Introduction

“I read in a journal recently that ‘Lean construction and building information modelling (BIM) are quite different initiatives, but both are having profound impacts on the construction industry. A rigorous analysis of the myriad specific interactions between them indicates that a synergy exists which, if properly understood in theoretical terms, can be exploited to improve construction processes beyond the degree to which they might be improved by application of either of these paradigms independently’. It’s quite a mouthful, but I think it means that we should adopt both Lean Construction and BIM. But can that really work?”