1. Department of Environmental Design
Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering
Employing BIM and Virtual Reality to Support Decision Making in Planning, Design, and Construction Industry
Redha Gheraba
Texas Tech University.
Lubbock, Texas 2017.

2. Introduction
Change orders have significant impact on many aspects of construction projects. They are known to be the primary cause of litigation in the construction industry.
Change orders are the formal way to address any deviation from the original scope during the execution phase.
Change orders are almost inevitable due to the uniqueness of each project from different perspectives; such as:
Construction type (commercial, residential, or industrial) .
Design complexity.
Available resources (budget, equipment, and manpower).
Human factors.
Change orders are mainly the result of:
Internal Environment (IE) factors known as owner, consultant and contractor.
Input Factor (IF) known as labor, material and equipment.
Exogenous Factors (EF) known as weather and new regulations.

3. Background Problem statement and gap in the literature review:
Major disputes can arise during construction projects which can result in law suits and tremendous financial and time loss. Change orders are the primary cause of disputes in construction projects due the delay in schedule and the increase of the overall project cost.
Most of the construction contracts require the owner’s formal authorization prior to any construction change or extra work to be performed. However, in reality, this is not the case, especially when it comes to large complex projects; the pace of work in the field is often very fast that change orders are approved verbally, prior to in depth review of the change order causes.
A good body of the literature review has addressed change orders causes and their negative effects; however, few studies have extended their research to understand who is primarily responsible for change orders (owner, contractors, or consultant) and the specific reason(s) triggering change orders.
Very few studies have proposed the implementation of BIM and VR technology in construction projects in order to minimize and eliminate change orders.

4. Design phases in construction projects:
Programming
Feasibility Study
Schematic Design
Design Development
Construction Documents
Bidding
Construction Administration
As Built Documents
Execution phases:
Planning
Construction
Close-out

5. Research Objectives:
The aim of this study is to further investigate and rank the causes, effects, and control measures of change orders. (Phase I)
Propose new innovative tools to control and minimize change orders and support the decision making process in construction projects. (Phase II)
Research question(s):
What are the most important causes, effects, and control measure of change orders in construction projects.
Who is the primary party responsible for change orders in construction projects?
Does the implementation of Building Information Modeling and Virtual Reality in construction projects help in supporting the decision making process?

6. Research Methodology:
Literature review
Interview and consultation with AEC experts
Data collection tool
Evaluation of the data collection tool by AEC experts
Data collection
Review and organization of the data
Data analysis
Validation of the results by the AEC experts
Conclusion

7. Scope:
This research encompasses the following design disciplines, architecture, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, interior design, and AV-technologies.
All construction delivery methods with focus on Design-Bid-Build (DBB) and Design-Build (DB).
Public projects.
Sampling frame:
American Institute of Architects (AIA), The American Society of Civil Engineers, and a random selection of Design companies – for consultants.
Top 100 GC’s in the USA as well as the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of North America – for contractors.
Association of Physical Plant Administrators as well as physical plant departments of several universities.

8. Data Analysis Procedures
Principal Components Analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation is used for both causes and control measures sections of the survey as a grouping and data reduction tool.

10. Ranking of causes, effects, and control measures by Relative Importance (RII)
This technique is not only used to rank different items, but also to determine the contribution of each item by itself as well as in combination with other items. Furthermore, Johnson and Le Breton (2004) indicated that RII helps in determining the contribution of a particular variable on making predictions regarding a criterion variable, both by itself and in combination with other predictor variables.
The Relative Importance Index (RII) formula used in this study is:
𝐑𝐈𝐈= 𝑊 𝐴∗𝑁
W is the weight given to each cause by the respondents and ranges from 1 to 5, (where “1” is “Very rarely” and “5” is “Very frequently”);
A is the highest weight (i.e. 5 in this case)
N is the total number of respondents.

