A total of 77% of specifiers believe that manufacturers need to provide more BIM objects to aid them with BIM adoption according to the fourth annual NBS National BIM Survey.
The study found that awareness of BIM is now almost universal at 95% and adoption rates are accelerating with more than half of respondents now using it and 93% predicting adoption by 2016 the Government’s deadline for BIM use on publicly funded projects.
More than 1,000 people from across the construction industry including architects, engineers, surveyors and contractors took part in this year’s survey making it the largest independent piece of research into usage of and attitudes to BIM in the UK.
Increasingly, specifiers see that adoption of BIM brings them a competitive advantage, with 70% agreeing with this statement. Improvements in productivity, increased efficiencies, better coordination of construction information and higher profitability are among the benefits cited by adopters of BIM with a mere 4% wishing they hadn’t begun the journey.
More than half of respondents are now sourcing BIM objects from a specialist BIM library, a figure which will only increase as more manufacturers make their products available in this way. As technology continues to drive rapid change in the building industry, the risks of objects becoming out of date or obsolete if created in-house and re-used will grow and using a library will enable specifiers to ensure they have current and accurate information.
With the lifespan of models and specifications lengthening – seen by the increase in the numbers using COBie to embed and then deliver the information that supports the use and maintenance of a building – this will become more important.
Ian Chapman, Director of the NBS National BIM Library commented on the findings: “It is vital to the success of BIM that manufacturers are in a position to provide accurate, up to date information via BIM objects. We’re delighted to see how many of the respondents in the survey are already using the NBS National BIM Library and we’re continuing to introduce improvements which benefit both the manufacturers and specifiers.
"We believe the key to our success is our commitment to make both generic and proprietary objects available so that designers and consultants can use the library right from the concept design stage through to completion and maintenance, in line with the core objectives of BIM.”
The full NBS National BIM Survey will be released at BIM SHOW LIVE on 23 April and will be available at www.thenbs.com from 24 April 2014.
