TALKING POINT
A critical factor for success: BIM in electrical engineering Andreas Matthé, CEO Electrical Products, Smart Infrastructure, Siemens AG, explains why electrical engineering has to master Building Information Modeling (BIM) to remain successful. o BIM or not to BIM? That will soon be the decisive question in the construction sector. For involved trades, it will ultimately be a matter of ‘to be or not to be’. Electrical engineering plays a central role in digitalised building planning, and anyone who thinks that productivity losses due to outdated planning methods are acceptable considering full order books, is wrong. Challenges in the construction industry are too diverse. Today, large planning offices and their clients no longer forgo the higher added value provided by digital building twins. But BIM isn’t just the basis for long-term success; it also enables seamless collaboration in complex projects. And the data-driven method offers opportunities for new digital business models. Anyone involved in constructing a building is familiar with one fact: each involved trade plans independently of the others and usually not down to the last detail. Mistakes are first spotted at the construction site; cables obstruct pipes and vice-versa. Planning continues on-site – without documenting this information. The result is a domino effect: more mistakes, higher costs for the client, and frustration for the affected trades. For the electrical engineering firm, this fragmented planning makes it far more difficult to develop binding personnel and time calculations. So, it’s no surprise that 30% of all construction projects are delayed and roughly 10% of project costs are due to changes (Fig. 1). This is precisely where BIM comes in. BIM enables all trades to shift their decisions forward – into joint planning. With BIM, they first design a building as a digital twin before the construction site is even ready. Mistakes can easily be spotted in this phase. Finally, the building is digitally planned down to the last detail. BIM is not only digital hightech, but above all – and this is its great advantage – a working method
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26 Electrical Review | July / August 2022
superior to many previous models: it brings people, processes, and tools together in an integrated process. BIM is also coming to electrical engineering BIM will come. Even though all order books are full. And for everyone involved in the electrical engineering trade (electrical planners, panel builders, installers, service providers, building managers). The reason is simple: over the long term, no client – whether private or public investor – can afford to ignore the added value provided by BIM. The European ‘EU BIM Task Group’ calculates, based on industry figures, that savings of 15-25% can be realised in the global infrastructure market by 2025 by using BIM (EUBIM TASKGROUP, 2018). For Europe alone, and cautiously assuming savings of ‘only’ 10%, this would generate cost savings of €130 billion for the €1.3 trillion market. An enormous potential.
Over the long term, no client – whether private or public investor – can afford to ignore the added value provided by BIM At the same time, buildings are becoming more and more intelligent. By using wireless technologies, sensors networked with the Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics, construction projects are becoming unexpectedly complex and barely manageable with conventional planning methods. Not least because of these developments, investors are increasingly looking at a building’s total lifecycle costs rather than the construction costs alone and expect full transparency when awarding a contract. Only BIM can provide this by keeping information up-to-date over a building’s entire lifecycle. Build skills now In short, only those using BIM will be successful in the future. When general construction contractors award planning contracts to sub-trades, those who don’t use BIM will miss out on being considered for a tender.