11. Chi square for goodness of fit test
The logic of this test is to compare the proportion of observed or actual cases relative to the expected proportion of cases. For example, the expected frequency for the 113 respondents over 5 categories ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree will be approximately 22 respondents for each of the 5 categories, resulting in an equally distributed of the responses. This can be interpreted as non-significant as the observed data equals the expected data – which is not the case is this section of the questionnaire. Chi-square results for all the responses were statistically significant, P< .05, meaning that all recorded responses are significantly different from the expected responses.
𝝌²=∑ (𝑂−𝐸)² 𝐸
O: the frequencies observed
E: the expected frequencies

12. Data Analysis Results

18. Hypothesis Testing:
T-test results between groups with regard to BIM familiarity: There was no significant difference between respondent who are familiar with BIM and respondents who are not in terms of the perceived importance of BIM. For the familiar group (M=3.58, SD=1.14) and for the non-familiar group (M=3.26, SD=.94); t (52) =1.47, p = Provide a short explanation: This lack of difference suggests that those who are familiar with BIM consider BIM to be as important as those who are not familiar with BIM.
T-test results between groups with regard to VR familiarity: The t-test was found to be significant, indicating that there are significant differences between the respondents who are familiar with VR and respondents who are no in terms of their VR perceived importance. For the familiar group (M=3.60, SD=1.06) and for the non-familiar group (M=2.89, SD=.77); t (102.52) =4.01, p<.05. This finding suggests that users who are more familiar with this technology find it to be more important as a control measure for change orders.

19. Univariate analysis of variance results with regard to the respondent’s degree of familiarity with BIM and its perceived importance:  the analysis of variance results show that there are no significant differences between the respondent’s degree of familiarity with BIM (slightly familiar, familiar, and very familiar), and its perceived importance as a control measure for change orders [F (2, 83) = 1.36, p=.26].
Univariate analysis of variance results with regard to the respondent’s degree of familiarity with VR and its perceived importance : the univariate analysis of variance results show that there are no significant differences between the respondent’s degree of familiarity with VR (slightly familiar, familiar, and very familiar), and its perceived importance as a control measure for change orders [F (2, 51) = .55, p=.57].

20. Univariate analysis of variance results with regard to the respondent’s BIM frequency of use and its perceived importance : The one way ANOVA test was found to be statistically significant, indicating that there are significant differences between respondents in terms of their frequency of using BIM (rarely, sometimes, and always) on one hand and its perceived importance on the other hand [F (2, 83) = 5.33, p=.007]. The ANOVA test was followed by a post hoc test in order to determine where the differences are between the groups of respondents. According to the Tukey HSD post hoc test, respondents who use BIM very frequently have a higher perceived importance for BIM as a control measure for change orders (M = .87, SD = 0.28).
 Explain what the group frequencies are: Very often, often, never. Or whatever they were. Otherwise it is hard to tell what is going on here.

21. Univariate analysis of variance results with regard to the respondent’s VR use in their projects and its perceived importance : The one way ANOVA test was found to be statistically significant, indicating that there are significant differences between respondents in terms of their usage of VR in their projects and its perceived importance [F (1, 55) = 4.34, p=.042]. The ANOVA test was followed by a post hoc test in order to determine where the differences are between the groups of respondents. According to the Tukey HSD post hoc test, respondents who have used VR  in their projects have a higher perceived importance for VR as a control measure for change orders (M = .57, SD = 0.27).

22. Recommendations for owners:
Provide a well-defined scope of work and a clear description of the expected end results.
Understand the design and verify it reflects the expected results.
Understand the scope of work and risk assigned to each party during construction.
Hire experienced consultants and contractor to minimize the risk of errors and omission.
Communicate continuously with all parties during all phases.
Use visualization technologies to better understand the design and virtually experience. the building prior to construction.

23. Recommendations for consultants:
Understand the owner’s scope of work and expected end result, in order to better translate into construction documents.
Continuous communication and collaboration with owner and contractor during all phases of the project.
Use collaborative and design communication technologies such as BIM to facilitate the collaboration between all parties and detect any design problems that may cause change orders during construction.
Use visualization technologies such as VR in order to increase the owner’s understanding of the design and to avoid any design changes during construction.

24. Recommendations for contractors:
Provide professional input on constructability, cost, and schedule during early stages of the project.
Investigate the jobsite prior to construction to minimize the risk of unforeseen conditions.
The final cost included in the project contract should be based on real estimates obtained from sub-contractors, or based on similar projects competed in near geographical locations and relatively recent.
Continuous coordination with owner and consultant throughout all of the project phases.
Include contingency funds in the overall cost of the project for the unforeseen conditions.
Use organizational methods and collaborative technologies such as BIM.
Use visualization technologies such as VR in order to give the onsite superintents and project managers a better understanding of the constructability as well as the expected end result.