BIM2050 group to carry out international BIM benchmarking study

The Scottish Futures Trust has commissioned the Construction Industry Council’s BIM2050 Group to carry out a piece of research into the international adoption of BIM.

With David Philp, head of BIM at the UK BIM Task Group, leading the Scottish Future Trust’s BIM Delivery Group, it is expected that Scotland will draw on the experiences of how the UK government has driven the implementation of BIM in England.

However, the Scottish Futures Trust also hopes to learn from different governments’ experiences around the world.

Tom Bartley, vice-chair of the BIM2050 Group and a digital strategist at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, explained to BIM+: “Governments around the world are implementing different BIM policies. We have been asked to look globally at what tactics governments are using to encourage the adoption of BIM, and what lessons Scotland can learn from them.

“We are not going to be making too many recommendations, this is just about providing the Scottish Futures Trust with options and lessons for how they can implement BIM policy in Scotland,” he continued.

The research will focus on around 15 case studies of countries with markets developed to levels comparable to Scotland. It will consist of a desk study to identify a number of BIM measures against which adoption can be measured, such as policy, guidance and standards.

This will be followed by interviews and surveys with international BIM stakeholders to describe their strategies and successes.

Bartley explained: “We aim to carry out the research systematically so we can compare what different governments are doing, what they each aim to achieve and how they have set about achieving their aims. We will be focusing on the specific steps that governments have taken to drive adoption, rather than looking at wider industry trends.”

“We’ve not seen anything like this before, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been done. The first stage of our research is a literature review, so we’ll find out. The speed at which this is moving, I imagine anything that has been done before is now out of date,” he added.

As part of the research, scorecards will be developed for each nation in the study to identify drivers for BIM adoption, strategies for driving adoption (mandate, statutory compliance, procurement, etc), and maturity of adoption.

The BIM2050 Group will present its findings to the Scottish Futures Trust early next year, when it expects the research to be made public.

“The BIM2050 Group doesn’t do anything behind closed doors so the results will be made available. We hope to publish in early spring next year,” Bartley concluded.

Governments around the world are implementing different BIM policies. We have been asked to look globally at what tactics governments are using to encourage the adoption of BIM, and what lessons Scotland can learn from them.– Tom Bartley, vice-chair, BIM2050 Group