Building information modeling was a new ways of working for construction industries, when this technology emerged first. But, now it is the widely accepted method regardless of the size of the industry or project. However, some are still not sure about the cost effectiveness of BIM and they ask ‘Why should I invest in 3d BIM technology’?

The simplest answer to this question is that investment in BIM means nothing but investment in waste reduction, efficiency improvement and cost reduction.

As construction industry is a highly wasteful industry both in the way of duplication of effort and sheer material waste, BIM investment in construction industry has great significance.

“By adopting 3D BIM technology, changes are occurred in three areas such as people, process and technology.“

The people

The people issue is one of the major hurdles to be considered. As supply chain partners contribute to the shared model, they have to work transparently and collaboratively. Designers also must know how to create or use BIM. Proper training is also required. In a series of interviews many respondents expressed their anxiety about lack of technical skills. Others find culture change as the difficult part.

The process

BIM also necessitates changes in business process. First of all, BIM is not just a replacement for CAD. So it should be underpinned by a clear strategy. Collaborative working is required for effective BIM, which is a far cry from the historical structure of the industry.

The technology

Technology is the third area of change. BIM adopters should explore to the software market. They should be ready to invest in software right for them. Some companies also want to upgrade their hardware.

Attempts have been done to get all information for a project into one place, which is accessible by all parties. BIM, using three dimensional models of the buildings, facilitates collaborative exchange of information across the supply chain in machine-readable electronic format.

• The key features of BIM are the following
• It facilitates collaboration across the industry
• BIM is engaged through the entire building life-cycle
• It helps collate and exchange information in common format
• It shares three-dimensional models
• BIM provides intelligent, structured databases

Now, let us conclude the advantages that construction industry gets by investing in BIM:

• BIM ensures better internal management of technical data
• It helps integrate multiple data sources into one place
• It makes a direct bridge between designers and manufactures

In short, all the above functions of BIM help reduce the risk of contractors, quantity surveyors and others undermining the designer’s intent and the skill of manufactures by ‘value engineering’. As a result, more and more engineers and architects are adopting BIM in their works.