A preliminary review on transaction cost components within the BIM adopted procurements

Abstract

The Malaysian construction industry although it plays a crucial function in stimulating the economy, is lagging behind other economic sectors. This is due to its unique characteristics such as fragmentation and slow technology adoption. These very characteristics make the industry susceptible to construction disputes. Construction disputes were found to incur high transaction costs (TCs), affect the parties involved, and subsequently increase overall project costs. Because TCs measure the costs that incur from transaction activities, they can be used to better understand the benefits within each transaction. Additionally, TCs are the best mechanism for analysing the ‘unseen’ costs of construction procurement. Previous studies on the traditional, design-and-build, and public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods have demonstrated TCs affect the organizational dynamics of construction and selection of procurement. The emerging Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology is said to be beneficial in addressing the problems associated with disputes and overall project costs. Consequently, many projects embark on BIM adoption in procurement. Hence, this preliminary study seeks to identify the TCs of BIM-adopted procurement by employing a structured literature review to determine the components and activities within the BIM procurement within the BIM implementation. The initial framework for the components of TCs of BIM procurement was drafted by referring to RIBA Plan of Work with BIM overlay. The components are categorised into pre-contract and post-contract components. These components can serve as the basis for developing a framework that can serve as a guideline for construction players involved in managing the TCs of BIM procurement.