On the Need of BIM Implementation in the Historical Buildings Renovation An Analytical KMS-based Approach Toward Upgrading the Existing Renovation Design Methods to the Building Information Model in Iran

BIM (Building Information Modeling) is the new trend in accordance with the management of the information related to building design and construction; some countries such as Denmark, Singapore and the United Kingdom have mandated the implementation of BIM method for their public construction projects and considered BIM documentation/implementation as a part of their national regulations/codes. So far, there is not such a ground rule/platform in Iran to provide and improve public construction/design contracts based on BIM implementation. This gap makes the management of the generated associated knowledge difficult to capture and eventually would not support the needed effective dissemination of the prospect knowledge. Particularly the practical implementation, the associated knowledge acquisition, and application of BIM remain a major issue, in our case for the renovation projects in Iran, although the related software are in common usage. The ultimate goal of this paper is to gain a more acute perspective into the implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) through the renovation of the cultural/historic places/buildings and the related innovative operational approach, addressing various projects around the world by developing a conceptual model as a Knowledge Management System (KMS); it reveals that BIM adaptation for public historical renovations in Iran which not only helps to mitigate the Knowledge Management problems but also attract global actors to participate in the mentioned field beside the platform development of the KM. The establishment of the KMS and the associated dynamism must be through the core management approach and strategy of the contributing enterprises, providing the human, financial and material resources to the process; additionally, it is essential to capture and systematized generated information and knowledge throughout the lifecycle of the renovation projects. The methodology is based on a literature review of the   toward fulfilling the gap of the key management factors such as indecisive sustainability, weak project execution, unclear or divergent project goals, lack of funding or resources, lack of design and renovation standards, etc. By implementation of BIM as a knowledge-based approach in the renovation of historical and cultural projects, our conceptual model uses BIM as an information exchange framework to manage knowledge in renovation project. The paper concludes with a potential broad discussion of suggestions supporting the adaptation of BIM at the renovation stage of historical projects in Iran based on the research findings.