1 Introduction

Employer Information Requirements (EIR), a terminology developed by the UK BIM Task Group, is a “pre-tender document setting out the information to be delivered, and the standards and processes to be adopted by the supplier as part of the project delivery process” [1]. The UK’s Publicly Available Standard (PAS 1192) series makes distinction between a ‘Client’ and an ‘Employer’. A client may appoint an employer who is the legal entity named in the contract and responsible for procuring the asset [1].

The client is considered to be a body which incorporates the interests of the buyer of construction services, prospective users and other interest groups [2]. The client’s decision to commission a project is influenced by organizational factors (e.g. strategic, operational, etc.) that add complexity to the process of defining the requirements of the design phase and other project delivery phases [3]. Additional project related requirements are related to site selection, environmental considerations, regulatory framework, design specifications, construction process and life cycle performance [2]. The multidisciplinary and fragmented nature of contracted organizations makes it also difficult for project stakeholders to work towards a consistent understanding of client’s requirements.

The adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) concepts and workflows is proliferating within organizations, through project teams, and across the whole construction industry [4]. Strategic steps are taken by various governments including UK, Singapore, Finland, USA, among others to encourage the adoption of BIM in their respective AECO industries [5]. Client’s requirements should be processed and communicated properly to all project stakeholders throughout the whole project life cycle from the early initiation phase to the handover and operation. Building Information Modeling (BIM) can be a means for project stakeholders to communicate, manage and deliver client’s requirements. However, this requires the clear definition of the EIR that sets the processes and standards to be adopted by the suppliers throughout the project life cycle.

While there are no explicit guidelines for defining EIR in Qatar, BIM is increasingly adopted on construction projects. This paper aims to analyze the current BIM adoption in Qatar against the EIR’s areas and their items as defined by the UK BIM Task Group. The content outline of the EIR covers three areas and their items include: technical (specification of software platforms, and definitions of levels of detail), management (management processes to be adopted in connection with BIM on a project) and commercial (BIModel deliverables, timing of data drops and definitions of information purposes). More information about the items is included in the subsequent literature review section. Following the literature review, the paper conducts the comparison and discusses the findings.

2 Literature Review

Client requirements can be described in terms of the objectives, needs, wishes and expectations of the client (i.e., the person or firm responsible for commissioning the design and construction of a facility)” [6]. Client’s requirements tend to evolve along the life cycle of the project either due to a change in the client requirements itself or due to adaption of the project to an unintended use [7]. Therefore a requirements management system is needed to cater for these evolving client’s requirements. Requirements Management is also a well-researched area that has been applied to product development industries. “Requirements management is the process of eliciting, documenting, organizing, and tracking requirements and communicating this information across the various stakeholders and the project team” [8]. However much of these studies are not BIM related.

It was proposed that management of requirements should extend beyond elicitation and documentation and requires an approach that will enable changeability and impact analysis, accessibility, traceability and communication to all stakeholders [7]. It was further suggested that there should be a process for client’s requirements information management across the whole life cycle and that the requirements and their impact should be tracked throughout whole life cycle of project including Facilities Management (FM) [7].

While project requirements are essential for the physical delivery of the project, with the recent advances in BIM and use of ICT in construction, the information requirements, which present a part of overall client’s requirements, are gaining importance. Information is the key component of BIM and needs explicit attention in order to achieve the full potential of BIM across the whole life cycle. Therefore the EIR was introduced to address the information requirements and deliverables the client requires to make effective strategic and operational decisions across a project life cycle. One of the prominent EIR are those proposed in the UK by the BIM Task Group [9]. They include three areas of requirements with several items as illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1. EIR guidance notes by BIM task group
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To deliver the EIR, there are Publicly Available Specifications (PAS 1192-2:2013 [1], PAS 1192-3:2014 [10] and PAS 1192-5:2015 [11]), standards (BS 1192-2:2007 [12] and BS 1192-4:2014 [13]), protocols (i.e. CIC BIM Protocol [14]), classification systems (Uniclass 2015) and technologies (the Digital Plan of Work) that are available for the entire UK construction industry. These specifications, standards, protocols, classification systems and technologies address various aspects of the application of BIM and related issues across the whole life cycle of a project. For example, the PAS 1192-2:2013 [1] specifies processes for information management for the capital/delivery phase of construction projects using BIM starting with Plane Language Questions (PLQ) to determine employer’s/client’s requirements through EIR and BIM Execution Plan (BEP) that specifies collaboration processes along the project life cycle, from the early design until the handover stage. Similarly CIC BIM Protocol [14] addresses issues regarding BIModels including the handling of intellectual property rights (IPR) and certain contractual requirements specific to BIModel at defined stages of projects.

