BIM Benefits for State Agencies

McGraw Hill Construction (2014) research in UK shows asset owner or construction client’s rating of benefits of BIM in their organizations. They are as follows,

·       BIM Visualisation enables better understanding of proposed design - 89%

·       Use of BIM has a beneficial impact on control of construction costs – 72%

·       Beneficial impact on project schedule – 85%

·       BIM analysis and simulation capabilities produce a more well-reasoned design – 92%

·       There are fewer problems during construction related to design errors, co-ordination issues or construction errors – 85%

The benefits of BIM for State Agencies in the project is shown in below Figure 1.

Figure 1: BIM uses in various project phases

Source: Government roles in implementing building information modelling systems: Comparison between Hong Kong and the United States, Wong, Wong, Nadeem (2011).

·       Concept phase: The use of BIM could enhance and simplify the introduction and adoption of new building materials and methods to a government department in the concept phase. The project team would benefit from using BIM to convey information to government agencies in an effort to shorten the compliance processes prior to final design.

·       Design phase: Up to date information can be readily made available during the permit issuing process. The need to physically take documents to a government authority can be eliminated by sending the documents electronically for immediate inclusion in the design.

·       Construction phase: The government department’s role during construction is mostly that of inspection. The use of BIM both in the office and on the construction site increases the inspectors’ knowledge and ability to compare the plans with on-the-ground practice.

·       Facility management phase: Even if the project team disbands after the initial construction is completed, the benefits of BIM still exist. The information obtained by a government department can be made available to other regulating agencies. The ability of an emergency response team to access this information in the event of a fire, accident or attack could substantially reduce risk to the responders, building occupants and the general public.

·       Demolition/deconstruction phase: BIM will aid in identifying which elements can be recycled, reused and land-filled. It will also provide quantities and sequencing to facilitate safe deconstruction. BIM will help with the redesign, component reuse, and time and cost reduction.

So the State Agencies need to recognise the value of BIM to improve their projects and ultimately, their organization’s information management system.

References:

McGraw Hill Construction. (2014). The Business Value of BIM for owners. Bedford: McGraw Hill construction. Retrieved July 2017 from http://i2sl.org/elibrary/documents/Business_Value_of_BIM_for_Owners_SMR_(2014).pdf

Wong, A. K., Wong, F. K., & Nadeem, A. (2011). Government roles in implementing building information modelling systems: Comparison between Hong Kong and the United States. Construction innovation, 11(1), 61-76.