Uptake of BIM Now Three Quarters of Professionals Tenth BIM Survey Reveals

THE TENTH annual BIM survey, which looks at the status of Building Information Modelling, has been released by NBS, providers of construction information.

Over a thousand construction professionals took part and three quarters (73%) are now using BIM, a digital process used in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings,. This is a dramatic change from a decade ago when just over one in ten were BIM users.

Almost a quarter (23%) of those using BIM say they do so on all projects and around half (46%) for the majority of projects. For those who’ve adopted BIM, this approach is now part of their standard toolkit.

BIM Benefits

Respondents reported several benefits of implementing BIM. More than half (51%) said it made them more profitable and nearly three quarters (71%) that they’ve become more productive. Clients benefit too, with 74% of respondents reporting that using BIM delivers operational and maintenance savings.

BIM also drives collaboration, aiding in smooth project management: the vast majority of users (85%) say BIM increases project coordination, beyond this it de-risks projects with 72% of BIM users stating there is a reduction in problems. These are all positive outcomes for the companies completing construction projects and the clients commissioning them. It’s unsurprising, therefore, that almost two thirds of BIM users (66%) expect clients to insist on BIM.

Barriers to BIM

Despite the clear benefits for both users and clients, there are challenges to BIM adoption: lack of in-house expertise, training and cost persist. However, the number for each has dropped.

Since last year, lack of expertise has fallen from 63% to 56%, training from 59% to 48%, and cost from 51% to 46%.

More people are aware of BIM, what it means and which tasks are involved. The support network, standards, guidance and training programmes that have grown up around BIM would appear to be making a difference, as people’s knowledge has increased.

While cost remains an issue, many have made investments in new technology platforms, even if they are not all using them to apply BIM principles.

Lack of client demand, cited by 64%, remains the greatest barrier among those yet to adopt BIM. Aligned to this, 45% say the projects they work on are too small (this figure has actually increased since last year), or BIM is not relevant to their projects (36%).

While the Government BIM mandate initially drove adoption in public sector projects, BIM is currently used more on private projects (77%) rather than public ones (62%).

Digital Product Data

Over the past decade, manufacturers have increasingly provided information as digital objects. These are pre-drawn representations of building products which can be dropped into the design model.

Currently 81% of respondents said they needed these objects to work effectively, an increase of 12% from last year, reflecting the growing demand for digital product data from manufacturers.

Richard Waterhouse, Chief Strategy Officer, NBS, said, “Construction is now digitising at pace, yet there are still gaps that need plugging. Clients have a big role in driving BIM use, the data proves they benefit from BIM throughout a building’s life.

“As a sector, we need to work together to dispel the prevailing myth there are projects too small for BIM. All types of construction benefit from BIM, we have to help smaller players unlock the benefits.”

“There’s also a pool of manufacturers who are missing out. Specifiers want a range of technical information including digital objects. Make their lives easier and the manufacturers will benefit too.”

Download the BIM Survey from NBS here.

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