BIM is an investment that has both short-term and long-term benefits. However, the return on investment calculation is greatly affected by the steep learning curve and productivity drop at the early stages.
While calculating the ROI for BIM Adoption, one should consider parameters beyond software and hardware expenses. One of the major advantages of investing in BIM being increased productivity and gaining better clarity over project information, such items will greatly affect the final perception on ROI for BIM.
As a general guideline the break even point for BIM investment is slower than expected. For a small to medium scale firms, it is considered to be between 12 and 24 months.
Investment in BIM
– Software & Hardware
– Training & Knowledge sharing
– New recruitment cost
– BIM Maintenance cost
– BIM Consulting
Loss / Gain in BIM
– Productivity Loss & Gain
– Project quality gain
– Training duration
– Project turn-over gain
MANAGE EXPECTATIONS FOR OPTIMUM RESULTS
BIM – MATURITY
Implementing and adopting BIM involves changing and managing several aspects of a project work-flows both internally and externally. Industry standards defines maturity in 3 levels of adoption.
Adopting BIM at a project level or at an organizational level is an extensive and time sensitive exercise. Adoption levels in BIM are categorized based on the value one can gain out of this exercise.
- Level 1
Level 1 adoption is the most basic and easy to implement stage of adoption also known as “Silo BIM”. It refers to the process where the organization is using a combination of 2D and 3D models internally only to carry out their scope of work. Although Level1 can be a good starting point for BIM enthusiasts, the real value of Building Information Modeling is not gained at this stage.
- Level 2
At Level 2 BIM, models are shared between project stake-holders both internal and external to develop the design more collaboratively. This allows for higher level of coordination between multiple disciplines enabling the team to identify design issues earlier in the project. BIM adoption at Level 2 requires the team to consider issues beyond 3Dmodeling. It requires the team to strategize their communication and collaboration procedures. - Level 3
While the 2nd level of adoption covers most of the well known benefits of using Building Information Modeling, Level 3 takes BIM to new extents of team collaboration. Level 3 BIM is described as the process of having multiple stakeholders accessing the project models through a centrally located data base of 3D models. Adoption at this stage requires the team to have a robust project data management procedures in place.
An organization should identify the level of adoption to achieve after analyzing the project types, current workload, existing team set up etc.
NOTE:
This is a multiple-part series detailing the complete funtionalities and implementation process of Building Information Modelling (BIM).
- A brief introduction to BIM
- In-House BIM developement V/S Hiring external consultants – Which is better?
- Top 5 areas where BIM can help realise a project’s full potential
- Understanding the “I” in BIM
To contact Voxel1 Solutions visit: www.voxel1.com