the company. 2.1.2 BIM benefits throughout different project phases Although the overall economic benefits of BIM are comprehensible in theory, BIM implementation in the construction sector has been met with scepticism, often by not investing in the technology. By using BIM during the design phase of the project cycle, document errors and rework can be reduced. Moreover, errors and time spent can be reduced in the design phase. In a study by Sacks, it is demonstrated that 3D-modeling has the potential to reduce the drafting cost by 80-84% (Gao et al., (2016). Another study by Sack and Barak found that the productivity gain from BIM modeling is estimated to approximately 15-41% of the hours required for con- struction documents. 9 2. Theoretical framework Furthermore, Gao et al. (2016) pinpoint that BIM might be useful to streamline the operation and reduce the obstacles during the construction phase. BIM can provide powerful software for progress monitoring, which can be useful for quick and remote analyses of the building performance. During the construction phase, many changes are often made to the design due to previous unknown errors and omissions such as changes in material availability and client requirements. These changes or errors need to be resolved by the construction team onsite. For each change or error iden- tified onsite, a procedure is started to determine the cause, address a solution and evaluate time and cost implications (Eastman et al., 2011). These procedures and resolutions might lead to legal disputes, additional costs and delays in the projects. One of the major benefits of BIM is that the technology minimizes process re- lated risks by preventing information loss, identifying safety risks onsite, decreasing resource and time for document exchanges between the enterprises as well as tran- sitions between the construction stages. In Figure 2.1 below, the benefits of BIM in the different project phases are illustrated. Figure 2.1: Benefits of BIM throughout different project phases. During the tender phase, BIM is also useful since the coordinated model might contain detailed information about products and objects (Gao et al., 2016). This accelerates and simplifies the preparation of the tender documents. When commissioning a project, final drawings are provided in order to reflect all project changes depending on the client requirements (Eastman et al., 2011). How- ever, as the information provided to the client is often conveyed in traditional 2D format, the owner has to relay all relevant information to the facility management operation that is charged with maintaining the end product. This argument is also supported by Gao et al. (2016) whom state that beneficial possibilities within the 10 2. Theoretical framework facility management and construction phase might be achieved as BIM can provide information that includes systems from all disciplines. 2.2 Procurement approaches The rate of improvement from BIM implementation depends on the project phase and how well the project team cooperates in the coordinated project model. Accord- ing to Eastman et al. (2011), the greatest challenge is found within the Design-Bid- Build (DBB) procurement approach, which corresponds to the Swedish AB contract, as the responsibilities for the design and construction phases are divided in separate contracts. As the contractor is not involved in the design phase, input from the production team is not included in the coordinated project model during the design process. DBB is therefore not estimated to be a time and cost efficient procurement approach when working with models in infrastructure projects. Other procurement approaches such as Design-Build (DB), corresponding to the Swedish ABT contract, are more suitable when implementing BIM in a project. The DB procurement approach has been developed to combine the responsibility for design and construction into a single contract in order to simplify the project administration for the client (Eastman et al., 2011). The client signs contract di- rectly with the contractor, providing the opportunity to develop an appropriate project strategy for the design phase that fulfill the client’s requirements. When the project plan is approved, all modifications provided by the client are considered and implemented before the final budget is established. By allowing modifications in the earliest stages of the project, money and time otherwise spent on contract changes (ÄTA) can be significantly reduced. In railway and road infrastructure projects provided by the government and au- thorities such as Swedish Transport Administration (STA), the DB procurement approach is often selected (Eadie and Graham, 2014). The major issue with the DB procurement approach in such projects is the lack of communication and coopera- tion between the contractor and subcontractors. Furthermore, the DB procurement approach often encourages a culture where contractors bid low and claim later due to the high competition and the Swedish Public Procurement Act (LOU) law. 2.2.1 Collaboration forms Partnering, IPD and ECI are examples of collaboration forms often applied in combi- nation with the procurement approach and BIM. Integrated project delivery (IPD) is a relatively new collaboration form developed in USA during the 21st century (East- man et al., 2011). The collaboration form has gained popularity among BIM users as it promotes collaboration between different disciplines in the earliest stages of a project. Furthermore, as the project team uses the most appropriate collaborative tools at their disposal, IPD ensures that client requirements are met at minimum cost and time spent. With IPD, BIM implementation in the design phase can in- crease the knowledge of client demands and the accuracy of project cost estimations. 11 2. Theoretical framework Additionally, IPD removes the need of document exchanges and associated delays. Partnering is a collaboration form which lately has gained popularity in the Swedish AEC industry (Hallgren and Häggblad, 2017). It is believed that partnering is mostly suitable in complex projects with high uncertainty and long execution time. Partnering is characterized by bidding and evaluation of soft parameters such as competence, work experience, collaborative tools and workshops (Byggteknikför- laget, 2019). The collaboration form does not have an universal definition, which might cause misunderstandings and delays in the implementation process (Hallgren and Häggblad, 2017). Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) delivery approach is characterized by allowing the contractor’s skills and expertise in the early design phase to influence and aid the construction phase (Eadie and Graham, 2014). The collaboration approach is divided into a two-stage process with separate contracts for the design phase and the construction phase. This collaboration approach gives the ability to integrate a go/no go moment between stage 1 and 2, which makes the contractor exchangeable. Therefore, the collaboration form is preferable from a client perspective. Depending on during which phase the contractor is involved, the ECI implementation varies (Hallgren and Häggblad, 2017). In some cases, the contractor is involved in phase 1 at the client’s request as they need advice during the development of the initial project idea. In other cases when the client only requires input regarding the pre- study, the contractor is involved in phase 2. Figure 2.2 demonstrates the ECI’s impact on the project phases in comparison to the Design-Bid-Build and Design- Build procurement approaches. Figure 2.2: Self-illustrated chart over ECI, DBB and DB in the project life cycle. 12 2. Theoretical framework 2.2.2 LOD The industry standard Level of development/detail (LOD) is a set of specifications which aid designers, clients and other stakeholders to, in a clear and effective way, determine and specify the contents of BIM in a project (United BIM, 2017). This industry standard was introduced in 2008 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). LOD is specified in a range between 100 to 500, as explained in detail in Figure 2.3. According to Weygant (2011), it is important to be aware of the project conditions and client requirements in order to know which level of detail to select. In order to avoid unnecessary information in the model, the BIM coordinator has to identify the end-user before creating an information database. Information that might be used in a model is information regarding e.g., specifications, identifications, dimensions, performance, sustainability, management and installations. The information in the model is often linked to a specific component such as windows, roof and walls. Moreover, different levels of detail are required depending on what the model is intended to be used for. If the model is used for calculation and one off pricing purposes, a higher level of detail is required. On the contrary, if visualization is the main purpose, a higher level of detail of surface areas is required instead (Weygant, 2011). Figure 2.3: Level of development/detail, re-illustrated from MaineBIM (2020) and United BIM (2017). 