BIM adoption is also increasing in Qatar and is being required by most of the major procurers (e.g. Ashghal, the Public Works Authority, Qatar Rail, Qatar Foundation, etc.). However, in Qatar there is a lack of EIR guidelines. This paper investigates the potential of delivering EIR by comparing current practice against the EIR of the UK BIM Task Group. The ultimate aim is to conduct a gap analysis and suggest recommendations for a Qatari-specific Employer Information Requirements (QEIR).

3 Methodology

This research adopted qualitative survey-based research approach. Surveys are designed to provide ‘a snapshot of things are at a specific time’ [15]. Surveys can be conducted using either questionnaires or interviews. This research combines a semi-structured interview approach with the observation of secondary sources such as invitation to tender documentations. The interviews were conducted in two stages, starting from a less structured first stage to a more structured second stage. Six interviews were conducted in the first stage. The questions evolved during these initial interviews, resulting in a version restricted from further changes. The questions were still kept open ended to allow for interviewees’ input beyond the given choices and examples of possible answers. The final version of the interview questions was used to interview additional 22 interviewees. Available invitation to tender documents were also collected and analyzed for getting relevant requirements. United Kingdom (UK) was selected as a benchmark as it is the only country where client’s requirements are explicit and considered a cornerstone of the UK BIM policy.

The interviewees included stakeholders from Client (9, 32 %), Contractor (5, 18 %) and Consultant (14, 50 %) organizations working on several ongoing projects in Qatar. The information gathered from the interviews was structured in a way that information can be compared against the areas and items of the UK EIR. Based on the comparison performed and inductive reasoning that caters for the special circumstances of Qatar construction industry (e.g. international companies of varying sizes, with origins from different parts of the world bringing their own perspectives) recommendations were made for a QEIR (Qatar Employer Information Requirements).

4 Results

Tables 2, 3 and 4 summarize the results from the comparison against the items of the three EIR’s Technical, Commercial and Management areas respectively. The EIR items, which were not addressed by the interviewees, are marked as N/A (Not Applicable). The comparison provided in the three tables is detailed and self-explanatory. The first column in each table indicates the item of the EIR which is the subject of investigation. The second column denotes the general requirements for that item as specified within the UK’s EIR. The third column includes the finding about that item in Qatar. Finally, the fourth column provides evidence from the interviews that support the finding. The result from the comparison will be discussed in the next section where some general recommendations for QEIR are made.

Table 2. Technical items of EIR
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Table 3. Commercial items of EIR
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Table 4. Management items of EIR
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5 Discussion and Recommendations

The key distinguishing factors between the EIR guidelines of the UK and BIM current practice in Qatar are in the degree of completeness or coverage of items; the clarity and consistency in the definition of EIR items, and the project stage in which requirements are embedded. In the UK, the PAS 1192-2 requires that design team and contractor team include an outline BIM Execution Plan (BEP) in their proposals at the pre-contract stage to demonstrate their approach to deliver the EIR [1]. After the award of the contract, the responsible supply chain needs to develop a detailed BIM execution plan aligned with the EIR.

The EIR items that are included in tender documents in Qatar mainly address a few items of each of the EIR’s areas. However, such items are not consistently prescribed and are often interpreted differently by the various project stakeholders.

Under the technical items of the EIR, the Level of Details (LOD) is specified without referring to a specific methodology which sets the incremental development of the LODs. LODs are also often misunderstood by some suppliers or mandated on specific trades (e.g. architectural and structural) involved in a construction project. Software tools are generally not prescribed. However, some large scale projects specify the use of certain design authoring tools and collaboration networks. There are no data exchange format (i.e. neutral format) prescribed across the whole industry but these are usually specified within the protocols developed by the lead consultant or contractor on project. Much of the large-scale projects in Qatar require IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) and 3dPDF.

