BIM objects are key to successful take-up
Over three quarters (77%) of specifiers believe that manufacturers need to provide more BIM (building information modelling) objects to aid them with BIM adoption, according to the fourth annual NBS national BIM survey. The study found that awareness of BIM is now almost universal at 95% and that adoption rates are accelerating.
More than half of respondents are now using BIM, and 93% predict adoption by the 2016 Government deadline for its use on publicly funded projects.
Over 1000 people from across the construction industry — including architects, engineers, surveyors and contractors — took part in this year’s survey, making it the largest piece of research into the usage of and attitudes to BIM in the UK.
Increasingly, specifiers see that adopting BIM brings them a competitive advantage — and the proportion is now up to 70%. Improvements in productivity, increased efficiency, better co-ordination of construction information and higher profitability are among the benefits cited by adopters of BIM. Only 4% wish they had not begun the journey.
More than half of respondents source BIM objects from a specialist BIM library, a figure that will increase as more manufacturers make their products available in this way.
As technology continues to drive rapid change, the risk of in-house objects becoming out of date or obsolete will grow, and using a library will enable specifiers to ensure they have current and accurate information.
With the lifespan of models and specifications lengthening, as evidenced by the increasing use of COBie to embed and deliver information that supports the use and maintenance of a building, this will become more important.
Ian Chapman, director of the NBS national BIM library comments, ‘It is vital to the success of BIM that manufacturers are in a position to provide accurate, up to date information via BIM objects. We’re delighted to see how many of the respondents in the survey are already using the NBS national BIM library, and we’re continuing to introduce improvements which benefit both the manufacturers and specifiers.
‘We believe the key to our success is our commitment to make both generic and proprietary objects available so that designers and consultants can use the library right from the concept design stage through to completion and maintenance, in line with the core objectives of BIM.’
The full NBS national BIM survey is available at the link below.
