Rationale for the Integration of BIM and Blockchain for the Construction Supply Chain Data Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review and Validation through Focus Group

Abstract

Building information modeling (BIM) plays a critical role in the integration of different parties by acting as a centralized database defining their responsibilities and contractual obligations. However, resolution of conflicts among stakeholders remains a shortcoming of BIM. Blockchain is on a path to disrupt many aspects of businesses that deal with the coordination of information and trust to enable a single source of truth model with multiple control entities. The purpose of this study is to analyze construction supply chain (CSC) data delivery challenges to provide a rationale for the integration of BIM and blockchain enabling a reliable digital deliverable (RDD) for operation. Three systematic reviews and a focus group discussion are used in this study. This is the first study to develop a compelling rationale systematically for the integration of BIM and blockchain and propose an RDD model, paving the way for a single source of truth system. The study enables blockchain to be set in context of both theoretical value transfer and its practical application for CSC data delivery in the form of BIM.