Within the commercial area of the EIR, BIM capability of organizations is assessed at the pre-qualification phase although they are no standards for BIM capability assessment. It is often assessed based on the number of previous BIM projects undertaken by the suppliers. There are no requirements for the generation of BIM data drops or specific datasets at certain work stages. Several work stages are adopted within Qatar’s construction industry including the RIBA Plan of Work, the AIA Phases of Work, and their modified versions by large procurers such as Ashghal (Public Work Agency). The respondents reported circumstances where suppliers working on the same project referred to different project work phases resulting in conflicts and issues that affected the progress of projects.

Under the management area of the EIR, similarly to the project work phases, a combination of standards, protocols and specifications (BS 1192-2, PAS 1192-2, AIA BIM protocols, etc.) are adopted depending on the country of origin of the lead consultant or contractor. Some BIM deliverables such as design coordination (clash avoidance) and 4D and 5D planning are increasingly specified. There are increasing number of projects which require production and site drawings to be produced out of a coordinated model. Also, site inspections, and the consequent authorization of payment, are increasingly conducted within and linked 5D environments. There are no agreed upon definition of BIM roles and their responsibility. The role that is often required by contracts is the “BIM Manager”. Finally, there are no clear BIM requirements for the delivery of data to the facility management phase.

The definition of EIR as early as possible in projects, their shared understanding among the supply chain, and the implementation of protocols to deliver them, are key principle for achieving a whole life cycle approach in construction projects. It is clear from the comparison that a whole life cycle approach in Qatar’s construction industry is currently not possible. However, in each of the areas of EIR (technical, commercial and management), Qatar’s construction industry exhibits capabilities in several items. To build upon current capabilities and build the foundation for the industry to start moving towards a more diffused and mature adoption of BIM, there is a need to develop Qatar Employer Information Requirements (QEIR). The QEIR may require adjustments depending on asset type, project stages, project needs, procurements strategy, IT requirements, terminology, and detailed technical information requirements.

This is also important as several large employers and clients have started in recent year hiring consultants to define their EIR and roll them out on their projects as it was observed during the interviews. Over time this will result in several competing commercial, technical and management requirements. Therefore, regarding the general requirements for the definition of guidelines for QEIR, it is important to ensure that they:

  • Are adequately generic so that can be adopted across different projects and employers and are un-biased towards current technologies or/and processes;

  • Are defined based on sufficient knowledge of employer’s internal processes;

  • Are related roles and responsibilities at employer’s organization or agree on a specific changes to current roles;

  • Build up a BIM team at employer’s side to supervise the EIR compliance;

  • Consider applicable standards in Qatar, e.g. QCS and to evaluate the applicability of international BIM/information standards;

  • Clarify the interactions with other management systems within employer organizations;

  • Clarify model ownership and intellectual property issues, and

  • Include definition of BIM related terminologies to avoid misunderstanding among project stakeholders.

In addition to above general guidelines, a self-explanatory list of recommendations is included in Tables 5, 6 and 7 representing specific recommendations for the items of the three areas of EIR Guidelines.

Table 5. Recommendations for the technical area of the QEIR
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Table 6. Recommendations for the commercial area of the QEIR
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Table 7. Recommendations for the management area of the QEIR
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6 Conclusion and Limitations

This paper analyzed the potential of delivering EIR in Qatar using the EIR guidelines of the UK BIM Task group. The results showed that the construction industry in Qatar has certain capabilities in several items under each of the three areas of EIR (technical, commercial, management). However, there are significant challenges related to the lack of Qatari-specific BIM standards, BIM dictionary, project work phases, capability assessment, etc. Based on the gap analysis conducted, the research suggested the development of Qatar Employer Information Requirements (QEIR) and some recommendation for its various items.

The limitation of this study is related to the inconsistent coverage of all items of EIR in the interviews. Also the interviews were conducted with relatively large organizations working on large projects. Therefore, the results of the study may be skewed towards larger stakeholders, which however, represent the largest share of the Qatari construction market.

Finally, the outcomes from this research aim to instigate Qatar’s construction industry stakeholders to work towards the development of QEIR by proposing this seed of recommendations as the starting point for this discussion.