ITcon Vol. 29, pg. 635-661, http://www.itcon.org/2024/29

Application of Blockchain in Procurement and Management of Building Services: A Critical and Systematic Review

DOI:10.36680/j.itcon.2024.029
submitted:November 2023
revised:July 2024
published:September 2024
editor(s):Turk Ž
authors:Sachindra Hewavitharana (corresponding author), PhD Candidate,
c4SMC, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia;
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0288-0676
sachindra.hewavitharana@westernsydney.edu.au

Srinath Perera, Professor,
c4SMC, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia;
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9218-9282
srinath.perera@westernsydney.edu.au

Xiaohua Jin, Associate Professor,
c4SMC, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0877-9533
Xiaohua.Jin@westernsydney.edu.au

Krisanthi Seneviratne, Doctor,
c4SMC, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia;
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2513-6273
K.Seneviratne@westernsydney.edu.au

Keivan Bamdad, Doctor,
c4SMC, School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia;
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6091-2736
K.Bamdad@westernsydney.edu.au
summary:Building services systems are essential for creating a comfortable and safe living environment in buildings. These are complex systems with high stakeholder involvement, a lengthy lifecycle, and high financial costs. This leads to building services systems having complex procurement and management (P&M) requirements which create a multitude of challenges. Blockchain technology has emerged as a revolutionary digital technology under “Procurement 4.0”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicability of blockchain technology for systematic procurement and management of building services. The science mapping method was used to systematically and quantitatively analyse 102 publications related to bibliographic records retrieved from Scopus and the Web of Science databases. This includes content analysis of the existing issues, current trends of technologies, and applicability of blockchain in the P&M of building services. The results of the bibliometric analysis indicate that publications had grown significantly faster in 2021 related to the P&M of building services with new technologies while there is a minimal collaboration of countries, organisations and authors in publishing research in this area. Further, it is observed that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the main technology utilised in general P&M. As a result of content analysis, a total of 28 issues that affect the performance of procurement and management of building services are identified. The paper critically evaluates blockchain technology in terms of peer-to-peer networks, hashing algorithms, public key cryptography, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and distributed ledger. It indicates that blockchain provides a perfect match for resolving these issues. The findings of the research will open a path to apply blockchain technology in building services. The study offers a readily available point of reference for practitioners, policymakers and research and development bodies.
keywords:Blockchain, Building Services, Procurement and Management
full text: (PDF file, 1.007 MB)
citation:Hewavitharana A, Perera S, Jin X, Seneviratne K, Bamdad K (2024). Application of Blockchain in Procurement and Management of Building Services: A Critical and Systematic Review, ITcon Vol. 29, pg. 635-661, https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2024.029
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