If the saying is true that a week is a long time in politics, then the last year in the GCC construction industry has been a veritable lifetime. And while Building Information Modelling (BIM) was one of the buzzwords last year, it is now a common part of the vocabulary used by the consultants, architects and contractors involved in reshaping the Gulf’s construction sector.
A market that was taking tentative steps towards a recovery 12 months ago has progressed in leaps and bounds, with the volume of announced, restarted and planned projects in the UAE alone in 2014 expected to be valued somewhere in the region of $315bn.
With each passing year, the list of major projects across the globe demanding use of the system grows.
Jeddah’s 1km tall Kingdom Tower, Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Midfield Terminal Building, and Doha Metro are just some of the mega-projects underway in the GCC to have embraced the method. Now it is not so much a case of whether BIM will be implemented on a large project, but how it will be executed.
Paul Madden, business development director at BAM International said: “It is now well accepted that BIM is probably the most efficient tool for managing the full life cycle of any building – right from the concept stage through the construction and during the operation and maintenance phase.
Indeed, BAM has embraced BIM to such a degree that it has set a mandate for fully integrating BIM support into all of its projects by 2020.
“BIM allows a building to be built digitally before the actual construction,” Madden continued. “The advantages of digitally constructing a building cannot be overemphasised as this will assist us, as a main contractor, to optimise the site set-up, streamline the construction methodology and extract accurate quantities together with a correct visualisation of the project.
“These were far-fetched thoughts during the era of blue print and 2D drawings.”
Unlike with traditional 2D drawings, the theory behind BIM is that the data in a BIM-led project remains consistent, co-ordinated and more accurate across all stakeholders, regardless of how many times the design changes, or who changes it. As a result, BIM is designed to ensure building and infrastructure projects are created and completed faster, more economically and sustainably.
According to Tim Cole, executive vice-president of research and development with BIM software provider Causeway, “the world did not change overnight just because we realised that BIM was a great way to help transform project outcomes”.
And while progress is certainly being made, he believes BIM needs to be embraced better to allow its reach and benefits encompass the entire lifecycle of the built environment.
“BIM is often described as being a process and not a technology, perhaps by those hoping to avoid stirring an underlying fear of technology,” said Cole. “I think BIM is best described as a technology-enabled process that is built on collaboration and early engagement’.
“Take out any one of these elements, and the benefits are greatly reduced.”
Elsewhere in The GCC, with BIM being used on some of Qatar’s headline construction programs, there is confidence that the technology will become even more important over the next 12 months as significant contracts are awarded.
Rene Schumann, managing director of Hochtief ViCon, said: “This year will be another important and interesting year for Qatar in its BIM history, especially through significant projects like the football World Cup and rail projects, which require BIM from the tender stage.”
However, despite its many advantages, Mohannad Altabbal, general manager for BIMES Middle East, warned BIM alone is not the answer to all problems.
He said: “BIM has previously been promoted as an easy, magical software solution. The number of times I have heard the phrase ‘with one click’ is quite saddening.
“BIM is not just about software. The big challenge is understanding the change that comes along with BIM and that requires a change of mentality.
“Many were promised big results, yet they couldn’t deliver what they used to deliver in 2D. This had a negative impact on BIM in the region, and we are trying to change that by focusing on the real, achievable BIM goals.”
If the full potential of BIM is to be realised throughout the GCC then a shortage of qualified BIM engineers is a particular issue which needs to be addressed, with adequate training put in place to keep up with market demand.
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