The UK construction industry has traditionally been known as a male-dominated one, but as we have mentioned before, it is working hard to try and redress this balance and get more women into a wide range of construction roles – which will also help with skills shortages. Construction is by no means the only industry to suffer from diversity issues, but at The CAD Room, we are committed to supporting women who work in this area. One way we are doing this is through a series of blog posts entitled ‘Women in BIM’.

As part of this project, we spoke to three female members of The CAD Room team about their roles and experience of the industry, and how the number of women who work in the construction industry could be improved. One of the interesting findings that came out of these conversations is that they felt that more information about BIM related roles and responsibilities should be given at school and college level, as many people are still unaware of the wide range of career paths available to them. Therefore, in this first post, we are going to take a closer look at the available roles within BIM to give everyone a clearer idea of the sort of opportunities out there.

BIM Technician

This role is also sometimes known as BIM Modeler.

BIM Technician Job Description: The main responsibilities of this role include:

• Providing essential information for all disciplines involved in the project by using BIM software tools.
• Creating 3D visualisations by adding building elements to the object library and linking of object data
• Coordination of all work with external parties such as architects, contractors and suppliers

The skills you will need to be a BIM Technician are:

• Analytical and technical skills
• Capable of arranging, combining and organising information
• Creativity
• Problem-solving skills
• A disciplined and structured approach to work

Dionne, a trainee BIM/CAD Technician at The CAD Room, mentioned that it is really important for BIM Technicians to have knowledge of MEP (Mechanical, Engineering, Plumbing) which is something you can pick up on the job. She felt it was important for BIM Technicians to take part in site visits so that they could get a better understanding of the way these things fit together.

BIM Coordinator

BIM Coordinator Job Description: This BIM role is mainly concerned with coordinating the BIM aspects of a project, with specific responsibilities including:

• Connecting building models, aspect models and other programs within the construction project
• Design and test building models including clash control
• Generate information that is needed for production
• Anchoring the BIM process by coordinating all collaboration between the different parties involved

To succeed as a BIM coordinator, you will need:

• to possess a wide range of analytical, organisational and technical skills
• to be capable of establishing cooperation with internal and external parties
• to keep informed of all current developments within the field and translate these developments into an operational context.

BIM Manager

BIM Manager Job Description: The main responsibilities of the BIM Manager are:

• Goal, condition and demand setting for contracts
• Prepare all BIM aspects of a contract including drafting a BIM protocol and BIM implementation plan
• Guiding and monitoring the whole BIM process
• Contribute to the change and learning process both within your own organisation and throughout the BIM process
• Encourage all parties to work together throughout the entire project on an operational, strategic and tactical level.

The skills you will need to be a BIM Manager are:

• Organisational and leadership skills
• An ability to form cooperative relationships between all parties involved in the project through excellent communication skills
• Analytical and visionary mindset

These are just three of the job roles available in BIM; there are lots of opportunities and progression available, and it is a really interesting industry to work in – just ask any of our employees!

We will be exploring more about the topic of Women in BIM in the coming months, so please keep an eye on our blog and social media accounts for further updates on women working in BIM and how the sector can retain women in BIM and digital construction.