Database-Supported and Web-Based

Visualization for Daily 4D BIM

Jaehyun Park, S.M.ASCE 1; Hubo Cai, M.ASCE 2; Phillip S. Dunston, A.M.ASCE 3;
and Hossein Ghasemkhani 4
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Abstract: Four-dimensional (4D) building information modeling (BIM) (3D BIM plus time) is a powerful tool to visualize and communicate
construction plans and milestones. A potential use of 4D BIM is to support daily construction operations and progress monitoring and
tracking based on the premise that the latest version of the 4D model including daily construction progress is shared among the project
participants. However, in the current practice, file-based 4D BIM has limitations in sharing and visualizing the latest construction progress
information in a timely manner because of information delay and data inconsistency issues. Leveraging the advancements in the Web and
database technologies, this paper presents a Web and database-supported visualization method that enables real-time information sharing of
daily 4D BIM. A central database structure that contains an automatic determination and update method for each BIM object visualization
is designed to facilitate the display of daily 4D BIM. The newly created method is demonstrated through the implementation of a real
construction project schedule and a 3D BIM. Results illustrate that the method overcomes the information delay and data inconsistency
issues associated with file-based 4D BIM to enable the sharing and visualization of daily 4D BIM in real time. The newly developed plat-
form also facilitates timely decision making by enhancing communications and collaborations among project participants regarding daily
construction operations and progress. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001392. © 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Database; Web viewer; Industry foundation classes (IFC); Four-dimensional building information modeling (4D BIM);
Information technologies.

Introduction However, in the current practice, 4D BIM has shortcomings

Four-dimensional (4D) building information modeling (BIM) (3D
BIM plus time) is a powerful visualization and communication tool
that can visualize construction plans and milestones (Computer
Integrated Construction Research Group 2010). During the con-
struction phase, 4D BIM has been used for construction planning,
constructability analysis, and communications and collaborations
with clients and among project participants (Mahalingam et al.
2010). Four-dimensional BIM also has the potential to support
daily construction operations (Chau et al. 2004; Staub-French and
Khanzode 2007; Lee and Yun 2015) and construction progress
monitoring and tracking (Meža et al. 2004; Staub-French and
Khanzode 2007). A prerequisite to realizing these benefits is that
the latest version of the 4D BIM model (including daily construc-
tion progress) be shared among project participants in a timely
manner (Staub-French and Khanzode 2007).
1
Ph.D. Candidate, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ.,
550 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907. E-mail: park625@
purdue.edu
2
Associate Professor, Division of Construction Engineering and
Management and Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ.,
550 Stadium Mall Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907 (corresponding author).
E-mail: hubocai@purdue.edu
3
Professor, Division of Construction Engineering and Management
and Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., 550 Stadium Mall
Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907. E-mail: dunston@purdue.edu
4
Assistant Professor, Krannert School of Management, Purdue Univ.,
403 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907. E-mail: hossein@purdue.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on January 30, 2017; approved on
May 11, 2017; published online on August 11, 2017. Discussion period
open until January 11, 2018; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Construction En-
gineering and Management, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9364.
in sharing the latest status of construction progress in a timely
manner. Four-dimensional BIM is practical only using specific
commercial software packages (e.g., Autodesk Navisworks, Vico
Office, or Synchro PRO) that are based on a specific operating
system (i.e., Microsoft Windows) and traditional file-based format
(Wang et al. 2014). Thus, working 4D BIM model files can be
shared only using the corresponding commercial software under
the specific operating system to other project participants for in-
formation sharing. Consequently, current software-based and file-
based 4D BIM can cause information delays and data inconsistency
issues (Froese et al. 2000).
Currently, server-based work-sharing solutions (i.e., Autodesk
Revit Server and Graphisoft BIM Server) have been introduced
by BIM software vendors to overcome information delays and data
inconsistency issues of the current software-based and file-based
approach. Using the solutions, project participants can access and
modify their working BIM model files at the same time. However,
the main purpose of these solutions is to support the project partic-
ipants’ collaboration tasks during the 3D BIM model development
process, not the sharing of project progress information via 4D BIM.
Alternatively, Web and database technologies enable informa-
tion sharing in real time (Hoffer et al. 2013). Information can
be maintained in a centralized database (Ramanathan and Sarkar
1988), and the centralized database helps eliminate the delays
and inconsistencies among project participants (Froese et al.
2000). Moreover, users can access Web systems using any device
(e.g., smartphones, tablet personal computers, or laptops) and op-
erating system as long as the device has a Web browser installed
and can connect to the Internet (González-Tato et al. 2013).
This study proposes a Web and database-supported method that
overcomes the limitations of file-based 4D BIM practices to enable
the visualization and sharing of the latest version of daily 4D BIM

