Building Information Modeling Education for Quantity Surveyors in Hong Kong: Current States, Education Gaps, and Challenges

ABSTRACT

Rapid developments in building information modeling (BIM) are escalating the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry toward digital transformation. However, the lack of skilled BIM professionals is a critical issue slowing this transformation. Currently, few educational institutions include BIM topics in their curricula, especially those developed for quantity surveying (QS) programs. Moreover, the learning outcomes of BIM curricula may not meet the current industrial requirements. Thus, this study investigated the current states, gaps, and challenges of BIM education for QS practices in Hong Kong. This study conducted surveys to determine industrial requirements and a case study to examine the BIM curricula currently offered at Hong Kong educational institutions. The results suggest that the current BIM education for QS practices is in line with the pace of BIM development in the AEC industry. However, some advanced topics are not covered in BIM education. Additionally, the non-standardized BIM competencies to be attained by students lead to uncertainty and challenges in BIM education for quantity surveyors.

KEYWORDS:

• BIM education
• quantity surveying
• industry demand
• multi-institution

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors to fund this research project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hong Kong Institue of Surveyors.