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Small and medium-sized firms could find themselves unintentionally ‘frozen out’ from competing for tens of billions of pounds of central government contracts when the government’s 2016 BIM deadline kicks in, according to a recent survey by the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA).

The ECA survey, carried out with industry partners and in conjunction with ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ magazine, shows that over half of contractors (54%) with a turnover of less than £1 million are ‘not ready at all’ for BIM, while 3 in 10 firms (30%) with earnings between £1 million and £20m were in the same position.

The ECA has published the further results from the survey after ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ . Full results will be released later this year.

With the government deadline for the mandatory use of ‘BIM Level 2’ on all Whitehall-procured contracts looming, 11% of larger M&E firms with turnover over £20m say they are not at all ready for BIM, with the majority either fully ready, or nearly fully ready.

The survey also found -

• Only 1 in 3 contractors (34%) with turnover below £1m have a ‘BIM champion’, compared to almost 3 out of 4 firms (72%) with turnover above £20m.
• 8 out of 10 firms (80%) with turnover below £1m do not have a ‘BIM planning group’, compared to just 1 in 3 larger contractors (36%), with turnover above £20m.
• Only 1 in 4 small firms said there is enough ‘practically useful an