Exploratory Study on Cognitive Style in a BIM environment in the Australian Construction Industry

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been introduced to the construction industry to improve productivity. However, BIM has a limitation to accommodate the cognitive functions of construction professionals to make proper decisions because BIM requires encompassed digital workflows over a project life cycle that inundate design and construction professionals with a plethora of construction information. Subsequently, construction professionals are not able to have a sufficient time for applying their intuitions and tacit knowledge properly. In order to understand the cognitive styles of construction professionals to make a better decision, this research adopted a mixed method approach comprised of a questionnaire survey and a follow-up interview. Total 105 construction professionals participated in a questionnaire survey, and 15 interviews were conducted. Consequently, the Planning and Knowing styles are the most frequently used cognitive skills for a decision making, and the Creating style is the less frequently used ability for a daily based task. The knowledge and insights of construction professionals are recognised as an essence of better decision making, and BIM is recognised as a knowledge management platform to capture and share the valuable intuitions of construction professionals. Furthermore, proper trainings are required for construction professionals to increase their innovative and creative cognitive skills for their tasks. This research will serve as a stepping stone to further investigate a human aspect in a BIM system, and to provide insights for an organisation or a project team how to adopt BIM for better decision making based on the cognitive styles.