In 2011 the UK Government Construction Strategy mandated the use of Level 2 BIM on all public sector projects by 2016. Recently the promotors of this initiative declare that this bold decision, which led to Government and the construction industry working together, was a success since it contribute to the savings of £804m in construction costs in 2013/14.

However most of this savings came from major projects like Cross Rail, the 2012 Olympics and the Cookham Wood Prison lead by major companies. The ultimate goal is that every project is made on BIM until 2016 independently of its size. And on beginning of 2015 the UK Government published the “Level 3 Building Information Modelling - Strategic Plan” where you have not only to do BIM inside your firm but to collaborate with others on this methodology.

So the question to ask is: “Is the whole supply chain ready to embrace and integrate BIM in its process? Are really all companies ready for a next step?”

The strategy designed by the government was written in a way that gives more focus on the model itself and less in the several outputs that each stakeholder should take from it. And so the doubt persists: what are you doing with the model? Clash detection? Sure, I imagined you were since it is the first typical output everyone is getting from BIM. But how about quantity takeoff, cost planning, scheduling, production control? Yes? But are you doing everything in an integrated way or are you importing/exporting between several software with lots of rework and waste? Hum… don’t answer, I believe I know the answer.

To integrate BIM in the construction cycle (design, build and maintain) you need much more than a simple software training. BIM revolutionizes the culture inside of companies and their communication with the partners.

During the past 8 years, we have been working with several construction companies helping them to develop a BIM process that integrates and that get confused with the original process. Even that BIM brings a paradigm shift we want to do it wisely not to create barriers to its adoption.

It’s very difficult to change an “artist” into a “scientist,” to change mentalities and abandon the idea of building as an “art” and face it more as a “science”. The culture and values of the organization must be aligned with the new approaches. Empowerment, sharing, teamwork, etc., are characteristics that are not very common in the construction business. But things are changing. The problem is not methodology or technology - the main problem is changing mentalities. It is important to accept that not everyone will be receptive to new processes, either for fear of being overtaken by the colleagues, information overload (such as an abundance of e-mails going around), lack of time, or a general lack of motivation.

So you should orient your trainings to what is the reality of your company and the results you expect from BIM. For BIM implementation in a construction company, the training should be oriented to producing a multi-functional/multi-skilled team. They should have knowledge of shop-drawings, extracting quantities, scheduling, estimating, and time and cost control. If not, we will end up with separate departments targeting different goals, bringing along more inefficiency.