November 25, 2014 │Posted on http://www.building.co.uk/
A total of 166 Building readers completed Building BIM survey which was carried out in the first week of November. Architects made up the biggest single proportion of respondents, with main contractors the next most common respondents, making up 18% and 15% of respondents respectively. Of those responding, 52% said they had used BIM on projects, with 30% saying they had used it to Level 2. 7% said they had used BIM Level 3, despite the fact this standard has not been finally defined.
Of those surveyed by Building, 45% felt that the benefits of BIM are more hype than substance at the current time. While over 70% of those using BIM on projects said they were seeing improved clash detection, just over a third reported cost savings, and similar low figures saw benefits in terms of quality of construction, more predictable built performance or better management of the programme. A significant minority reported seeing absolutely no benefits at all. Some said it was detrimental because managing the technology diverted resources away from areas where they would be better deployed.
Superficially, Building survey, like those carried out by NBS and HS2, indicates a large uptake of BIM, with 52% saying they have used it on projects. Crucially however, when those that do use it were asked how much they use it, a clear majority - over 65% - said it made up less than a third of their workload.
Chris Witte, marketing director of northern Europe for Knauf Insulation, says: “Most architects that are asked whether they are doing BIM will say yes. The reality is that they are either just using 3D modelling, which isn’t BIM, or they have a couple of people on a couple of projects that are using product manufacturer data within the model, but this only accounts for a small percentage of their overall work.”
The biggest barrier to the uptake of BIM was seen to be lack of client interest, with the lack of availability of staff, upfront technology costs, and higher projects costs also seen as major barriers. Respondents were almost exactly evenly split as to whether they saw developing their firm’s BIM offer as an opportunity (43%) or not (42%).