© ASCE 04017078-1 J. Constr. Eng. Manage.

J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2017, 143(10): 04017078

 models in a timely manner. The method includes a central 4D BIM
database structure that contains an automatic mechanism to deter-
mine and update the progress status for individual BIM objects so
that their visualization reflects the project progress status. The rest
of this paper is organized as follows. The literature review section
provides a summary of relevant studies for developing the proposed
Web and database-supported visualization method. The following
sections provide a detailed explanation of the method and illus-
trate the demonstration of the newly developed method with a real
construction project. Finally, research findings and conclusions are
reported.
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Literature Review
This section provides a review of relevant studies to develop a Web
and database-supported visualization method for presenting daily
4D BIM models. Specifically, the Web-based BIM model visuali-
zation and the concept of a central database are summarized in this
section.
Web-Based BIM Model Visualization
Until recently, displaying high-performance 3D accelerated graph-
ics in Web environments has been a critical challenge and an ob-
stacle in the current practice because Web-based BIM model
visualization generally requires a significant amount of time to load
the BIM model files (Suh et al. 2013).
To overcome this file-loading challenge, various methodologies
have been used. For example, Suh et al. (2013) developed a Web-
based BIM model viewer based on the ActiveX control; Shen et al.
(2012) and Fang et al. (2016) used the Unity3D game engine for
BIM model visualization in Web environments. However, these
attempts at Web-based BIM model visualization rely on specific
Web browsers (e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer for the ActiveX
control, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple
Safari, and Opera software Opera for the Unity3D engine), and
none of them support mobile access.
Fig. 1. UML activity diagram of the proposed method
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Alternatively, Web Graphics Library (WebGL) is supported in
most Web browsers, including those being used in the mobile envi-
ronment (X3DOM 2017). It is a royalty-free Web standard that
enables low-level interactive graphics rendering (Khronos Group
2017). Therefore, it is commonly used in various open-source BIM
visualization projects (e.g., BIMsurfer 2017; IFC TOOLS Project
2017; IFC Web Server 2017; xBIM Toolkit 2017). Considering
that participants in construction projects use both mobile devices
and office computers to access BIM models, WebGL is suitable
for rendering 3D graphics for sharing daily BIM information in
construction.
Central Database Concept
A few researchers (e.g., Chen et al. 2016; Fassi et al. 2015; Hu et al.
2016) have succeeded in developing Web-based BIM applications
including WebGL-based BIM model visualizations. A common
aspect of the current studies is that nongeometric data of the BIM
model or additional data that are not included in typical BIM mod-
els are recorded and managed in a central database. Chen et al.
(2016) presented a cloud-based system framework that enables
Web-based viewing and analysis of massive BIM models and used
WebGL technology to display BIM models in the Web environ-
ment. In their study, a central database was established based on
BigTable, and MapReduce enabled the processing of a large
amount of data from massive BIM models for their cloud-based
viewing, storage, and analysis system. The WebGL-based viewer
in their system focused on the presentation of the visual informa-
tion in the database. Fassi et al. (2015) developed a WebGL viewer
system that enabled Web-based maintenance tasks and collabora-
tion in real time. The information on maintenance work and related
BIM models was stored in a central database and presented with 3D
visualization through the WebGL-based viewer. Hu et al. (2016)
proposed a WebGL-based platform for the data conversion between
architectural and structural BIM models. To meet this conversion
challenge, this study proposed industry foundation class (IFC)-
based data conversion algorithms and tried to present BIM models
in the Web environments using WebGL technology. A central
J. Constr. Eng. Manage.
 Fig. 2. ERD of the relationship between the schedule and the BIM model
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database was also developed to store and share necessary informa-
tion for the data conversions, and the WebGL viewer was used to
present the conversion results visually from the database.
The central database concept with WebGL-based BIM model
viewers in the most recent studies illustrate that 4D BIM can
be visualized in the Web environment, and thus 4D daily BIM
models can be visualized in a similar way. However, daily 4D BIM
models must be updated to reflect the project progress, but the pre-
vious studies treat BIM models as static: no mechanism is available
to update the BIM model as the project progresses and visualize
the model to reflect the project progress and activity status. To over-