13 2. Theoretical framework 2.3 BIM application within infrastructure projects In this section, three cases from STA with BIM application are presented. Each case is presented by summarizing identified benefits and challenges. Mälarbanan in Stockholm is one of the most trafficked stretches with 20 km long double-track railway between Tomteboda and Kallhäll (Trafikvekret, 2021). Due to congestion and delays, STA has obtained the mission to extend the double-track railway with two new tracks in order to ease the traffic. This project is one of the successful cases that has been using BIM technology throughout the project. Benefits and challenges for this case are presented in Table 2.2. Table 2.2: Project Mälarbanan in Stockholm, Sweden (Bensalah et al., 2018). Project Mälarabanan Client STA (Trafikverket) Company Vectura Delivery 2016 Benefits During pre study and the design phase, integration of the facility or- ganization and management system provided a better understanding of the railway facility as all actors could see the common 3D model in the early stages. Moreover, collaboration between the different disciplines was improved by using integrated project delivery (IPD). This improved the project quality, saved time and reduced project cost due to the more efficient work procedure. In addition, other benefits such as 3D simulation, quantity take-off, time planing and cost estimation was gained. Challenges The challenges with BIM implementation in this project was to coor- dinate all the disciplines to work in a coordinated model. The gained benefits would not have been achieved if this was not followed. Reference (Bensalah et al., 2018) The Röforsbro project is another example of a successful case where BIM has been used. Beside all the benefits in the design-, production-, and facility management phases, the project model has provided a juridical definition in the procurement process. In order to avoid confusion regarding the amount of elements and element type in the model during the procurement process, special BIM demands were re- quired in the design phase. When a model is used for procurement purposes, the contractor has the right to calculate on the cheapest solution if contradictory data exist in the model, according to the Swedish general building conditions (DB and DBB). The BIM maturity level in this project is equivalent to levels 2 and 3 defined by Bensalah et al. (2018) in chapter 2.1.1. 14 2. Theoretical framework According to Malmkvist (2013), one challenging task during the project was to find an appropriate project Common Data Environment (CDE). The software Tekla was used but the software did not have a well developed CDE for infrastructure projects which became a major challenge in the project. Furthermore, the main economic disadvantage was the expensive software licenses, as the disciplines used several different softwares. A main condition during the design phase was therefore that the model-file had to work with different softwares. The project team further states that it was difficult to only work with free-viewer versions of softwares as the analyses could not be exported (Malkvist, 2013). Table 2.3: Project Röforsbron in Arboga, Sweden (Malmkvist, 2013). Project Röforsbron Client STA (Trafikverket) Company WSP & Skanska AB Delivery 2013 Benefits The project model enhanced the information flow among the differ- ent parties by enabling information to be shared concurrently in the project. This made it even easier to provide as-built documents. Oth- erwise common alterations and additional work have been reduced as well as the production cost. An examination showed that many contractors perceived the model as more adaptable and flexible to work with than traditional drawings. The design team claims that the collaboration between the contractor, designers and production team increased the possibility of creative solutions at early stages. The coordinated project model has been used for tendering purposes between contractors and subcontractors. Overall, the construction team were positive about BIM in the project and claim that the work was significantly simplified. Challenges The challenges in this project have been e.g., to implement a new working procedure based on the BIM demands. It has been difficult to mange the documents and the coordinated project model in the facility management phase due to a lack of archiving routines. During the building permission process, the local municipality often requires complete 3D-models if no 2D-drawings are provided. In this case, the municipality made an exception and approved 2D-views from the model. Accommodated drawings and 2D-views were provided due to difficulties with measurements and quantity take off. Reference (Malmkvist, 2013) 15 2. Theoretical framework Another project worth mentioning is the railway project East Link (Ostlänken) be- tween Järna and Lindköpning in sweden. The project consisted of 30 disciplines that used over 23 different software applications. The project was initially planned to conduct a traditional BIM review, but this method is time consuming and would in- crease miscommunication and misinterpretation between the disciplines. Therefore, the iTwin solution was proposed as a pilot project for this six-year-long project. Initially, the design team were sceptical about a new procedure for the review pro- cess, but with COVID-19 conditions they had to reevaluate their collaboration and their coordination model to enable a more effective and remote design review process. Furthermore, the project was announced as 2021 Founders’ Honorees during the global conference "Bentley Year in Infrastructure and going digital awards" for us- ing, integrating and collaborating through the platform iTwin (Bentley, 2021). Both AFRY and Tyréns were awarded the badge of honour "Digital Adaption, 2021" for the advancements they have made by "going digital" and advancing the infrastruc- ture profession. Table 2.4: Project East Link in Stockholm, Sweden (Bentley, 2021). Project East Link (Ostlänken) Client STA (Trafikverket) Company AFRY & Tyréns Delivery Estimated to be fully operational by 2035 Benefits The project team selected the Bentley iTwin platform to facilitate and streamline the review process. The platform simplified the tran- sition to a BIM working procedure and increased the model avail- ability by approximately 75%. Furthermore, the review steps were reduced by 50%, which made the review process much easier, see Figure 2.4. Besides the award and integration of new tools, using the digital twin solution saved 33% in design review time. The review cost was also reduced by 21% which amounts to approximately EUR 20,000 (Bentley, 2021) Challenges Since the iTwin platform was used as a pilot project by the design team, it has been a great challenge to avoid contractual changes towards the client. Furthermore, the team was very aware to not interrupt the current process for the design team and not impact the project time schedule as it was very compressed. The main technical challenge was storage of project data. The project was compelled by contract to work and store data on the client’s CDE ProjectWise, which was an on-premises solution. Reference (Trafikverket, 2019), (Bentley, 2021) & (Ramström and Haas, 2022) 16 2. Theoretical framework Figure 2.4: Design review steps (for non designers) with and without iTwin by Ramström and Haas (2022). 17 2. Theoretical framework 18 3 Context of the study This chapter provides necessary information and data regarding the studied company. The working procedure within the company and how it is related to the clients will be explained briefly in order to understand the context of this study. Moreover, the infrastructure public client STA will also be introduced. 