5 Myths About BIM
- By Tarek Ghazzaoui, Eng. (BIM Director)
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Overview
Building Information Modeling (BIM) has been around for years, yet many there are many myths and misunderstandings that still surround it. Whether you’re an architect, engineer or contractor, it’s critical to separate fact from fiction to leverage BIM’s full potential.
In this article, I break down five of the most common myths about BIM based on my opinion, and I discuss why they don’t hold up.
Table of contents
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Why debunking matters
It’s important to debunk the myths presented in this article for many reasons, including better decision-making, wider and fairer adoption, improved collaboration, reduced risk and cost, and benefit maximization. Having worked as a BIM consultant in the past, I came across many of the myths presented here, and I played an important role in guiding clients debunk these myths to drive BIM adoption or improve their existing implementation. Let’s dive in these 5 myths!
Myth #1: “BIM is just 3D modeling”
That’s such a simplistic view that’s akin to saying “a plane is a car with wings”. Is it? Absolutely not! The same applies to BIM. It’s not just about cool 3D models and nice visuals; it’s about managing information and its flow on a project.
Think of the 3D model as an ever-evolving database of elements that have a 2D/3D visual component, where the core of every element is its meta data. That data describes everything about the element itself (i.e. geometry, weight, material, voltage, air flow, water flow, cost, etc.). Then there’s the relationship of that element with other elements in the model (i.e. element part of a circuit or ventilation system) and its interrelationship with its environment. Then finally, there’s the change of both the element and the model as a function of time.
Myth #2: “BIM is only for large projects or big firms”
That’s not true, especially as we move forward with BIM and technology adoption. Indeed, BIM was first adopted by major firms working on complex projects because of economies of scale, but that’s not the case anymore in today’s market or economy. There is downtime to set things up correctly (templates, standards, content libraries) and train staff, but the benefits can be reaped much sooner by small companies due to the scalability of adoption on a lot of small projects.
The biggest hurdle, based on my experience, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in architecture, engineering, construction and operations (AECO) in North America is the lack of a systemic adoption of BIM by all consultants and contractors on projects. In other words, we have to go as slow as our slowest sometimes, and having one consultant or contractor not work in BIM can waste considerable time and effort.
Myth #3: “BIM implementation is too expensive and time-consuming”
Well, there are two factors here: the methodology for calculating ROI and the time frame under consideration.
If you’re looking for immediate results with BIM implementation within one financial quarter, that’s not going to happen.
Let’s consider the first factor. Although there is no standardized methodology for calculating ROI on BIM adoption, it’s important to factor in all costs, including software licensing, hardware acquisitions and upgrades, staff training, pilot projects and opportunity costs. Based on my consulting experience, some firms don’t calculate it correctly or don’t calculate it at all.
Let’s consider the second factor. The time frame for considering BIM adoption or implementation can greatly affect the measure of success. For example, if a firm invests heavily in BIM in the first year, it is definitely going to have low or even negative ROI, because the benefits will start to get reaped in year 2 or 3 forward. Therefore, having a medium to long term outlook on ROI is important to justify the investment and implementation of BIM, and the longer the stretch of time, the higher the ROI usually.
Myth #4: “BIM eliminates the need for traditional construction roles”
That’s not mostly true, but there is some pivoting that needs to take place. Considering the artificial intelligence (AI) tsunami that is heading our way globally, the BIM market changes seem more like a big wave. In short, I don’t believe that BIM will replace architects, engineers or contractors, but it will empower them by providing better communication, coordination, collaboration and production tools and processes on projects.
Practices will always evolve, and current practitioners must adopt new technologies and processes to stay competitive, relevant or even alive in some markets. Some old roles will disappear, some new ones will appear, and the “brainless monkey” work that’s repetitive in construction projects will all be shifted to AI, scripts, tools and robots.
Myth #5: “BIM is for design only”
Are you out of your mind? That’s like THE myth of the century! BIM is for everyone, including our beloved construction folks and facility managers. However, having worked with design firms mostly in my careers, I can attest to the fact that design firms in Canada are much more advanced than contractors or facility managers with the adoption of BIM.
Think of BIM as a process (already established in debunked Myth #1) that follows the project lifecycle, from early design stages through construction through building operation. There are BIM tools and processes that exist on the market for all project phases, and the greatest challenge actually is how to bridge data and information between them, so it can be used downstream in construction and operation.
Final thoughts
That’s it. I hope we successfully debunked the 5 most important myths about BIM together in this article. There are other myths of course when we dig deeper, but it’s important to take the leap into BIM and to adopt as early as possible, in order to reap the benefits sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others, due to the introduction of BIM some decades ago and AI relatively recently on a wider scale, the market is becoming a more cut-throat one when it comes to adoption. The bottom line is, if you don’t adopt technology, including BIM, sooner or later, you’re bound to go extinct by acquisition, merger, shutdown or bankruptcy.
So wake up, be realistic and lay off your mythology – you’re not in Ancient Greece!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog article and I’ll see you again soon.
Tarek Ghazzaoui, Eng.
BIM Director
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About the author
Tarek Ghazzaoui, Eng. (BIM Director)
- AECO, AIinConstruction, ArchitectureEngineeringConstruction, articles by Tarek, bim, BIMAdoption, BIMImplementation, BIMMyths, BuildingInformationModeling, ChangeManagement, ConstructionTechnology, DataDrivenDesign, DigitalTransformation, FacilityManagement, InnovationInConstruction, ROIofBIM