BIM application and collaboration in construction projects: a perspective of the Chinese construction market

Although building information modelling (BIM) is endowed with the potential for collaboration, the nature of the relationship between BIM application and collaboration has not been well-elaborated. This research classifies collaboration into the two dimensions of cooperation and coordination and empirically tests a model to understand not only the effect of BIM application on collaboration in construction projects but also the moderating effects of fairness perception and contract specificity. Using 296 samples from the Chinese construction industry, this research reveals the existence of a positive relationship between BIM application and collaboration. In addition, fairness perception weakens the relationship between BIM application and both collaboration dimensions of cooperation and coordination, while contract specificity strengthens the effect of BIM application on the coordination dimension only. These findings offer new insights through a nuanced understanding of the nature of the relationship between BIM application and collaboration, providing useful guidance for BIM application in the construction industry.