Building Information Modelling, or BIM, is often portrayed as the saviour of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. On the whole, BIM can be seen as a positive direction for the industry, attempting to address the inefficiencies and waste in the industry. Yet at the same time, numerous fractions of the BIM movement are threatening to hinder its cause.
Go into any architectural office in the world today and you’ll find someone ‘doing BIM’. Typically with a technical background, they are known as evangelists, preaching the word of BIM. Listen to them closely and you’ll discover common threads in their arguments – All projects should use BIM; People in my office don’t understand BIM; BIM should be mandated by governments; and, Software X is better than software Y. While I have no doubt that many of these people’s hearts are in the right place, I can’t help but think we are approaching the problem of BIM adoption all wrong. Let’s dissect…