come this critical shortcoming, in this study, a central database that
contains rules to automatically determine and update the status of
individual BIM objects is proposed. The database is updated auto-
matically to reflect the project’s progress. Because the database
is queried in real time when visualizing, the newly created web
platform enables the visual communication of project progress to
project participants. It does not rely on specific commercial BIM
software packages.
Fig. 3. Automatic decision and update methods for the status of each
schedule task
Fig. 4. SQL script for querying the status of each BIM object
© ASCE 04017078-3
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Web and Database-Based Visualization Method
In this section, the proposed Web and database-supported visuali-
zation method for presenting daily 4D BIM models is described.
Workflow of the Web and Database-Supported
Visualization Method
Fig. 1 presents the unified modeling language (UML) activity dia-
gram of the overall process for the proposed method. The pro-
posed method works based on three assumptions. First, the 3D
BIM model and the project schedule have been previously created.
Second, the 3D BIM models follows a common open BIM file
format (e.g., IFC file formats, *.ifc or *.ifcxml). Third, the project
schedule is being updated daily.
When a user initiates the Web viewer, the Web viewer accesses
a linked central database to query the progress status of each BIM
object as the first step. Query results are grouped into six tables
separated by progress status categories—scheduled, ongoing, de-
layed (late start), delayed (overdue), delayed (not start), and fin-
ished BIM objects. In particular, the status of each BIM object is
determined and updated automatically based on the information in
a construction schedule that is a part of the central database. The
database generates dynamic views for each separated table by cat-
egory using the query results and transmits them to the Web viewer.
Finally, the Web viewer visualizes the daily 4D BIM models and
communicates the project status to the user.
Aside from the viewer execution process, the construction
schedule table in the database is duplicated with a different table
Fig. 5. SQL script for creating the dynamic view for the scheduled
BIM objects
Fig. 6. SQL script for making daily backup tables of schedule table
J. Constr. Eng. Manage.
 name including previous date information when the system date is
changed. The duplicated schedule tables include task status infor-
mation from that day, and the users can investigate historical 4D
BIM models with status information for construction progress
monitoring and tracking based on the data in the duplicated tables.
4D BIM Database
The proposed central database structure for visualizing the daily
4D model is presented as an entity relationship diagram (ERD) as
shown in Fig. 2.
The central database structure for visualizing the daily 4D
model consists of three entities: schedule, BIM model, and WBS-
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BIM entities. The schedule entity consists of seven attributes: work
breakdown structure (WBS) code (primary key), name, start, finish,
actual start, actual finish, and status. The status attribute is a derived
attribute, and its value is determined through the comparison of the
values of the start, finish, actual start, and actual finish attributes.
The BIM model entity includes six attributes: GlobalID (primary
key), Name, Type, DefiningType, BuildingStory, and Label. All
information can be recorded to the database through the parsing
of IFC file format-based BIM models. The WBS-BIM entity con-
sists of two attributes, the WBS code and the GlobalID, and both
attributes are primary keys (composite key) and foreign keys. The
WBS-BIM entity is generated through the automated linking pro-
cess (Park and Cai 2017) between related schedule tasks and BIM
model objects.
For the automated linking process, the WBS codes are based
on MasterFormat [the same as Table 22 (Work Results) of
OmniClass] and UniFormat [the same as Table 21 (Elements) of
OmniClass], and the name attribute of each BIM object is revised
to identify characteristics of the BIM objects. For example, the
WBS code A-042113-1-001 represents bricklaying work for the
first-floor construction of a first building structure. “A” indicates
Fig. 7. (Color) BIM model in case study: (a) visualization on Google Chrome in Microsoft Windows 10; (b) visualization on Apple Safari in
Apple iOS 9
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that the code is related to architectural works; the six-digit number
“042113” is referred to in MasterFormat (the same as Table 22 of
OmniClass), and it means bricklaying work; “1” defines the first
building structure (if the project has only one building structure,
all WBS codes present “1” for this part); and “001” represents
the area—the first floor. Moreover, the BIM object that has the
value “brick” in its name attribute means the object is related
to bricklaying work. Using WBS codes and the values in the name
attributes, each BIM object and the relevant WBS codes can be
automatically linked.
In both the BIM model and WBS-BIM entities, the GlobalID
