Governments and educational institutions are waking up to the potential of BIM technology.
What are the latest trends and scope of
BIM in India, and how is it transforming the construction industry?
Implementing new technologies in India has
always been a time-taking process here, but gradually, BIM is penetrating into
the Indian construction industry. Now all major private developers and
government agencies are pushing for BIM adoption for their projects. BIM
adoption in the construction industry has been going on for a decade now. In
the AEC industry, with this technology the accuracy of cost estimates and time
predictions are improving, and the construction industry is entering into a new
era of ‘virtual twin’ where the construction is done in a computer environment
before it is implemented on the site.
In which sectors do you see BIM adoption
happening the most? What are the trends in railways, marine, smart cities,
power, special bridges, any other?
The
building construction segment has already adopted BIM for quite a while; now
the focus of the construction industry on Infrastructure development, hence the
penetration of BIM technology is more in the infrastructure sector, especially
airports and metro/rail projects.
Do you think the Indian construction
industry is slow in BIM adoption? What are the major problems and hurdles
causing the slow adoption rate?
The Indian construction industry is among
largest industries across the globe, so it will always be a big challenge to
implement new technologies like BIM. Major challenges are logistics and
mindset. BIM requires a very robust environment of hardware and software, which
costs money. Secondly, the mindset of the people can’t be changed overnight; it
takes time to convince them about new technologies and their benefits. Another
challenge is the scarcity of experienced professionals in the field of BIM. I
am sure the new generation of BIM-enabled architects and engineers will
overcome these challenges in the coming decade.
What are the advantages of BIM and 3D
structural techniques? Do you think this technology will gain momentum in
coming years in India? What are the key driving factors?
Any construction project starts with an
analysis about its stability, load-bearing and its reaction to natural
calamities like floods, earthquakes, fire, etc. The use of BIM has many
advantages for structural design calculations - all type of analyses, whether
it is earthquake, wind impact analysis, flood analysis or loadbearing
calculations. BIM provides more accurate and faster results for these
calculations. This technology will gain more popularity in India in coming
years because it is faster, accurate and better in compared to traditional
calculation methods. The government and the clients are also making mandatory
the use of BIM-based design and calculations methods in their projects. As per
the industry reports, BIM adoption can save 14-18% cost and 8-12% time of the
project.
How is role of a BIM manager evolving? What
are challenges faced by a BIM manager today?
A BIM manager’s responsibilities are
getting bigger with each new project in current times. Now the BIM manager is
not only responsible to draft the BIM Implementation Plan (BIP) and BIM
Execution Plan (BEP) but also to implement it in compliance with local
government guidelines, Employer Information Requirements (EIR), industry
standards and overall design coordination and value engineering to make the
projects smarter, with better construction quality. BIM managers face many
challenges, including the lack of trained manpower and the necessary support
environment to successfully implement BIM on construction projects. However,
things are changing rapidly, and owners, investors and governments have started
to understand the value of BIM.
BIM is usually seen as more relevant for large
projects, as it requires a big investment. Does it have scope in medium and
small-scale projects?
BIM
is used on large infrastructure projects where the construction values are big,
and the complexity of the project invites technology usage. However, medium and
small projects can also benefit by using cutting-edge technologies like BIM. In
any construction project where we are using CAD/computer-based design, BIM can be
a useful tool to streamline the design, project management and construction
processes.
Do you believe Covid-19 has pushed this
industry to embrace technology more than ever?
Due
to the pandemic, most of the industries are adopting new ways of working, Fortunately
BIM is very well adapted to this ‘new normal’, and everything is very well
managed using Common Data Environment (CDE) technology platforms, while cloud
computing has enabled the industry to save time and increase the efficiency of
the coordination process. In a nutshell, the pandemic has provided a big boost
to BIM usage across the project spectrum. Lack of expertise and upskilling can
be a major challenge.
How is skill or resource availability in the
BIM segment? Any views on how we can include BIM in research or academics?
BIM-trained manpower is very scarce and
costly. Preparing a new generation of experienced BIM professionals has been a
big challenge for the industry in the last decade. Fortunately, this is an
opportunity for education institutes and now universities and colleges have
started adopting BIM training and awareness in their curriculum.