Ever since Building Information Management (BIM) concepts emerged in the 1970s, Governments and construction companies around the world started to adopt it.

What started as a technology exclusively used in large sites and developed countries got extended to developing countries too. It has now become a standard in the construction industry.

In fact, over the last few years, construction companies in India started to adopt BIM to reduce construction delays and cost overruns. Even Government bodies like the Maha-Metro Corporation decided to use BIM on the Nagpur Metro Rail project to build an integrated environment where data such as project schedule and cost is easily available for managing.

However, despite the proven benefits, not as many companies as should be are enthusiastic about adopting BIM.

Let’s try to understand the reasons behind it.

Is BIM Adoption Waning?

Although companies recognize the role of BIM, the ground reality is more complex. While we are wholehearted supporters of BIM, we recognize that to evangelize the technology we must understand the obstacles and perception gaps impeding growth. Here are some reasons why companies are being so slow in adopting BIM.

1.     Lack of enthusiasm in adoption

In a 2019 NBS survey, lack of demand was cited as one of the reasons for the slow adoption of BIM. Small companies may not consider BIM as a priority. They think there is no compulsion to use it and companies do not consider it to be significant to project completion.

Paul Morrell, the UK Government’s Chief Construction Advisor, blames it on lack of data. Here’s what he had to say.

 “It’s (BIM) sort of stalled because I think people are thinking where’s the data?”

If we want companies to prioritize BIM, we need to ensure that there is enough data to prove its benefits. But as Morrell says, unless companies use BIM, we are never going to generate the data to prove its worth. It’s a kind of catch 22 situation for the industry. The fact is, if you seek the data, you will find it!

2.     Lack of talent and training

Construction companies face a tough challenge in recruiting skilled people. The primary reason for it is the conventional image attached to the industry. Millennials prefer flexibility and choose companies that are more obviously linked to a technology future. Considering that millennials will form 75% of the industry by the next decade, there will be a mismatch between their expectations and their perception of the way the AEC industry works. Our industry is considered to be inflexible; the office spaces are also not as glamorous as the IT industries. The industry is also perceived to be male-dominated, so gender diversity is low too. Another challenge is that companies aren’t known to prioritize training.

The lack of talent, training, and contextual awareness creates a challenge for companies to adopt BIM. But even experts like McKinsey are confident that a transformation is coming and sitting this one out isn’t an option. Construction companies will have to make significant changes in how they work and in some fundamental processes. This will be essential to keep up and deliver to the expectations of digital employees and customers.

3.     Cost vs. benefits

With margins in the construction business being so tight, companies are unwilling to invest in new technology without being assured of the cost benefits of BIM. There are direct costs such as investment in hardware, software licensing, training of professionals, and maintenance involved. Even leaving aside the ability to implement the technology and leverage it properly, the big challenge is to get the construction teams to adopt the BIM output onsite. So, companies are hesitant to invest. Of course, they fail to recognize the benefits the technology offers to the company, designers and engineers, and consultants. And while on-site adoption is a real issue, it’s not an unsolvable problem as we have shown.

4.     Lack of defined scope and unrealistic expectations

Companies often do not have a defined scope for BIM implementation. They are unclear as to what objects they want to get modeled in a particular project phase? At what level should they be modeled, or what information is needed to complete a BIM use? To add to the woes, they often do not have the right partner to guide them. Some partners tend to overpromise and set unrealistic expectations, which could be hard to attain. Others tend to deliver projects and walk away without offering any help to the company to indulge their own digital ambitions. For long-term sustainability, companies must have a well-defined scope for implementing BIM and partners who align their goals with the client’s needs and expectations. Any less, and BIM ends up an experiment or a transaction restricted to one project.

Conclusion

Although we have seen some remarkable improvement in the adoption of BIM in countries like India, the full potential of this wonderful technology is still untapped. A country like India has a vast talent pool and access to BIM, which can be utilized to scale the projects and attain an attractive cost to benefit ratio. There is a fertile opportunity for the industry to utilize BIM to transform itself. This needs the willingness to change the way work is done, hire new people who understand technology and make technology a significant part of the overall strategy. It’s time to take the first step, because as Morrell said, “Once you can see the benefits of working in this way, why would you do it in any other way?”