and Label attributes can both function as the primary key because
they have unique values (Ma et al. 2006). However, the values of
the Label attribute might change when the base 3D BIM model is
revised and converted to IFC format because of change orders or
directives. Thus, the GlobalID attribute was chosen as the primary
key for both the BIM model and WBS-BIM entities because a value
is assigned permanently when the object is created.
Determine and Update the Progress Status for BIM
Objects
The status of each BIM object is queried through an equi-join op-
eration of the central 4D BIM database. In an equi-join operation,
the joining condition is based on the equality of two values in the
common columns (Hoffer et al. 2013). In this study, the values in
the status attribute of the schedule table are determined first, using
the procedure outlined in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 illustrates the script for
querying the status of each BIM object through an equi-join
operation.
The procedure is executed automatically when the database is
updated or the system date is changed. The status of the schedule
tasks is divided into six groups [i.e., scheduled (1), ongoing (2),
delayed (late start, 3), delayed (overdue, 4), delayed (not start, 5),
J. Constr. Eng. Manage.
 Table 1. Schedule in Case Study (June 25, 2016)
WBS code Name Start Finish Actual start Actual finish Status
A-015213-1-AAA Temporary office installation 2015-09-07 2015-09-12 2015-09-07 2015-09-12 6a
A-017123-1-AAA Construction site survey 2015-09-14 2015-09-19 2015-09-14 2015-09-21 6
A-024113-1-AAA Tree removal 2015-09-21 2015-09-26 2015-09-21 2015-09-26 6
A-148000-1-AAA External scaffolding installation 2015-09-21 2016-04-30 2015-09-21 2015-04-23 6
A-148100-1-AAA External scaffolding disassembly 2016-05-02 2016-05-14 2016-04-25 2016-04-30 6
A-028233-1-AAA Asbestos demolition 2015-09-21 2015-10-03 2015-09-21 2015-10-05 6
A-024116-1-B01 Basement floor demolition 2015-09-28 2015-10-03 2015-09-28 2015-10-02 6
A-024213-1-AAA External wall demolition 2015-10-05 2015-10-24 2015-10-05 2015-10-26 6
A-024119-1-AAA Internal wall demolition 2015-10-05 2015-10-31 2015-10-05 2015-10-31 6
A-024291-1-AAA Remains removal 2015-10-26 2015-11-14 2015-10-26 2015-11-12 6
A-033000-1-B01 Basement-floor reinforced concrete work 2015-11-16 2015-11-21 2015-11-16 2015-11-21 6
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A-037100-1-001 First-floor foundation reinforced concrete work 2015-11-23 2015-11-28 2015-11-23 2015-11-27 6
A-033000-1-001 First-floor reinforced concrete work 2015-11-30 2015-12-05 2015-11-30 2015-12-04 6
A-033000-1-002 Second-floor reinforced concrete work 2015-12-07 2015-12-12 2015-12-07 2015-12-11 6
A-033000-1-003 Third-floor reinforced concrete work 2015-12-14 2015-12-19 2015-12-14 2015-12-18 6
A-033000-1-004 Fourth-floor reinforced concrete work 2015-12-21 2015-12-26 2015-12-21 2015-12-28 6
A-033000-1-005 Fifth-floor reinforced concrete work 2016-01-04 2016-01-09 2016-01-04 2016-01-09 6
A-033000-1-RFT Rooftop-floor reinforced concrete work 2016-01-11 2016-01-16 2016-01-11 2016-01-16 6
A-051200-1-AAA Steelwork 2015-11-30 2015-12-26 2015-11-30 2015-12-26 6
A-042113-1-001 First-floor bricklaying work 2015-12-07 2015-12-12 2015-12-07 2015-12-12 6
A-042113-1-002 Second-floor bricklaying work 2015-12-14 2015-12-19 2015-12-14 2015-12-19 6
A-042113-1-003 Third-floor bricklaying work 2015-12-21 2015-12-26 2015-12-21 2015-12-26 6
A-042113-1-004 Fourth-floor bricklaying work 2016-01-04 2016-01-09 2016-01-04 2016-01-11 6
A-042113-1-005 Fifth-floor bricklaying work 2016-01-11 2016-01-16 2016-01-12 2016-01-16 6
A-047100-1-AAA Exterior bricklaying work 2015-12-28 2016-01-09 2015-12-18 2016-01-09 6
A-042129-1-AAA Exterior terracotta work 2016-01-11 2016-01-23 2016-01-11 2016-01-22 6
A-321440-1-001 Entrance stonework 2016-05-16 2016-05-21 N/A N/A 5b
A-321440-1-B01 Basement-floor stonework 2016-05-23 2016-06-11 N/A N/A 5
A-093400-1-AAA Waterproofing work 2016-03-14 2016-04-02 2016-03-14 2016-04-01 6
A-051000-1-AAA Exterior and interior metalwork 2016-03-04 2016-04-02 2016-03-04 N/A 4
A-051400-1-AAA Aluminum panel installation 2016-04-04 2016-04-30 2016-06-20 N/A 4
A-064200-1-AAA Ipe wood panel installation 2016-05-02 2016-06-04 2016-06-03 2016-06-25 6
A-102616-1-AAA Handrail installation 2016-06-06 2016-07-02 N/A N/A 5
A-093200-1-AAA Mortar work 2016-04-18 2016-04-30 2016-04-18 2016-04-30 6
A-096200-1-AAA Trowel finish work 2016-05-02 2016-05-14 2016-05-02 2016-05-13 6
A-104400-1-AAA Fire-protecting shutter installation 2016-03-14 2016-04-02 2016-03-14 2016-04-01 6
A-085000-1-AAA Window installation 2016-05-30 2016-06-18 2016-05-30 N/A 4c
A-081000-1-AAA Door installation 2016-05-30 2016-06-18 2016-05-30 N/A 4
A-084400-1-AAA Curtain wall installation 2016-05-16 2016-07-02 2016-05-16 N/A 2d
A-099100-1-AAA Painting work 2016-06-13 2016-07-09 N/A N/A 5
A-072100-1-AAA Urethane insulation work 2016-03-14 2016-03-26 2016-03-14 2016-03-29 6
A-074200-1-AAA Drywall installation 2016-03-21 2016-04-09 2016-03-21 2016-04-12 6
A-143100-1-AAA Escalator installation 2016-04-04 2016-05-28 N/A N/A 5
A-329119-1-AAA Landscape work 2016-07-04 2016-07-23 N/A N/A 1e
a
6 = finished.
b
5 = delayed (not start).
c
4 = delayed (overdue).
d
2 = ongoing.
e
1 = scheduled.

