Julie Fraser executive brief: Leveraging the value chain in construction - Building Information Modeling (BIM)

An AIA (American Institute of Architects) conference in 2004 reported a staggering $100 billion as the estimated cost of fixing and administering construction “errors”—situations in which something done on-site was found to differ from the intended specifications in some way. This compares with expenditure of just $24 billion on the associated designs. The cost of errors is carried by the whole industry not only through the unnecessary rework on-site but also through the extra time spent consolidating, checking, questioning and interpreting the multiple pieces of information that together form the specifications.

This cost could be reduced or eliminated by improving the way the design is translated and communicated into the physical construction phase. Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an approach and technology that offers the foundation for delivering these savings.

The road to BIM

BIM is the most recent evolution of 3D architectural Computer Aided Design (CAD). BIM envisions digital representations of designs that capture and manage the information needed to allow all construction project contributors to share data efficiently.

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Executive brief: Leveraging the value chain in construction - Building Information Modeling  (280KB)

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