Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a digital process with a disruptive impact on the construction industry bringing both, opportunities and challenges.

On the one hand, BIM allows any aspect of a design’s performance to be simulated and assessed before it is built for optimal results, requiring and allowing the sharing of information between all the professionals involved in the process. Thus, BIM is widely recognised as a solution to the management of information during the design, construction and operational phases of the asset lifecycle of a building.

On the other hand, the entire construction chain needs to be able to engage with BIM to make it largely spread. BIM tools only make sense to construction SMEs and craftsmen if they are financially accessible and valuable to their daily business operations. Given that 94.1% of the sector is made up by microenterprises, it is essential that an enabling framework with open standards and easily usable tools for construction SMEs is established. In addition to this, training and sharing of best practices are essential to enable the whole construction value chain to use BIM in their future daily routine.

On behalf of Small Business Standards, EBC follows and contributes to the activities of CEN Technical Committee 442 on BIM since 2015.