and finished (6)], and the corresponding numeric values are in-
serted into the database table.
Dynamic Views for Each Status Group of the BIM
Objects
Through applications of the structured query language (SQL) script
in Fig. 4, the status of each BIM object can be queried by each
status type [i.e., 1 (scheduled) to 6 (finished)] as dynamic views.
The dynamic view is a virtual table that is created dynamically as a
result of a SQL query (Hoffer et al. 2013). As an example, Fig. 5
presents the SQL script to create a dynamic view for the lists of the
BIM objects that are scheduled status one (1). A total of six
dynamic views are created and used for visualizing daily 4D BIM
models with specific status information for each BIM object.
Daily Backup Tables for Generating Historical
Schedule Tables
The daily backup tables for the schedule table in the database are
generated using the SQL script when the system date is changed
(Fig. 6). The database management system (DBMS) executes the
script automatically. The duplicated tables have a name including
the previous date information. For example, if the system date is

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 changed to June 25, 2016, the name of the newly duplicated table in
the database is SCHEDULE_20160624.
Case Study
The proposed Web and database-supported visualization method
for presenting the daily 4D model is demonstrated in this section.
Demonstration tasks were conducted to ensure that the status of
each BIM object is automatically determined from the pro-
posed database structure and that the Web viewer can present these
status data normally. For these tasks, a real construction project
BIM model and associated schedule data were used, as shown
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ArchiCAD 19. The IFC file was parsed and presented in the
Web environments using the xBIM Toolkit modules (xBIM
Toolkit 2017). C# and ASP.NET were used to develop a Web
viewer, and MS-SQL Server 2014 was used to record and manage
all databases for the case study. In the database—the WBS-BIM
table—5,660 rows were inserted to present the relationships be-
tween each schedule task and BIM object, and the schedule table
in the database was automatically duplicated from May 2, 2016, to
June 20, 2016, to generate backup schedule tables. Google Chrome
was used to measure viewer performance. Using the Navigation
Timing application programming interface (API) (W3C 2012) of
Google Chrome, page-loading time of the Web viewer was mea-
sured; average page-loading time was approximately 1.4 s without

