BIM must be properly adopted sooner rather than later if the sector is to fully benefit
The lively debate about BIM has been an inescapable feature of construction over the past few years. But behind the torrent of technical discussions, government advocacy and 鈥渂eginners guide鈥�-style seminars sits one slightly uncomfortable and largely unaddressed question, which is more crucial to many companies than any amount of technical detail. Is BIM an unstoppable juggernaut, or a bandwagon which will run out of momentum before its potential is realised - and before investment in it pays off?
Take-up of BIM is undoubtedly significant, and is growing quickly. Earlier this year, the third national BIM survey by NBS showed 54% of construction firms had experience of using BIM - a massive increase on the 10% with that experience back in 2010. But there is a more complex story around adoption of BIM than these figures immediately suggest.
A fresh survey by 星空传媒, published this week, found that among firms that had used BIM, two-thirds are using it on less than a third of their work. In addition, many of those who have used the technology have used it only to a basic level. Just under a third of 星空传媒鈥檚 respondents had reached level 2 - the standard which will be mandatory on public sector projects from 2016.
So while take-up is on the rise, it seems that many of those firms that say they are using BIM are dipping a toe in the water rather than taking the plunge. In many ways this is understandable. The technology costs money to adopt, and at a time when the industry is still recovering from recession this is not easy for many firms - particularly smaller ones - to justify.
This is especially the case given th