19 3. Context of the study 3.1 AFRY AFRY, also known as ÅF, is one of the largest international consultant companies. The company started in February 1895 in Malmö as Sweden’s first industrial as- sociation to take care of the interests of the owners of steam generators and other pressure vessels, under the name "The Southern Swedish Steam Generator Associa- tion" (AFRY History, 2021). AFRY has been a part of several major technological shifts over the years such as electricity, automation and digitalization. The company changed name during 2019 when ÅF acquired Pöyry PLC and is now one combined company under the new brand name AFRY. 3.1.1 Transportation Sweden Since this thesis is conducted in collaboration with AFRY, it is important to un- derstand the organization and work structure within the company and the studied business area. The business area Transportation Sweden belongs to the division in- frastructure, consists of different business sections and exists in fifteen countries all over Europe (AFRY, 2021). The business area consists of business units, focusing on different areas e.g., rail, road, bridge design, geo engineering and traffic as illus- trated in Figure 3.1. As mentioned in chapter 1, this study focuses on employees working with BIM and within infrastructure projects. The blue marked squares in the organization plan in Figure 3.1, demonstrate the units from where this study has been conducted. Figure 3.1: Structure for the business area Transportation, Sweden (AFRY, 2022) 3.1.2 Working procedure at Transportation Sweden The current working procedure at Transportation Sweden for CAD-, BIM-, VDC- work is presented in Figure 3.2. The business area primarily works with infras- tructure and railway projects, where the project process is divided into two phases, namely the sales phase and the delivery phase. The sales phase consists of lead, prospect, bid project, contract negotiations and formalize/handover contract. The delivery phase consists of planning, execution and closing. Currently, the BIM work 20 3. Context of the study is often considered during the project start up at the beginning of the delivery phase. The BIM requirements are therefore considered and provided in the start up phase, which increases the information flow before the contractor can initiate the execution phase. Figure 3.2: Sales and Project model (Helin, 2022) When the CAD/BIM consultants get stuck in the projects and need help, the fol- lowing support process is available, see Figure 3.3. The designers can either contact the different help networks or ask their colleagues. This is a long and time consum- ing process for CAD/BIM consultants to access. According to AFRY’s development plan, BIM assessment approach, the support process will be considered and reviewed in order to improve it (AFRY RAIL, 2022). Figure 3.3: CAD & BIM support process, re-illustrated from AFRY RAIL (2022) 21 3. Context of the study 3.2 STA The Swedish Transport Administration (STA) is a government agency with the aim to create and provide a safe and national transport infrastructure. STA acts like a passive client, which means that they want all projects to be designed and executed by external enterprises (Trafikverket, 2021). STA is one of the largest clients and collaborative partners with AFRY. The work procedure and BIM conditions at the studied business area are always based on STA’s requirements in the projects. STA has developed a BIM staircase in order to simplify their demands towards their suppliers. According to the STA’s BIM staircase, suppliers were working with a maturity level between 0 and 1 during 2015 at the same time as STA worked to develop requirements regarding level 2 towards their suppliers (Trafikverket, 2015). At this moment suppliers such as AFRY are often working within level 2. However, the STA are planning to gradually integrate new demands regarding level 3 in their contract conditions. Figure 3.4: The STA’s BIM staircase, re-illustrated (Trafikverket, 2015) According to an interview conducted by Hallgren and Häggblad (2017) with a BIM strategist at STA, level 2 is currently the stage they works at. Moreover, the BIM strategist pinpointed that the requirements are not specified and that they are left for interpretation by the suppliers which in turn results in unusable models for STA. An example regarding the maturity level in the projects can be described as following in the STA’s mission description. See appendix F for the entire description. "Subject area models must at least state what has previously been reported on draw- ings, maps and pictures as well as other technical and environmental conditions." 22 3. Context of the study "The LOD regarding geometric accounting of objects in 3D must correspond to the content and purpose of the assignment type." - Trafikverket (2021) Furthermore, the BIM strategist states that demanding too many conditions in a project might prevent the service providers freedom of choosing an appropriate work- ing procedure and might decrease innovation possibilities (Hallgren and Häggblad, 2017). The BIM strategist also mentions that one main BIM challenge in the AEC industry is the lack of a common classification system. However, a new digital clas- sification system called CoClass has been developed by specialists in the industry in order to investigate and face this challenge. The CoClass system includes informa- tion through the project’s entire life cycle and will be an important communication tool between all actors. 3.2.1 Current situation description The STA has recently published a report regarding digitization within the infras- tructure industry with the aim to identify and publish their vision and future de- velopment plans. The report is established by Mats Karlsson at STA and presents and describes the current situation regarding BIM at STA (Karlsson, 2021). In the report, changes in the contracts are suggested with the aim to facilitate and aid the industry’s BIM development. The main purpose of the report is to enable an inte- grated digital working procedure for the upcoming versions of DB and DBB with the industry’s actors and service providers. The IT-tools that are used in the AEC industry today have the capacity to manage almost every part in level 3 in the BIM staircase. The internal projects with the consultants are executed in the first half of level 3 but the delivery methods between different phases such as e.g., production, design, tendering and facility management are in the best case in level 1 according the report from STA. Furthermore, the contract aspects have been summarized as following. The current DB and DBB procurement approach does not address or demand any kind of digital working procedure (Karlsson, 2021). This means, per definition, that the maturity BIM level are 0 in the BIM staircase. In order to address this, substantial changes to the Swedish procurement approaches DB and DBB are necessary. 23 3. Context of the study 24 4 Methodology This chapter aims to present the research approach and methodology for the thesis. The chosen method for conducting the questionnaire survey and interview study will be argued for and explained. 25 4. Methodology 4.1 Research approach & method selection There are primarily three main research approaches that can be used when con- ducting academic reports, namely the deductive, inductive and abductive research approaches. The deductive approach aims to test an existing theory where the reasoning moves from general observations to a specific observation, whilst the in- ductive approach aims to develop a theory and move from specific observations to generalization (Bell et al., 2019). According to Streefkerk (2019), the inductive re- search approach is appropriate to apply when there is a lack of literature on a topic. The benefit of these approaches are that they can be combined in a larger study. In addition, an abductive research approach, also called systematic combining, is a nonlinear path-dependent process with a mix of deductive and inductive research approaches (Dubois and Gadde, 2002). This process is based on going back and forth between the case study and theory in order to define the theoretical frame- work and provide analysis and recommendations. To carry out this study, an abductive method approach has been applied, which in- cludes both qualitative and quantitative data. A qualitative research approach relies on observations and understandings of different perspectives (Bell et al., 2019). Ex- amples of qualitative research approaches are interviews performed as notes, audio or video recording and analyses of text documents. A Qualitative research approach is more useful for identifying and characterising data from e.g., experiments, official statistics and questionnaires with focus on measuring a phenomena. The difference between qualitative and quantitative method approaches can be explained as the way we measure and view the collected data. In order to collect data for the investigations in this study, a questionnaire survey and an interview study have been conducted, see the illustrated thesis structure and content in Figure 4.1. In essence, the thesis consists of the following: literature study, pre-study to approve the problem formulation, questionnaire survey, inter- view study, analyses, discussions and conclusions. Figure 4.1: Structure and content of the thesis. 