Understanding Design Issue Management and Coordination Processes When Using Cloud-Based BIM

Construction design coordination has improved, especially with building information modeling (BIM) tools. An essential aspect of design coordination is the issue management process. With the introduction of cloud-based BIM tools, there is a need to examine the issue management process considering the capabilities of these tools. This paper analyzes the issue management process into synchronous and asynchronous. An ethnographic study was conducted on a hospital project to understand these two processes and their value in this project. This study developed four key metrics, namely i) analysis of the number of resolved issues, ii) analysis of issue resolution time, iii) analysis of resolution time for high-priority issues, and iv) analysis of design issue watchers. These metrics were developed from the information gathered by the issue tracking feature of the cloud-based BIM software and used in the study to investigate the benefits and challenges of both issue management processes. One potential benefit identified with the synchronous process is that it increases project stakeholder engagement. Since the asynchronous process can deal with various issues without requiring extra coordination meetings, this process will allow more room for the high-priority multidisciplinary geometric issues to be discussed thoroughly in coordination meetings. The findings offer insights for future construction projects, project managers, and BIM specialists to establish more effective issue management processes.