BIM: Who makes more Money?

Everybody knows that BIM improves the performance of construction industry at all levels from conception to construction that will save money, labour effort and money of the industries as well as the client. But, another fact that we have to understand along with this is nothing but moving to an intelligent 3D-modeling workflow requires an investment. So, it is also important that who and how BIM is worth to the money you spend.

Business-minded people usually calculate profit by calculating return on investment or ROI. The simplest form of ROI calculation is ROI = (G-C)/C. Here G is the gain from the investment and C is the cost put into it. The business is in profit if the ration if greater than 1. But, this calculation is always not easily applied in BIM, as the cost is not limited to simple spending and fees. However, with a little analysis, you can start to the profit from BIM and find out who makes more money.

We all know that time and effort taken to complete a construction work decides the cost of the work. So, the only way to reduce expenditure and to make a profit in the construction industry is to limit these two significant factors. Don’t worry; it is now possible by BIM.

Who will make the most money from BIM?  The same question has been asked by many people when the construction industry shifted from drawing boards and typewriters to the first CAD and word processing systems in the 1980s. There is a single answer to give everybody then and now; everybody made or saved money. The reason behind it is that BIM makes the work process in all level more efficient and accurate. Let us look who all are beneficial from BIM.

• Architects

For example, if you made a mistake, you could undo and rectify it within seconds. The drawers have to draw the doors, windows or any such objects many times in a drawing of huge buildings like residential flats and commercial complexes etc. In such cases, BIM helps to repeat the same object by copying it exactly and pasting it wherever necessary. Similarly, you can find out a particular word or phrase within a 100-page document within seconds in BIM.

• Designers

As far as the design is concerned, designers may not spend time retyping the data from a 2D CAD model into Microsoft Excel to create a 200 instance door schedule. They also need not waste time searching through a specification of numerous pages to find out the places where they have requested the contractor to submit samples or proposals.

• Contractors

In earlier days, the contractors could be informed about the clashes in the design by mechanical, electrical and structural engineers only on site during the construction. But, BIM helps them to be aware of any possible errors in advance and to avoid them at the earliest.

• Building owners

There is no doubt that the ultimate benefit of BIM  is credited to building owners as the accurate digital model of the physical building make them able to manage and alter their facilities.

Hope that this explanation with factual descriptions will help you find out the answer to the common question, which is asked at the beginning of the discussion.