26 4. Methodology 4.2 Questionnaire Survey Questionnaire surveys are often associated with samplings that represent a wider population or organization (Bell et al., 2019). Samplings are important to consider in order to avoid biased data (Bhandari, 2021). Furthermore, questionnaire surveys often aim to generalize the results of an studied organization. A stratified sampling method has been applied to ensure that the right group is captured for the ques- tionnaire. Moreover, basic instruction and explanation have been included in order to outline the purpose for the participants. For different illustrations by McCombes (2021), Thomas and Laura (2021) see Appendix E - Samplings. 4.2.1 Preparation for the questionnaire survey When preparing for the questionnaire survey, a structured survey with a combination of closed and open-ended questions was chosen. In order to simplify and enhance the analyses of the collected data, the survey questions have been examined by pro- fessionals and my supervisor at AFRY. Moreover, the questionnaire survey consists of two sections with the aim to measure different concepts, were the sections are clearly defined. The amount of closed questions has been systematically chosen in the survey to reduce the execution time for the participants and also to be able to consider correlations. The questionnaire survey was sent out to 45 section managers that forwarded the survey to their employees. The amount of possible respondents was approximately 150-200 within Transportation Sweden, whom in some context work with BIM and digitization at AFRY. 4.2.2 Analysing the results Different statistical methods can be used when analysing the data of a question- naire survey such as descriptive statistics, pie charts, histograms, chi-square test and correlations. The design of the questionnaires was based on open-ended ques- tions, multiple-choice questions, closed questions and Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS questions is a metric used in customer experience programs and measures the loyalty of customers to a company. NPS scores are measured with a single question and the result is not expressed in percentage but as an absolute number between -100 and +100, where a higher score is desirable. Furthermore, a combination of several statistical methods is used depending on the received data. The results are also presented through graphical charts such as tables, indicators and histograms. Moreover the chi-square method is used when analysing the closed questions such as e.g., "Yes/No", gender, age, education and work experience in order to find correlations between different questions. 27 4. Methodology 4.3 Interview study This thesis is based on both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The interview study is an important and necessary part in this study as it complement the questionnaire survey. In total, seven employees with different background, position, age and gender were interviewed. Stratified and cluster samplings have been used for the interview study where the employees were divided into clusters depending their position, work experience and role. Some were then randomly selected and asked to participate in the interview study. Random selection from the clusters allows simple sampling that supports the validity of the results (Thomas, 2020). The interviews in this study are qualitative and semi-structured to optimize the ability of limitless expressions among the interviewees. 4.3.1 Preparation of the interview questions An interview can be divided into two categories, namely open-ended and closed questions. The closed questions aim to provide specific answers to a topic where the focus is on fact and not on impressions (Bhandari, 2021). The open-ended questions aims to bring out the interviewees point on view on the topic and allow the interviewee to give an answer based on their own experience. For this study, a combination of open-ended and closed questions have been used. The interview questions were well prepared beforehand and small changes have been made during the procedure in order to adapt the questions to each interviewee depending on their qualifications. The interview structure starts with closed questions in order to receive personal information about the interviewee such as education, role, work experience and general BIM knowledge. The interview continues with open-ended questions in order to utilize the interviewees’ knowledge to describe and contribute to the research questions for this study. 4.3.2 Analysing the results Several descriptive and qualitative methods can be used when analysing the re- sults of an interview study. Content analysis and thematic analysis which are the most common methods are appropriate to be applied when the aim is to achieve a lower level of interpretation rather than a more accurate response (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). Thematic analysis, on the other hand, is an approach used to under- stand aspects of a phenomenon, described frequently or in depth by the participants. The interview study aims to provide the participants’ general opinion, description and interpretation of the BIM subject, the implementation of BIM and further improvements regarding BIM within the company. Therefore, it has been important to chose appropriate approaches for analysis to highlight suggestions, improvement factors and future research questions within the subject. In this study, a combination of thematic and content analysis has been applied in order to provide both analytical and conceptual results. 28 4. Methodology 4.4 Research Ethics According to NSPE "Code of Ethics for Engineers" (2019) engineers have a direct and vital societal impact on the quality of life for people and therefore have to per- form in a professional manner. The services provided by engineers therefore require honesty, equity, impartiality and expectation to exhibit the highest standard of in- tegrity (NSPE, 2019). As a part of the research ethics constitute, it is important that ethics are considered throughout the entire thesis process. The main principle considered during the mas- ter thesis processes, especially during the interview sessions, were honesty in the way of performing and behaving. Prior to the interviews, the interviewees were informed that they would be recorded and urged to speak and answer truthfully. Furthermore, the interviewees were also informed that they would remain anonymous and that company sensitive details would be omitted. Moreover, efforts were made to ensure that the interview study and questionnaire survey were as objective and generalized as possible to avoid the risk of back-tracing any responses to a specific respondent or interviewee. Since the master thesis aims to benefit the company, the report has been examined by supervisor and digital manager Peter Bolt at AFRY to ensure anonymity of the participants and protection of any sensitive company data or in- formation. Lastly, to protect the environment from needless paper consumption, the question- naire survey was created in Office 365 in a digital environment and was digitally sent out by email with a link to access the survey. 29 4. Methodology 30 5 Results and Analysis This chapter will provide and present the results from the conducted interview study and the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, the results will be systematically ana- lyzed in order to simplify and clarify the collected data. 31 5. Results and Analysis 5.1 Questionnaire Survey The questionnaire survey was sent out to eight business units within the studied business area at AFRY, which consist of approximately 45 section managers and more than 200 employees. Out of approximately 150-200 possible respondents, 65 answers were received. The results show that the age, role, education and work experience among the respondents are relatively mixed, which is beneficial as it di- versifies the results. However, 66% out of the participants were designers within disciplines such as e.g., rail, road and bridge design. Among the respondents, there were also project managers, architects, geotechnical, BIM coordinators, data coor- dinators and BIM strategists. 