The construction industry may not be an early adopter of technology as compared to other sectors. However, the recent pandemic has compelled them to embrace technology to continue working without flouting the guidelines.

Apart from using collaboration tools, IoT sensors, and cloud-based software to connect with remote teams, the industry has started to significantly ramp up the usage of established technologies like Building Information Management (BIM) more actively too.

BIM adoption has grown to such an extent that Autodesk, one of the leading companies developing BIM software has reported a 350% increase in the global BIM adoption rate ever since COVID-19 compelled the adoptions of different safety standards and a global shift of work from the office to home. According to the Global Building Information Model market report, the BIM market will grow at a CAGR of 11.2% from 2019 to 2026. It is poised to become a market of $9.81 billion by 2026.

BIM is expected to evolve further in the years to come.

As we come to the end of 2020, let’s look at how BIM will continue to evolve in 2021 and how it will benefit the construction industry.

How Would BIM Evolve In 2021?

1. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR and VR)

BIM and 3D modeling help clients get a better perspective about how the building model would look, but they would have less visibility into other designing options. AR and VR could change that. They are expected to give greater power to the clients to choose. Brandon Mikeal, a leading BIM engineer, says that architects can use AR to show the various options of a building model on their tablet. It can also be used to catch errors in the models before something is installed at the site. VR can be used to give the client a walkthrough of every part of the building so they can choose the specific features they want. He believes these options could drive sales for construction companies. It will also give them a competitive advantage over other construction companies that don’t make such technology choices.

2. Cloud adoption

It’s natural for clashes and errors to occur as the project moves towards the construction process. Identifying and fixing these clashes is one of the principal value propositions of BIM. For that to happen, all stakeholders must have access to the same data from the site to assess the progress of the project. This ensures a clash-free plan, which in turn saves the time and costs of the contractors on rework. As there are several stakeholders involved in a project, real-time data sharing from the site becomes tedious. It becomes even more challenging when the data set is large. To streamline the BIM data sharing process, companies have started to use cloud-based applications. The stakeholders are given access to the cloud application, so they can easily refer and use the data even if they are working remotely. Companies have started to witness improvement in their processes thanks to the increased collaboration between different members.

3. Collaboration tools

While we are on the topic of collaborative efforts, let’s look at how collaboration tools can help BIM to evolve. Typically, architects, engineers, and building designers use BIM to create the blueprint. This design is saved and shared with the contractors on site. However, there are always times when the design would have to undergo certain changes. To ensure seamless communication, companies can integrate BIM with collaboration tools. This will enable the stakeholders involved in the project to make changes quickly and get the work started without any miscommunication. 80% of the average cost overrun happens due to change orders. With improved collaborations, companies can reduce the change orders and ensure that the work gets done quickly and efficiently.

4. Enriched 3D modeling

To provide the clients with a clear understanding of how the final building would look, companies can opt for an enriched 3D BIM model. This is a value-added development of the BIM model, supplemented with more visual appeal and descriptive context. It can be used to design floor plans, elevations, and other spaces by taking snapshots from different perspectives. The best part of using such 3D BIM modeling services is that it allows the model to remain consistent even if there is a minor change in one of the elements by baking in processes that allow constant updating. So, the architect does not have to work on all the elements again to make the model consistent.

5. Drones

BIM specialists could face a tough time while covering a large area of the site within a short duration or when they are working remotely. That’s when a drone can prove to be useful. BIM specialists can use drones to capture accurate data of a large area by hovering it over the site. Over time, this also enables the specialists to track the progress of the project, so they can refine the model based on the insights received by the drone. It can also be used to survey and record data from rough terrains that are usually risky to tread for supervisors.

Conclusion

The construction industry has used BIM for more than four decades. It has helped construction companies streamline their operations and save costs. However, it could well prove to be a game-changer during COVID-19 by ensuring smooth operations when the teams were located at separate locations. Even as vaccines get developed, we expect companies to continue using BIM to complete their projects without any hassles, especially in innovative new ways. All they need is the right BIM implementation partner who will help them to leverage BIM to its optimum level!