Building Information Modelling (BIM) as an effective communication channel among Malaysian construction professionals in design and build (D&B) projects

Effective communication is crucial in every construction project to overcome problems in traditional construction such as a misunderstanding, frequent verification and clarification, disappointment, lack of trust, and conflicts among construction players, resulting in cost overruns, time overruns, disputes, and project failure. However, the current practice in the traditional Design and Build (D&B) construction results in the ineffectiveness of communication due to miscommunication arises. Hence, this paper aims to highlight the benefit of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as an integrated communication platform for Malaysian (D&B) projects. A systematic literature review has been adopted on the effectiveness of BIM for communication in construction. The discussions reveal that BIM adoption able to enhance effective communication platforms, especially for the D&B project that involves many collaborations throughout a project's lifecycle. From the current practices of BIM in Malaysian D&B projects, it can be concluded that it is vital for Government to strengthen the enforcement of BIM adoption in the Malaysian construction industry, as it facilitated the delivery of information throughout the project's lifecycle, collaborative and coordinative work, and reduce the redundancies of information which consequently produced many benefits to every construction stakeholders significantly enhancing productivity to ensure the deliverable of project success

The readiness of public universities in adopting industrial revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) from a construction management perspective

There have been four major Industrial Revolutions that have developed human lifestyles. Currently, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, (IR 4.0), is taking place in major industries with current students and graduates requiring new talents and skills to become a future-proof workforce. However, current tertiary education is not yet fully equipped to deal with IR4.0 concepts. This results in the low awareness of IR4.0 among students and graduates where they are not yet ready to enter an IR4.0 workspace. This is especially so in construction management education. Hence, the aim of this research is to improve existing construction engineering education by including IR4.0. This research is based on data collected from a survey by questionnaire responses from construction management undergraduate and postgraduate students at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam. The findings show that these construction management students agreed that challenges such as the traditional construction management curricular structure and the lack of IR4.0 facilities hindered the implementation of IR4.0 in construction management education. Therefore, recommendations such as the collaboration of industry experts with universities and students to enable the adoption of IR4.0 into project-based learning were discussed. In conclusion, this study hopes to help both universities and students to be prepared for the integration of and benefits from, implementing IR4.0 in construction management education