34% of the participants have a Bachelor’s degree and 27% a Master of Science in Engineering. The remaining 39% have other education such as polytechnic, high school or equivalent. Moreover, the majority of the partic- ipants have more than 5 years of work experience which indicates that the responses were given by experienced professionals in the sector. 2022-06-14 9% 7% 4% 66% 5% 9% 4. Role/Job title Project Manager BIM-Coordinator Data-Coordinator Designer Section Manager Geo Engineer 3% 13% 6% 22% 56% 5. Work experience 0-1 Years 1-2 Years 2-3 Years 3-5 Years 5+ Years 3% 22% 34% 27% 14% 3. Education High school education or equivalent Polytechnic Bachelor's degree or equivalent Master of Science in Engineering Other 54% 43% 3% 1. Gender Male Female Prefer not to say 26% 41% 22% 11% 2. Age 20-30 30-40 40-50 50+ Figure 5.1: Responses from questions 1-5 in the questionnaire survey. 5.1.1 BIM education and competence The familiarity and perception of the term BIM were investigated. The results es- tablish that 94% of the participants were familiar with the term, 5% were not and 1% were unsure about the actual meaning of the term BIM. Among the 94% familiar with the term, BIM was defined as 3D-modeling but also as a working process and a platform that gathers information from different disciplines. Some of the answers will be presented below. 32 5. Results and Analysis "Design in 3D, a common working procedure." "BIM is when we use a 3D model for visualization purposes in the projects." "Information flow within the project." "BIM is a coordination tool for me." "Collection of data in a structured manner." - Anonymous answers from question 11 Among the respondents, 42% have not received any education or courses in CAD/BIM neither internally nor externally. Among those whom have received BIM education, 26% were through internal educations and 32% through external educations. 82% of the respondents that have received any kind of education are interested in further education, while 12% are unsure and 6% not interested. Of the participants that have not received any kind of education or courses, 85% are interested and willing to take CAD/BIM courses while 15% are not interested at all. 26% 32% 42% 31. Do you have any CAD/BIM education? Yes, internally Yes, externally No 82% 6% 12% 33. If "Yes” are you interested in further CAD/BIM-education? yes No Maybe 85% 15% 32. If "No" do you want to take CAD/BIM-courses? Yes Maybe 94% 1% 5% 10. Are you familiar with the term BIM? Yes No Don't know 9% 90% 1% 6. How do you currently work in your role? Working primarily with internal projects Working primarily in external projects Other Figure 5.2: Responses from questions 6, 10 and 31-33 in the questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey establishes that the majority of the respondents are work- ing primarily in external projects and only 9% works in internal projects. Further- more, the results shows that only 8% of the designers are designing solely in 3D. 48% are flexible and design in both 2D and 3D, whilst 25% design only in 2D. Among the 25% of designers that only work in 2D, 59% are willing to gradually proceed into 3D whilst 23% do not feel comfortable with 3D modeling. 33 5. Results and Analysis In order to identify the reasons behind why some of the employees do not support a transition from 2D to 3D, an alternative question was prepared in the questionnaire survey. A selection of the answers are presented below. The main reasons point at specific cases, sub-operations and an overall lack of knowledge within the subject. "I do not think that 3D-modeling is efficient when working with traffic signals in railway projects. We can not use the BIM model to provide the same information we have in our drawings and it causes additional work if we choose BIM in our case. Furthermore, the response we receive from STA in our project demonstrate that even they do not really recognize the benefits of the BIM-model." "I do not see the point of designing in 3D since my job is to provide circuit layouts only. I am afraid that it will take more time to do geographical models in 3D than 2D. In my case, it would only be time consuming to design in 3D." "I think it is time consuming and complicated. Furthermore, I believe that we do not need it because the workers at construction site will never trust and use a 3D-model as construction documents." - Anonymous answers from question 16 To find out how much time the designers are spending to redo their models or other work when designing, specific open-ended and multiple-choice questions were chosen in the survey. The results show that 19% of the participants are spending between 8-10 hours/week on issues or redoing their work. 22% answered 5-7 hours/week and the remaining 59% answered 0-4 hours/week. The main causes are found to be bugs because of inefficient work procedures and routines. 59%22% 19% 17. How many hours do you spend on problems/redo your models (weekly)? 0-4 Hours 5-7 Hours 8-10 Hours 25% 8% 48% 19% 14. How do you design currently? In 2D In 3D Both I do not design 13% 41% 19% 25% 2% 30. What do you need to streamline your daily work? Softwares Education/competence Tutoring Better communication between the different disciplines other 59%23% 18% 15. If you only design in 2D, would you like to transition to 3D design? Yes No Prefer not to say 38% 20% 42% 13. How much of your time do you work with CAD/BIM-tools? Not at all Sometimes Always Figure 5.3: Responses from questions 17, 30 and 13-15 in the questionnaire survey. 34 5. Results and Analysis 5.1.2 Utilization of BIM in everyday work The second part of the questionnaire survey consists of several detailed open-ended questions about utilization of BIM, which aims to establish how the employees are working with different software and what they are suggesting as improvement fac- tors. Furthermore, solutions to issues the employees wrestle with on a daily basis will be highlighted. One of the most common answers regarding obstacles when working with BIM, was that the client does not require any BIM demands. Further restricting factors are found to be a lack of availability of appropriate education among the employees or that BIM is not used in current projects. The majority of the respondents also think that BIM is most efficient and beneficial in the design and production phases. 41% of the participants point at a lack of education and knowledge within the subject as a restricting factor in their everyday work. Moreover, 25% believe that miscommu- nication between different disciplines might restrict the efficiency in the everyday work. Furthermore, 19% state that they are not receiving great tutoring, whilst 13% indicates the lack of appropriate software as a restricting factor to streamline their work on a daily basis. Figure 5.4: Responses from question 29 in the questionnaire survey. Figure 5.5: Responses from question 12 in the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, there were several open-ended questions about the daily BIM work and how it possibly can be streamlined. Among the suggestions for improvement factors, many answers highlight technical improvements such as e.g., integrating plug-ins for 35 5. Results and Analysis CAD applications, modeling by parameters, automatically updated tools and pipe specs. Other improvement factors such as e.g., straight forward routines regarding 3D modeling, well developed templates, smoother collaboration between the different disciplines, increase of landscape designers with 3D skills and developed guidelines for creating drawings from 3D models have also been brought up. Further sugges- tions regarding automation of different tasks in the daily work have been obtained. Drawing management is one of the pinpointed improvement suggestions from the respondents. The suggestions also highlight different processes that can be au- tomatized such as providing quantity take off lists and stamps of approval on the construction documents. Another respondent states: "The promis-e application with the rail signaling has good opportunities for automa- tion but bugs and lack of internal development might slow down the usage of it". It is believed that drawing execution is a huge improvement opportunity if 2D draw- ings can be automatically produced from the 3D model. Moreover, the participants were able to express their thoughts freely about the development of the current framework and other improvement factors that might not have been covered by the closed questions. These results and expressions are presented in Appendix C. 36 5. Results and