73 per cent of surveyors believe failure to adopt BIM will hinder the sector

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According to a new report, the majority of surveyors believe a lack of BIM adoption will lead to problems in the construction industry…

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) questioned members as part of their recent survey and discerned that support for BIM adoption was indeed high.

BIM has become a major facet of the planning, design, and building process, and the government has shown significant drive to ensure companies are Level 2 BIM ready. However, it is clear support is also forthcoming from the sector itself.

In fact, the survey found 73 per cent of surveyors thought failure to adopt BIM would have a negative impact on the construction sector.  Only 26 per cent thought their business did not have the right skills to adopt BIM.

However, the results were a little disappointing when it came to the uptake of BIM, with only 51 per cent using it in their daily work (49 per cent did not utilise it). If government targets to ensure the industry is BIM ready by 2016 are to be met this figure needs to improve significantly.

Additionally, 68 per cent of those who did not use BIM daily said they felt there was little support for small businesses.

Good news to come out of the survey was support from other parts of the building industry for BIM. Over half of the surveyors questions (55 per cent) said they were working with architect firms that used BIM. Half of these respondents said they had also been encouraged by architects they collaborated with to adopt BIM in their own organisation.

RICS  Global Director of Built Environment Alan Muse said: “Our research clearly shows that the importance of BIM is not being lost on the UK’s surveying sector with 73 per cent identifying that non-adoption is likely to have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.

“However, the research also shows that there is still a large percentage of firms that are not currently using BIM technology on a day-to-day basis as part of their operations.

“It’s clear from the research that the industry needs to be doing more to help smaller surveying firms – as well as the wider industry – in getting up to speed with the technology, particularly when it comes to how they can implement the technology across their organisation.

“This is something RICS is helping to contribute to with its Certificate in BIM Project Management and its regular publication of guidance notes.

“BIM is the future, not just of the surveying industry, but the entire construction sector. It has the power to unlock cost and time efficiencies which will enable the UK industry to become more efficient and competitive on a global scale.

“With this in mind, surveyors – particularly quantity surveyors – need to lead the charge when it comes to BIM and ensure that they have the right skills in place to implement it across their organisation.

“What’s more, we need to ensure that the surveying profession is one of the first to be consulted when BIM models are being developed on projects – this helping to maximise cost and resource efficiencies on all projects.”

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