in Fig. 7 and Table 1, and two specific dates (i.e., May 2, 2016,
and June 20, 2016) were selected to present the daily 4D BIM
model.
Each status type was visualized with specific characteristics.
For example, scheduled status was hidden BIM objects; ongoing,
late start, overdue, and not start statuses were highlighted BIM
objects using transparent green, yellow, orange, and red colors,
respectively; and finished status was represented by BIM objects
without any highlighting. In particular, this project incorporated
three Web cameras for monitoring the construction site. Among
them, two Web camera views (i.e., Channel 2 and Channel 3)
were used to compare with the visualization of the daily 4D BIM
models.
The BIM model was established as level of development (LOD)
300 and converted into the IFC file format using Graphisoft
data downloading time.
Case 1: May 2, 2016
This section describes the daily 4D BIM models on May 2, 2016,
with the comparison of Web camera views for that day. Fig. 8
presents the Web camera views, and Table 2 summarizes ongoing
and delayed tasks for that day.
According to Table 2, five tasks were ongoing or delayed on
that day. Among them, trowel finish work was started normally,
but four other tasks were delayed. Exterior and interior metalwork
were still under construction, and aluminum panel installation did
not start (because of material procurement problems). The demon-
stration case is a public construction project; hence, the metal and
aluminum panels were procured by the government. The general

Fig. 8. (Color) Web camera views on May 2, 2016

Table 2. Ongoing and Delayed Tasks on May 2, 2016

WBS code Name Start Finish Actual start Actual finish Status
A-051000-1-AAA Exterior and interior metalwork 2016-03-04 2016-04-02 2016-03-04 N/A 4a
A-051400-1-AAA Aluminum panel installation 2016-04-04 2016-04-30 N/A N/A 5b
A-064200-1-AAA Ipe wood panel installation 2016-05-02 2016-06-04 N/A N/A 5
A-096200-1-AAA Trowel finish work 2016-05-02 2016-05-14 2016-05-02 N/A 2c
A-143100-1-AAA Escalator installation 2016-04-04 2016-05-28 N/A N/A 5
a
4 = delayed (overdue).
b
5 = delayed (not start).
c
2 = ongoing.

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Fig. 9. (Color) Visualization of the daily 4D BIM models on May 2, 2016: (a) highlights of the ipe wood panel installation; (b) highlights of the
metalwork; (c) highlights of the escalator installation; (d) highlights of the aluminum panel installation

