This study's context emphasizes the growing need for effective safety management in residential construction projects. Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been recognized as a potential solution for managing safety in various construction projects, but its adoption could have been more active due to several obstacles. This study identifies and validates the obstacles to implementing BIM-based safety management practices in residential construction projects. The research employed a two-step methodology comprising exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The data was collected through an online design, construction, and management professional survey. The study reveals four significant obstacles: integration complexity, data quality and consistency, initial investment and cost, and regulatory and standardization. By identifying and validating the obstacles to the adaptation of BIM-based safety management practices, the findings make theoretical contributions to the literature. The small sample size from a limited geographic region and cross-sectional design are limitations. However, the findings provide important practical implications by highlighting key obstacles organizations must address to facilitate BIM adoption for safety management in residential construction. This quantitative study makes a theoretical contribution by validating and ranking key impediments to BIM for safety management in a new context. © 2024 The Author(s)