Analysis 5.1.3 The client perception In order to provide an overall picture of BIM within the studied business area, it is important to consider the employees perception of the client’s BIM needs and attitude. The result shows that 42% of the respondents in the questionnaire sur- vey state that they generally have difficulties interpreting the client’s requirements. Furthermore, according to the range in Figure 5.6 that measures the familiarity of the client’s mission description regarding 3D modeling and LOD, 39% of the respon- dents selected a range between 0-5. Moreover, a follow up question demonstrates that this is mainly caused by unclear BIM demands in the client’s mission descrip- tion. Moreover, 21% do not know where to find the clients BIM-conditions and 18% have selected a lack of time as a reason for not being well aware of the client’s BIM demands. In addition, an open-ended question was asked about restricting factors, that ac- cording to the respondents impair the quality and in some cases extend the delivery time in projects. The most frequent answers were; "lack of well developed templates and routines", "lack of time and resources for reviewing the models before delivery", "lack of review routines", "encouragement to collaboration among colleagues", "high work load, which reduces the time for quality assurance in projects", "the disciplines’ estimated time schedule in the projects is often too short". Figure 5.6: Responses from questions 25-26 & 27 in the questionnaire survey. In addition, participants were also asked an open-ended question about how they validate and ensure that the products are correct before they are delivered to the client. The most frequent answers are; usage of checklists, internal reviews and self-monitoring routines. Some of the respondents also mentioned that they are 37 5. Results and Analysis asking their colleagues to "look over" the documents but that this is not enough and further improvements should be developed and implemented in the review phase. The respondents were also asked about the type of projects and phases they are usually working within. The result shows that the majority of the participants are working in projects with both turnkey contracts (DB) and traditional contract (DBB) which is an amount of 38 responses. Secondly, DBB contract were selected by 10 responses. Furthermore, follow-up questions were asked about the specific procurement approaches in order to identify which phase is most common within the selected procurement approaches and in which project phases the challenges occurs. In an early stage when working with "construction documents", was the most frequent answer among participants working in DB projects. In second place "procurement process/tendering" phase was chosen within DB projects. Participants working within DBB projects selected phases where "project planning document" and "construction documents" are provided. Figure 5.7: Responses from question 7 in the questionnaire survey. Figure 5.8: Responses from question 8 in the questionnaire survey. Figure 5.9: Responses from question 9 in the questionnaire survey. 38 5. Results and Analysis 5.1.4 Correlations Findings from the questionnaire survey show correlations between age and educa- tion. The younger participants have higher university degree, whilst older employees have more work experience but only a few of them having a professional or bach- elor’s degree. The digital environment and BIM technology are more embraced by the younger employees. The overall perception is that older employees do not trust BIM technology as they often think the method is complicated and do not see the benefits of it. This results in a lower knowledge of BIM among the older participants and indicates that participants with higher degree of education have a positive view of the BIM implementation than the ones with a lower degree of education. There are also correlations between design method, age and work experience. The older designers are working mostly in 2D whilst the younger participants work mostly in 3D. The older designers that only design in 2D in general have a negative attitude towards gradually transition to 3D, whilst the younger designers are positive and some of them are already working in 3D. Further correlations can also be found be- tween gender and the attitude towards transitioning to 3D. The results demonstrate that females are more positive and supportive regarding gradually transitioning from 2D to 3D design. In addition, there were slightly more male than female, with male accounting for 54% and female for 43% of the participants. Although the percentage of male and female is relatively equal, there are divided opinions regarding transition to 3D depending on gender among the 2D-designers, accounting to 25% in total 65 respondents. However, this result could be a coincidence due to the limited amount of participants in the questionnaire survey. Figure 5.10: Correlations between questions 2-3 and 2-14 in the questionnaire. Figure 5.11: Correlations between questions 1-15 and 2-5 in the questionnaire. 39 5. Results and Analysis The results reveal that only 20% of male respondents (2D-designers) support a grad- ual transition from 2D to 3D, whilst 100% of the female respondents (2D-designers) support 3D transition. In other words, 80% of the male 2D-designers do not support a gradual transition from 2D to 3D. Further correlations have been shown in the results between the working method, error time, age and the usage of the available CAD-object library in the projects depending on the design method. It is clear that participants aged 20-30 years are designing mostly in 3D whilst respondents aged 30 to 50+ years are either designing in both 2D and 3D or do not design at all. Furthermore, error time and restricting factors on a daily basis are frequent among participants working in both 2D and 3D, accounting for 59%. Moreover, the amount of error time (7-10 hours/week) are higher among the participants designing in 2D, accounting for 26% in comparison to 3D, accounting for 9%. Generally, the amount of error time is lower among designers working in 3D compare to 2D or those who design in both 2D and 3D. Figure 5.12: Correlation between questions 14-17 and 2-19 in the questionnaire. Figure 5.13: Correlation between questions 14-19 and 14-20 in the questionnaire. The knowledge of the internal CAD-object libraries are slightly common among the participants of different ages. However, the knowledge and usage of the CAD- object libraries are more common among designers working in 2D accounting for 29% and 40%. Additionally, the most common design method is a combination of both 2D and 3D, which provide obviously highest rate in both knowledge and us- age of CAD-object libraries. However, among the combined design method users, 40 5. Results and Analysis 50% of the participants with the knowledge of the CAD-object libraries actually use the libraries. 24% of the respondents are using the current libraries occasionally as the content is lacking and needs to be developed. 9% states that the content is not usable whilst 4% do not know how to use it at all. The remaining 17% gives other reasons for not using the libraries, some of the expressions are presented below. "There are only a few of them e.g., railings and curbsides in the projects. I do not know of any AFRY specific libraries. The available objects are the only ones we have in Novapoint". "The libraries are often in 2D and it requires additional work to import them in 3D." "In our section the libraries are in 3D and we only design in 2D." "I do not design but know that we have different templates." - Anonymous answers from question 20 41 5. Results and Analysis 5.2 Interview Study This chapter will present the results from the interview study which consist of 7 in- terviews, conducted among different employees with different backgrounds, ages and roles, within the studied business area Transportation Sweden. The most interest- ing answers will be selected and presented in this chapter. The complete interview questions and layout are attached in Appendix A. In Table 5.1, the interviewees are presented based on their role, age and work experience. Interviewee Position/Role Age Work Experience Interviewee A Project Manager 35+ 15+ Interviewee B Section Manager/Project Manager 35+ 15+ Interviewee C Section Manager 40+ 20+ Interviewee D BIM Coordinator 30+ 5+ Interviewee E BIM Coordinator/BIM Strategist 25+ 5+ Interviewee F BIM Coordinator/BIM Strategist 25+ 5+ Interviewee G BIM Coordinator/Road Designer 25+ 5+ Table 5.1: Presentation of the interviewees. 