Fig. 10. (Color) Web camera views on June 20, 2016

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 Table 3. Ongoing and Delayed Tasks on June 20, 2016
WBS code Name Start Finish Actual start Actual finish Status
A-321440-1-001 Entrance stonework 2016-05-16 2016-05-21 N/A N/A 5a
A-321440-1-B01 Basement-floor stonework 2016-05-23 2016-06-11 N/A N/A 5
A-051000-1-AAA Exterior and interior metalwork 2016-03-04 2016-04-02 2016-03-04 N/A 4b
A-051400-1-AAA Aluminum panel installation 2016-04-04 2016-04-30 2016-06-20 N/A 4
A-064200-1-AAA Ipe wood panel installation 2016-05-02 2016-06-04 2016-06-03 N/A 4
A-102616-1-AAA Handrail installation 2016-06-06 2016-07-02 N/A N/A 5
A-085000-1-AAA Window installation 2016-05-30 2016-06-18 2016-05-30 N/A 4
A-081000-1-AAA Door installation 2016-05-30 2016-06-18 2016-05-30 N/A 4
A-084400-1-AAA Curtain wall installation 2016-05-16 2016-07-02 2016-05-16 N/A 2c
A-099100-1-AAA Painting work 2016-06-13 2016-07-09 N/A N/A 5
A-143100-1-AAA Escalator installation 2016-04-04 2016-05-28 N/A N/A 5
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a
5 = delayed (not start).
b
4 = delayed (overdue).
c
2 = ongoing.

Fig. 11. (Color) Visualization of the daily 4D BIM models on June 20, 2016: (a) highlights of the ipe wood installation and curtain wall installation;
(b) highlights of the escalator, handrail, window, and door installation; (c) highlights of the metalwork; (d) highlights of the aluminum panel
installation

contractor and the government discussed and determined that those procedure. Ipe wood panel and escalator installation did not begin
materials would be purchased by the general contractor instead of on time because the client was not satisfied with sample colors for
being supplied by the government. Consequently, they needed to the ipe wood panel, and the supporting metal structures for the
change the previous contracts to resolve this change in the formal escalator needed revision regarding safety issues.

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 Fig. 9 presents the visualization of the daily 4D BIM models for
that day. The exterior and interior metalwork (overdue) was high-
lighted in transparent orange, and the ipe wood panel installation,
escalator installation, and aluminum panel installation (not start)
were highlighted in transparent red. The areas of the trowel finish
work (ongoing) were highlighted in transparent green.
Case 2: June 20, 2016
Similar to the previous section, this section describes the daily 4D
BIM models on June 20, 2016, with the comparison of Web camera
views for that day. Fig. 10 presents the Web camera views, and
Table 3 summarizes tasks for that day that were underway or
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green. As in the previous section, the Web and database-supported
visualization method developed in this study presented the daily 4D
BIM models properly. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed
method for presenting daily 4D BIM models was validated through
the real-world case study.
Case 3: Historical 4D BIM Models between May 9,
2016, and June 4, 2016
This section describes the historical daily 4D BIM models based on
the daily backup schedule tables in the database. The schedule table
in the database was duplicated for generating daily backup schedule
tables including the status information of that day when the system

date is changed. From May 2, 2016, to June 20, 2016, a total of 50

delayed.
tables were generated and 4 weeks (24 days from May 9, 2016, to
According to Table 3, 11 tasks were underway or delayed on
June 4, 2016, except Sundays) were selected for presenting histori-
that day. Among them, curtain wall installation started normally,
cal daily 4D BIM models. Fig. 12 presents the historical daily 4D
but 10 other tasks were delayed. In particular, the contract re-
BIM models of this period, and Table 4 summarizes status varia-
garding metal and aluminum panel procurements was revised;
tions of the tasks that are presented in the historical daily 4D BIM
hence, the aluminum panel installation started on June 20,
models.
2016, and the colors of the ipe wood panel were arbitrated, with
The status variations of the 10 tasks associated with the case
their installation commencing on June 3, 2016. The door and
period were recorded in the backup schedule tables, and the his-
window installation were not completed because of glazing work
torical daily 4D BIM models of this period were accurately pre-
that could be started after beginning the escalator installation. For
sented. Therefore, it is concluded that the proposed Web and
this reason, four other tasks (i.e., entrance stonework, basement
database-supported visualization method can present historical 4D
floor stonework, handrail installation, and painting work) were
BIM models including status information, and the users can mon-
also delayed.
itor and track previous construction progress.
Fig. 11 presents the visualization of the daily 4D BIM models
for that day. The exterior and interior metalwork, aluminum panel
installation, ipe wood panel installation, window installation, and Discussion
door installation were highlighted in transparent orange, and the
escalator installation and installation were highlighted in transpar- The proposed method can solve information delays and data incon-
ent red. The curtain wall installation was highlighted in transparent sistency issues. As shown in Fig. 13, the 4D BIM practice using the

Fig. 12. (Color) Daily 4D BIM models from May 9, 2016, to June 4, 2016

© ASCE 04017078-9 J. Constr. Eng. Manage.

