In this digital day and age, it is hardly surprising that the construction industry is trying hard to keep up with technological advances – with BIM being an essential part of this. Building Information Modelling has been a massive boon to the construction industry from this point of view as it has allowed for the more intelligent use of resources, and a more streamlined optimisation of workflows which has led to more profitability and productivity for many firms. However, bim compliance is not widespread throughout the industry, and many firms are still at different stages of the compliance process.
Benefits of BIM
The companies that are way in front regarding the BIM compliance process are finding that being able to see the building to be constructed virtually means that they can review the design before the first brick is even laid. This means that they can catch issues before they are at the building stage, but they can also evaluate potential solutions for feasibility before suggesting them as well.
When you take into account these benefits, it begs the question as to why the adoption of BIM is not as widespread as one would expect? So, what is it that is limiting this?
Avoidance of Standards
A large part of BIM is ensuring that there are standards in place for the construction project, which cover not only processes but also technology as well. This will not only ensure your BIM implementation project runs smoothly but also that productivity is increased as well. However, many project managers are failing to establish these standards, never mind enforce them, and so complications arise which may affect the accuracy of the data.
Budget Issues
Budget issues are particularly prevalent in small and medium construction companies. It should come as no surprise that the adoption of BIM will involve some budget involvement, as it includes not only training costs but also implementation costs as well. This cost can seem steep to many companies who feel that they do not have the budget to meet this additional expenditure. However, they are failing to take into consideration the fact that making sure they are BIM compliant will bring massive cost savings in the long-run.
Interoperability
This is a bit of a mouthful, but all it means is the ability of computer software or systems to exchange and make use of information. What this does is it allows users to switch from one system to another without losing any data. Since a construction project involves a large variety of people from different companies typically, it is essential that the data created stays in a form that can be shared by all parties. The issue with BIM at the moment is that it hasn’t quite reached the stage of interoperability yet, as a lot of the software applications developed as part of it were designed to be stand-alone applications and can’t share data with other programmes. This is a significant barrier at the moment and one that needs to be addressed quickly.
Resistance
For BIM to be widely adopted throughout the construction industry, it means that all of the people within the industry need to become familiar with the new technology, new ways of working and be trained so that they can use the technology to the best advantage. Some people within the construction industry have worked the same way for many years, and there is a slight resistance to changing the way they do things (as in most industries) which is limiting to the achievement of BIM compliance.
Relevancy
One of the main issues with the adoption of BIM for small and medium companies is the fact that many of them still believe that it is not relevant to them. This could be because they feel that the projects they are dealing with are not big enough or complicated enough. They are failing to take into account the fact that BIM not only brings substantial cost benefits to a business but also speed efficiencies as well which all adds up to an increase in profitability – which can only be a good thing.
Those firms that have already adopted BIM are already reaping the benefits. If you want to be one of those firms, then get in touch with us today. You can contact us by phone on 0161 427 0348 or by email at office@thecadroom.com
