Feature BIM mandate
We have not seen any evidence
It saved time in pre-construction design 45
19
36
It saved cost in pre-construction design 45
We have seen some positive signs
16
39
It saved time in the construction phase 40
24
36
We have seen good results
It saved cost in the construction phase 46
19
35
It helped cut the project’s carbon footprint 62
9
29
It promoted safety and regulatory compliance 51
9
40
It created efficiencies in the hand-over phase 47
13
39
It created efficiencies in the operational phase 55
12
32
It promoted collaboration and reduced ‘silo’ working 37
26
37
It has improved our margins/fees/profits 60
9
31
Collaboration seen as BIM’s key advantage Asked about the impact of BIM on current or completed projects, BIM’s ability to promote collaboration emerged as the clear winner in terms of impact - 63% of the sample reported “positive signs” or “good results”. Interestingly, the construction phase was in close step with the operational phase in terms of benefits. In total, 55% reported either positive signs or good results on reducing time in the design phase, versus 60% in the construction phase; on cost, 55% reported savings in design, almost matching the 54% who recorded savings in construction. But clients had seen less benefit to their own budgets - 28% reported results in
positive territory, compared to 40% overall. In terms of operational efficiencies, the overall figure for positive signs or good results was 44%, but this rose to 49% for clients. And clients were less likely to perceive benefits in terms of time and cost savings; 32% experienced reduced design time (55% overall), 43% thought that it reduced time in the construction phase (60%). Of the clients who answered the Level 2 BIM confidence question, 17 declared themselves “very unsure”, including 15 in the public sector. But two clients, and five respondents in total, said they were “fully confident” their BIM processes were working well.
Thinking about your own BIM processes, how confident do you feel about delivering Level 2 BIM (%)? Very unsure — we have no BIM experience
A measure of confidence — we know our way around but haven't resolved everything
Pretty unsure — we have done research but little else
Growing confidence — there are gaps but we're getting there
imited confidence — have L dipped a toe in the water ome confidence — we have a little S experience but are still learning
Increasing confidence — we have decent experience under our belt Confident — BIM adoption is going well Very confident — only a few glitches to iron out
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Fully confident — our processes are working well
5
4
8
7
7
8
11
doing the performance-validated work will have to provide all the data, and the guy who’s doing the traditional stuff will get a model and say: ‘I’ll just do what I’ve always done’. So why are we agonising over this?” Peter Trebilcock agreed, albeit with some reluctance, that lack of BIM literacy would not necessarily exclude SME suppliers from keeping a place in the Balfour Beatty supply chain. “Some big players, I won’t name names, you would expect to be BIM literate, BIM ready, but they’re not. And they provide a very good service at a good price, they’re safe to work with, so they still find a place in some of our projects.” But what will happen on April 4? Bill Wright at the Electrical Contractors’ Association sees it as a date that will split the industry into two camps. “That’s when the real crunch will come, because that will actually force smaller contractors to actually do it, because they’re shut out otherwise and a lot of people will see their work’s dying out if they’re not adopting BIM. That’s where our small members are rather worried, and we’re trying to encourage them to get to some [level], even if they have to go to an agency or consultant to get help.”
On projects you have worked on that used BIM, how would you describe the impact?
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“We’ve got 37 BIM Level 2 projects on our bid list. That equates to over £5bn worth of construction work” Peter Trebilcock, Balfour Beatty
However, Chris Chivers believes that regional factors and commercial realities will play a greater role. “There isn’t enough supply chain around in the south east to support what’s happening down here, and to say that, ‘if you’re not doing BIM, we’re not going to use you’, for most large principal contractors, that’d be cutting off your nose to spite your face.” But if there are buttons the industry can press to encourage BIM uptake in the lower tiers, Trebilcock thinks they’re found on 3D printers, drones, site robots and laser scanners. “If you have a [supply chain] event on digital construction, that could have more traction, levering the benefits of using digital tools and showing how you can improve processes. Too often the hang-up about BIM — and there is a lot of baggage — is this focus on the data.” But what is BIM actually delivering, in terms of improved project outcomes for clients, and better margins or productivity for the industry? From clients’ point of view, Bill Wright was sceptical about the long-term pay-off for FM teams — and he speaks as the person who’s had to manage maintenance teams and out-of-hours call-outs. “You say it’s fantastic to get all that data on your laptop but when it’s 3am and you’re in the dark trying to get to drawings and your laptop has failed you are really stuck!” Martin Chambers also felt that many clients he encounters — typically in the health and education sectors — found the benefits of BIM too “cerebral” to drive change. In contrast, he says, Government Soft Landings represented a more practical business offer. “Has BIM been overcomplicated? Soft Landings is easy for people to understand. We don’t want the keys thrown at us on the last day and the contractor goes way — we’d like a bit of hand-holding. BIM is little bit more cerebral, and perhaps not quite as tangible.” Speaking from the supply side point of view, David Jellings, managing director of software provider Solibri, believes it’s unlikely we’ll ever have full transparency on bottom-line benefits — because the firms enjoying them want keep it to themselves. “I meet lots of different segments of the market and some of them are willing to share with me in a one-onone confidential basis: ‘Yeah, we’re being very successful — we’re actually turning work away — our rates are going up, we’re >
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them yet. They’ve lots of work out there but they’re trying to get their cash right, to stay afloat — they can’t recruit people, they’re struggling. I think actually the BIM journey so far is a huge success, but what there’s a danger of is it getting mired by the fact that 90% of businesses in this country in construction are small and micro and it’s not even on the radar.” But Simon Rawlinson thinks that handwringing over the BIM-backwardness of supply chain SMEs can be misleading, arguing that they naturally fall into different groups, with different requirements. Since the 1990s, he says, suppliers have been split into those that design and warrant their solutions, and those that simply install and fix. He said: “There’s a perfect BIM analogy — the one
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