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 Table 4. Status Variations of the Presented Tasks from May 9, 2016, to June 4, 2016
Status (May) Status (June)
Name 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 1 2 3 4
a b
Entrance stonework 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Basement-floor stonework 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Exterior and interior metalwork 4c 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Aluminum panel installation 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Ipe wood panel installation 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4
Trowel finish work 2d 2 2 2 6e 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Window installation 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
Door installation 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2
Curtain wall installation 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Escalator installation 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
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a
1 = scheduled.
b
5 = delayed (not start).
c
4 = delayed (overdue).
d
2 = construction.
e
6 = finish.

proposed method does not require additional steps for sharing the
latest version of model files. Instead of uploading, downloading,
and opening the files, as being requested in the current practice of
sharing daily 4D BIM using the file-based approach, using the new
platform, project participants can access the Web viewer system
anywhere and anytime when they need to see the latest version of
the models, and all participants can see the same version of the
models. In particular, as shown in Fig. 14, the method reflects daily
construction progress through the 4D BIM visualization in real time
when the project participants update schedule data in the database.
Thus, project participants can see the updated information immedi-
ately when they refresh the accessed Web viewer system.
The initial investment required to implement the system is esti-
mated to be less than $10,000, including hardware, software licens-
ing, and system development costs. Case studies are still underway
to identify the cost savings that could be achieved by adopting
the new system to eliminate information loss and delays by effec-
tively sharing the project progress information. According to the
2004 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) report
(Gallaher et al. 2004), during construction phases, project partic-
ipants (i.e., architects, engineers, general contractors, specialty
fabricators, suppliers, owners, and operators) have spent over
$60 million for verifying and analyzing construction information
every year. The method developed in this system is expected to
eliminate a significant portion of these non-value-adding costs,
saving the construction industry millions of dollars every year.

Conclusion

This paper proposed a Web and database-supported visualization

method for presenting daily 4D BIM models that enable sharing
and visualization of the latest information in real time. Specifically,
a central 4D BIM database structure with automatic decision and
update methods for the status of individual BIM objects was devel-
oped for 4D BIM model visualizations in real time. The proposed
method was demonstrated through the implementation of a real
construction project. Two specific days were selected to present the
daily 4D models of those days, and the schedule tables for the 2
specific days were duplicated to present the historical daily 4D
BIM models. The demonstration results showed that the status of
each BIM object is automatically determined from the proposed
database structure, and the Web viewer presents these status data
in real time. Moreover, the viewer presents historical 4D BIM
models of this period, including status variations of the tasks using
the daily backup tables, for construction progress monitoring and
tracking.
The central 4D BIM database and incorporated Web viewer
in this study can present the latest daily 4D BIM models in real
time, and these models can be supported to facilitate rapid deci-
sion making for daily construction project operations. In particular,
historical 4D BIM models including status information of each
Fig. 13. Comparison between 4D BIM process in the current practice
task can be supported for construction progress monitoring and
and the proposed method
tracking, and they can be supported for enhancing communications

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J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 2017, 143(10): 04017078

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Purdue University Libraries on 10/03/20. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 14. (Color) Visualization of the daily 4D BIM models on May 16, 2016: (a) before updating daily construction progress; (b) after updating daily
construction progress
and collaborations between project participants regarding day-
to-day construction operations. Future works are to analyze cost
benefits through using the proposed method and to automatically
update the status attribute of the Schedule table by comparing a
photo with the corresponding 4D BIM (as planned) whenever a
photo is uploaded through the Web platform.
Data Availability Statement
Data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the
corresponding author by request. Information about the Journal’s
data sharing policy can be found here: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10
.1061/%28ASCE%29CO.1943-7862.0001263.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) via Grant CMMI-1462638. The authors gratefully ac-
knowledge NSF’s support. Any opinions, findings, conclusions,
and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF or Purdue
University.
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