Framework for productivity and safety enhancement system using BIM in Singapore

Purpose: Despite the recognition of the importance of the construction industry in Singapore’s economy, the industry is plagued by poor safety and productivity performance. Improvement efforts by the government and industry have not yielded much results. The study proposes a framework for developing a productivity and safety monitoring system using Building Information Modelling (BIM). Design/methodology/approach: The framework, Intelligent Productivity and Safety System (IPASS), takes advantage of the mandatory requirement for building plans to be submitted for approval in Singapore in BIM format. IPASS is based on a study comprising interviews and a questionnaire-based survey. It uses BIM to integrate buildable design, prevention and control of hazards, and safety assessment. Findings: The paper illustrates the development of IPASS that is able to generate productivity and safety scores for a construction project by analysing the information in the BIM models. Research limitations/implications: The paper demonstrates that BIM can be used to monitor productivity and safety as a project progresses, and help to enhance performance under the two parameters. Practical implications: IPASS enables collaboration among project stakeholders as they can base their work on an analysis of the productivity and safety performance before the project starts, and as it progresses. It is suggested that the BIM same model submitted to the authorities should be used for the IPASS application. Originality/value: IPASS has rule-checking, hazards identification and quality checking capabilities. It is able to identify hazards and risks with the rule-checking capabilities. IPASS enables practitioners to check mistakes and the rationality of a design. It helps to mitigate risks as there are built-in safety measures/controls rules to overcome the problems caused by design deficiency, wrong-material-choice, and so on.