Facilitating claims settlement using building information modeling in the school building projects

Claims have a lot of space in construction projects, as they can have a considerable monetary value and thus negatively affect the final amount and duration of the project. This study seeks to suggest a building information modeling (BIM) approach to reduce most of the root causes of claims during the design phase. Thus, claims can be reduced during the project implementation phase. A questionnaire form was designed and distributed to 28 experts to obtain expert opinions on construction claims’ most important causes. In return, data were collected for 128 projects in Iraq, and the reasons for claims were extracted from them. After making the match between experts’ opinions and real projects, it was found that the match rate is high and that there are sixteen critical reasons for construction claims in Iraqi projects. After matching these causes with the BIM functions, a flowchart of each cause is drawn, and the inputs, tools, and outputs of the process are identified. The results showed the ability of BIM to prevent eight significant causes of claims (inaccurate quantities, excessive change orders, errors and design changes, flaws in drawings and specifications, and poor coordination between designers (structural, architectural, MEP)) through these BIM functions (3D visualization, clash detection, coordination, and take-off). The main results applied to a realistic case study show that BIM technology can be used as a precautionary approach during the design stage to reduce claims during implementation by (55.2%) so that the functions of this technology can solve the fundamental causes of claims in the construction projects sector in Iraq.