5.2.1 BIM Awareness and LOD The majority of the interviewees were aware of the term BIM and defined it as a process and work procedure. Among the section and project managers, BIM was re- lated to review-able 3D-object or model based design. Furthermore, everyone agreed and mentioned that the level of development/detail (LOD) in BIM models at Trans- portation Sweden depends on the project but that in general there is potential for improvement. “It depends totally on the type and scope of the projects. I would say that LOD in the major projects have a good level due to the budget and time we have in comparison with the smaller projects. However, we do not have general routines or framework when it comes to BIM determination levels within our projects, which I believe we need to develop and establish.” - Interviewee E There were divided opinions about which procurement approach and project type are most suitable for BIM projects. The general view was that in major projects, where money and time are not an issue, the potential of BIM implementation is higher. Consideration of the projects complexity was also mentioned as a deter- mining factor for BIM implementation according to interviewees D and E. A few other participants believe that the projects’ scope or procurement approach is not determining and that BIM is applicable irrespectively. Interviewees C, D, E and G shared the same perception regarding BIM implementation in major projects. The majority of the interviewees had difficulties to pick or suggest the right procurement 42 5. Results and Analysis approach and only three of them could give a straight answer. Interviewees B and E sees the DBB procurement approach as most suitable when using BIM, whilst interviewee F think BIM is suitable with the DB procurement approach. ”Design build (DB) contract is more appropriate when using BIM in my opinion. When using an DBB approach, we are not able to control how BIM will be used, therefore it is risky to use BIM in this procurement approach. In DB contract we know the demands of BIM and often know how to work with it in order to fulfill the client’s demands. This is more difficult when using DBB approach.” - Interviewee F “The procurement approach is absolutely a determining factor on the projects regard- ing utilization of BIM. I think we usually think that in a project with DB procurement approach the BIM Implementation is easier. I believe that it is actually the opposite since we still are in a position where the design team and the entrepreneurs is confi- dent to fall back in old performance and do not dare to apply BIM in a DB contract when it is a fixed price. Therefore a DBB procurement approach is more suitable when implementing BIM in a project.” - Interviewee B Regardning the various benefits of BIM implementation, a majority of the inter- viewees highlighted that most benefits are a direct result of 3D visualization and a simplified work procedure, specially during the design phase. Through 3D visuali- sation, misunderstandings and faulty information between the different disciplines can be reduced. “The structure in our projects, that we have control of the data, trace-ability of the work, history, that we can follow the project development and progress. If we do not use this methods and software, it can be very messy, miscommunication occurs and data can be lost. A very important task in our job is the delivery phase. High quality of our products and services cannot be achieved if we do not use the document managing systems we use today.” - Interviewee E ”We provide a better picture a of the project when we visualize everything in 3D. The communication is simplified and reduces misunderstandings between the different parties.” - Interviewee G 43 5. Results and Analysis 5.2.2 BIM Challenges Regarding BIM challenges, many interesting and different answers were given. In interviews with interviewees C and G, the client was brought up a as a significant restricting factor in BIM implementation. The interviewees claim that it is difficult to make the client understand the benefits, specifically the profits of BIM. There- fore, consultants end up in a situation were they need to motivate their work and educate the client on the subject. Interviewee C claims that it is the major clients that often need to be convinced rather than the minor clients and implies that de- cision makers within the major client’s organization often only see the economic consequences when implementing BIM in a project. Furthermore, other challenges such as e.g., collaboration within and between different organizations and teams were mentioned. The cause of unsuccessful collaboration is claimed to be a lack of routines for communication among the disciplines within a project. Additionally, challenges with education and technical issues were brought up by interviewee F. ”Education within the subject and software knowledge is a big challenge. We also have technical challenges such as lack of necessary software, or sometimes lack of well developed functions within the software.” - Interviewee F Furthermore, challenges regarding the implementation of BIM were also mentioned. Interviewee F specifically pinpointed difficulties with BIM implementation in ongo- ing projects. It is argued that in order to implement BIM in a later project phase such as e.g., the production phase, changes in existing working procedures are re- quired. Interviewee F also claims that it is difficult to establish an appropriate maturity degree in ongoing projects. This claim is also supported by interviewee A, who states that different work procedures and new methods are required in order to achieve AFRY’s BIM vision and goals. "There are local cultures within the different disciplines which make it very hard to convince each respective discipline to impose a new working procedure in an ongoing project.” - Interviewee A In the interview with interviewee D, challenges caused by misinterpretation of the client’s requirements are mentioned. These challenges specifically occur in the design phase of a project and stem from a lack of preparation or an incorrect interpretation of the client’s mission description. Interviewee D believes that the project man- ager should be responsible for explaining and guiding the designers to use the right method from the project start up. 44 5. Results and Analysis ”One recurring problem that often occurs during the design phase is that the de- signers are doing their work wrong at the first place and needs to redo it later. I mean those who are usually working in 2D, are often not familiar with the clients requirements regarding BIM and realize that they have to deliver a 3D-model to the client very late in the project. This puts high pressure on the project team as they have to provide the 3D-model just before delivery.” - Interviewee D Furthermore, interviewee D states that by considering BIM as a separate discipline in a project, the client makes a critical mistake. It is explained that this is a recur- ring problem and argued that BIM must be demanded and integrated within each respective discipline in order to create the coordinated project model and use BIM as intended. By considering BIM as a separate discipline, other actors within the project expect the BIM coordinators to solve all the problems in the coordinated project model. In order to fulfill and achieve the client’s requirements, the different disciplines have to design with the BIM demands kept in mind during the entire design phase. "I think the responsibility for making the clients mission description clear should lay on project manager. The BIM demands should be explained in order to make the other disciplines understand that the BIM requirements are applied to the whole project and that BIM is not a separate discipline.” - Interviewee D This argument is also supported by interviewee B who states that the BIM and data coordinators need a larger mandate or involvement at the project start up to establish the project conditions. This is necessary in order to avoid any major im- positions before the project delivery. “In my opinion BIM and data coordinators should be a part of the project manage- ment team, or lets say a complement to the project manager. They should not be considered as a discipline but rather as a part of the project management team that have the same mandate as the project manager. The BIM coordinator should also be involved before the design phase in order to establish the conditions for the project” - Interviewee B 45 5. Results and Analysis 5.2.3 Digital Environment The interview study also consists of