Advancing Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Irish Construction Industry: A Scientometric and Practical Analysis of Adoption Trends and Challenges

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become a transformative tool in Ireland's construction industry, offering efficiencies in planning, design, and management of infrastructure projects. This study employs a novel scientometric approach, using VOSviewer and bibliographic data from the Scopus database, alongside a structured survey targeting Irish construction professionals. The analysis identifies trends, gaps, and applications of BIM within Ireland's construction landscape. While BIM adoption is advancing, the scientometric findings reveal limited focus on areas such as energy efficiency, cost management, and small-scale projects. Conversely, survey data highlights high adoption rates for project design, planning, and simulation tasks, with Autodesk Revit as the preferred tool among professionals. Challenges impeding BIM implementation include limited expertise, inadequate training, and financial constraints, particularly affecting small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Despite these barriers, Ireland’s government mandates, such as the BIM public works adoption timeline, underscore a commitment to standardized practices across project scales. The study recommends expanding training initiatives, subsidizing BIM implementation for SMEs, and developing national standards to enhance consistency. Strengthening academic-industry collaborations can address research gaps, particularly in energy modeling and lifecycle cost analysis. Promoting BIM benefits through case studies and industry-wide workshops, alongside investments in advanced technologies, can further bolster adoption. Establishing a centralized monitoring framework will enable effective policy refinement and sustain BIM's integration into Ireland's construction sector. These measures aim to ensure the sector’s competitiveness in the global digital construction landscape