Building information modeling (BIM)-based projects that are not ready for construction can lead to project delays and cost overruns. However, projects often start without adequate readiness, despite the negative impacts of starting too early. Developing proper strategies to achieve the criteria for construction readiness in BIM-based projects is essential to ensure successful project execution. Therefore, this study aims to model the relationship between critical strategies and critical criteria for construction readiness in BIM-based projects. To achieve this aim, the study objectives are to identify critical strategies and critical criteria for construction readiness, to group these critical strategies and critical criteria into underlying constructs and to determine the relationship between strategy constructs and criteria constructs.

A systematic literature review and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Then, a survey was developed and distributed to BIM professionals. Data from 118 valid responses were analyzed using the normalized mean analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The analyses identified 23 critical strategies and 20 critical criteria. Three underlying constructs grouped the critical strategies (i.e. model management, coordination and competency) and critical criteria (i.e. model verification, integration and documentation). Moreover, the following relationships are significant: “model management-documentation,” “coordination-model verification,” “coordination-integration,” “coordination-documentation” and “competency-integration.”

Understanding these interrelationships can help project managers and BIM professionals develop more effective approaches to ensure that BIM-based projects are ready for construction and executed efficiently.