questions about AFRY’s digital environment. In the study, it is established that only one of the seven interviewees, interviewee F, has experience of so called "drawing free" projects, where the project has been entirely executed in 3D. The project is briefly outlined in Chapter 2.2. Interviewee F was overall satisfied with the success of the digital work methods implemented but argue that the information level (LOD) in the coordinated project model could have been increased. However, interviewee F believes that traditional 2D drawings should not be replaced by a 3D model, but rather be complemented. Moreover, the lack of routines and a common BIM framework within AFRY were emphasized. According to the majority of the interviewees, there is no common BIM framework or guideline available to follow currently. The interviewees claim that clear directives and general BIM guidelines are necessary to implement BIM successfully. Furthermore, the interviewees shed light on the fact that, without a lack of routines and BIM guidelines, consultants often have to resort to self-made frameworks based on experience. This is at the risk of unintentionally excluding valuable knowledge and experience from others, hindering the overall development within the company. “We need routines. I mean we have done excellent work within different projects all over the country but it is almost like What happens in the project, stays in the project. In other words, we need to gather all the fantastic work and experience, create common guidelines and apply them in future projects.” - Interviewee A 46 5. Results and Analysis 5.2.4 BIM in the studied organization As the infrastructure industry is undergoing digital changes the studied business area Transportation Sweden has been actively committed to the digital evolution. The studied business area has a development plan called BIM assessment approach, which aims to improve and streamline the workflow within their projects (AFRY Rail Digitalization, 2021). The development plan consists of four stages, namely inventory, maturity assessment, analysis/strategy, implementation/education and is sustained by different disciplines through workshops, meetings, networks etc. This development plan is managed by experienced key managers at AFRY and is an on- going investigation within the company. In order to provide accurate information for this study and increase a better un- derstanding of the company’s working procedure, data from different workshops, network meetings and business plans have been collected and analyzed. The best current practices have been determined during a workshop conducted with BIM and data coordinators from different regions in Sweden. Figure 5.14 demonstrates the identified best practises along with their pros and cons, as concluded during the workshop. Figure 5.14: Best Practices shared on BIM workshop conducted autumn 2021. 47 5. Results and Analysis 48 6 Discussion In this chapter, discussion and analyses based on the empirical findings, the inter- view study, the questionnaire survey and correlations to the theoretical framework in previous chapters will be presented. Further analyses will be done based on the previ- ous analyses conducted partly in the Chapter 5. Furthermore, the author’s thoughts and interpretations of the subject are also included in this chapter. 49 6. Discussion 6.1 BIM knowledge and usage in everyday work According to the literature review, BIM is defined as more than just a software. This definition is aligned with the description from the interview study and questionnaire survey. 94% of the respondents in the questionnaire survey state that they are fa- miliar with the term BIM. In summary, the respondents describe the technology as a framework in a digital environment where collaboration and visualization are the main success factor for information flow throughout a project. In Chapter 3.1, AFRY’s work procedure, organization and support system are explained with the aim to get an overall view of how the company is working with BIM on a daily basis. The support, sale and delivery systems can be improved and adapted to facilitate BIM implementation in projects. For instance, the BIM requirements should be brought up in the sales phase in order to achieve a smoother transition of the BIM services into the delivery phase, see Figure 3.2, Chapter 3.1.2. The support system can also be improved by adding a common and general BIM standard with the aim to eliminate recurring issues such as non updated templates, scripts and checklists. This has also been emphasized by the participants both in the interview study and questionnaire survey. From the results, it is evident that there exist numerous experienced employees within the sector with innovative ideas and solutions to existing problems. Still, many leading companies within the sector does not utilize nor consider these ideas and solutions. To avoid this, someone within the companies should be assigned and responsible to gather, summarize and implement such ideas and solutions. This is absolutely necessary and a possible success factor when implementing BIM in in- frastructure projects. 6.1.1 Quality and validation before delivery One of the most important phases when working with BIM is the delivery phase. During this phase, there are numerous documents and drawings that must be re- viewed to ensure that they align with the client’s mission description and require- ments. In order to identify the risk and improvement factors, there were several questions in the questionnaire survey regarding validation and quality. The results demonstrate that AFRY, as a service provider, is working heavily with delivery rou- tines and document reviews before delivery. The main set up factor is often a lack of review time in the project time schedule. It is therefore very important to consider review time during the tender stage of a project. Furthermore, idle software, lack of support from colleagues, IT-bugs, lack of updated templates, high workload, non developed object library both in 2D and 3D are other restricting factors that have a negative impact on the product/service delivery. Regarding the software issues, the collected data from the workshop in Figure 5.14, Chapter 5.2.4 highlights the specific issues, solutions and improvement factors of each respective software. 50 6. Discussion The most frequently used method for ensuring and reviewing documents before delivery is through checklists according to the questionnaire survey. This is very interesting as the interview study also pinpoints a lack of well developed checklists and templates. As the usage of checklists is highly frequent in the review phase, more effort should be taking to streamline the review process. This can be achieved by e.g., taking advantage of best practices from various projects in the company and reusing this information. Findings from the interview study and questionnaire survey indicate a lack of will- ingness from other colleagues or team members to interact and collaborate with each other. Furthermore, the findings suggest that this could be caused by an inad- equate group dynamic within the organization. In order to enhance the collaboration between employees, encouragement should be considered. This can be applied in combination with workshops such as DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Com- pliance) personality tests to gain insights and build better and stronger relationships within the project teams. 6.1.2 BIM maturity level and LOD There were divided opinion regarding the maturity level of BIM within the business area Transportation Sweden. The overall perception is that the maturity level of BIM is dependent on the project’s BIM conditions. Education and knowledge in the subject are other causes which decreases the maturity level internally. This has also been confirmed in the questionnaire survey. The interview study enlightens specific restricting factors such as a lack of e.g., internal frameworks, role descrip- tions, well developed templates and scripts. These restricting factors cause delays in the BIM implementation process and might decrease the BIM maturity level in a project. Furthermore, due to these restricting factors, different divisions within the studied business area obtain different maturity levels depending on the "in house" knowledge and competence. Findings from the literature review establish three ma- turity levels of BIM as defined by Bensaleh et al., (2018). By comparing the results from the interview study and questionnaire survey, the studied business area gen- erally seems to be between levels 1 and