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The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the perceptions of constructional professionals on barriers to implementation of building information modeling (BIM) within the Nigerian construction industry.

A scoping literature review was conducted to identify the fourteen barriers to implementation of BIM, which were employed to design a questionnaire survey. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean score, Kruskal–Wallis test, analysis of variance and multivariate techniques such as factor analysis.

The descriptive and empirical analysis demonstrated a disparity of ranking of the 14 barriers factors among the groups; however no statistically significant differences among the 14 barriers to BIM. Based on the mean score ranking results, only three (out of 14) barriers are identified as critical (mean score greater than 3.5): few studies available on BIM and lack of knowledge, inexistence or inadequate government policies, and high cost of implementation. The results of the one-sample t-tests show that they were statistically significant differences in 10 out of 14 barriers as follows: few studies available on BIM and lack of knowledge, lack of demand for use and acceptance of BIM, inadequate contractual coordination, lack of specified standards, cost of data and information sharing, technological availability issues, reluctance of other stakeholders, business and cultural changes, data and intellectual property issues, and interoperability issues. The study, through factor analysis, categorized the fourteen barriers to BIM implementation into four principal factors. The factors are: technology and business-related barriers; training and people-related barriers; cost and standards-related barriers; and process and economic-related barriers.

The identification and assessment of the key barriers to BIM implementation would be useful for the construction professionals and other stakeholder of the construction industry with the view to advance BIM adoption in Nigeria. This could also be extended to other developing countries through considerations of the local economic conditions, given the status of BIM as being in the germinating stage of development in Africa.

The study provides insights on the barriers to BIM implementation across the Nigerian construction sector environments. The innovative aspect of the study is the identification of the ordered and grouped (composite) set of barriers to BIM which could be used to developing appropriate mitigating solutions.

The Nigerian construction industry, like in most emerging economies has been slow with technological advances such as building information modeling (BIM). More so, the application of BIM among Nigerian practitioners is rather limited to architects’ usage for schematic design and presentation of drawings. The purpose of this study is to enhance BIM’s uptake, this study explores the drivers for the implementation of BIM within the Nigerian construction industry.

An interpretivist epistemological design was adapted to extensively manually review and search the literature on BIM implementation drivers. Based on 14 drivers for BIM implementation drivers identified, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the Nigerian construction practitioners. The data obtained is then subjected to descriptive, inferential statistics and multivariate techniques such as factor analysis.

The study, through factor analysis, categorized the 14 drivers to BIM implementation into four principal factors. The factors are construction related-drivers; process digitalization and economic-related drivers; sustainability and efficiency-related drivers; and visualization and productivity-related drivers.

To effectively adopt BIM in the construction industry, it is necessary to identify the BIM implementing drivers, which can act as catalysts of change and, thus leading to sustained adoption of BIM. Therefore, the identified drivers and categorization of principal factors could provide managerial implications for better execution and adoption of BIM, as well as the creation of the required change for the BIM implementation.

The research provides insights into the implementation drivers of BIM in lesser studies in a developing country such as Nigeria. The study further contributes to this research sphere by using factor analysis to customize and contextualize the drivers that were previously identified.

Age is one of the critical factors used by many organizations to determine employees' performance. It is being considered in the retirement process of construction professionals. However, age as a critical factor is not considered in the recruitment of a specific set of workers in the construction industry. Therefore, this study investigated the significant relationship between the ages of tradespeople and their performance in construction projects. The study also explored the age at which performance begins to decline and proposes strategies that can be used to sustain their effectiveness before the official retirement age.

Mixed methods research designs were adopted in the study. To be precise, physical observations, interviews and questionnaires were the instruments used for data collection in the mixed methods research design.

The outcomes of the study revealed that the age groups of tradespeople in the Nigerian construction industry are 16–30 (group one), 31–45 (group two) and 46–58 (group three) respectively. Group three is the prevalent age group. It was also discovered that performance begins to decline at 53 years. The age-performance decline of tradespeople in Nigerian construction projects can be delayed through certain strategies such as regular strength training exercises and an adequate nutritional lifestyle.

The study enables construction managers to have an adequate understanding of the negative influence of old age on the performance of tradespeople in construction projects. This will enable construction firm managers to recruit from the age range of 16–52 and stop retiring employees within this age bracket, consequently curbing the skills gap which is prevalent in the study context and the global construction industry. The study is limited to tradespeople performance in construction firms in Abuja, Nigeria where there are several ongoing projects on a daily basis.

The study enables project managers to estimate the number of tradespeople required for a particular task and consequently save the aged tradespeople from health risks associated with excessive workloads.

This paper is the first of its kind to be conducted in the study context, to establish the specific age at which performance begins to decline among construction tradespeople.