BIM adoption among contractors: a longitudinal study in Peru

Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption in construction remains a challenge, yet no empirical studies were conducted to gauge adoption behaviours changes over time. Such a longitudinal study of BIM adoption would be particularly significant at this pivotal point in the history of construction, as it undergoes a worldwide digital transformation. In some contexts, BIM adoption has been led by contractors without policy intervention; thus, contractors’ adoption behaviours must be understood before policymakers enact top-down interventions for public construction in entire supply chains. Two cross-sectional datasets were collected in 2017 (N=303) and 2020 (N=171) in Lima to evaluate changes in a modified Technology Adoption Model (TAM) regarding BIM Adoption. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. This study shows that contractors adopt BIM if they believe that BIM helps to improve project performance, rather than their own individual performance. Similarly, contractors are concerned with the easiness of implementing BIM in firms and projects rather than the ease of learning BIM. Overall, Perceived Usefulness to Project, Perceived Ease of Implementation, and Intention to Use BIM had a significant change between 2017 and 2020. Although BIM implementation increased from 25% to 39% at the project level, the adoption at the user level has not significantly changed. This finding suggests that contractors value supply chain/project level implementation benefits rather than successful individual adoption. The results also show that contractors rely on in-house BIM teams or outsourced consultants to carry out BIM-related tasks. However, this would depict a within-firm digital divide between BIM teams and site management. The results are discussed in the context of national change as a BIM policy for public construction was announced by the Peruvian government in 2019. The findings of this research may be used by decision-makers to target specific groups of professionals on educational programmes. Policymakers could use the findings to inform roadmaps for BIM adoption in Peru and similar countries.