Are You on a Quest for a BIM Manager?

BIM process adoption has moved beyond the half-way point in the AEC industry. In November 2021, Autodesk reported the statistics from a Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket Report that indicated BIM adoption rates have reached what Autodesk referred to as the “tipping point” with the following percentages:

• 60% of architects
• 51% of MEP and structural engineers
• 70% of civil engineers

BIM implementation almost always results in the need for a BIM manager. As BIM technologies evolve, it’s hard to keep up without one. Companies need to stay organized, keep processes relevant and ensure the BIM implementation is moving forward. They need to make sure the BIM process is delivering the benefits the company intended when it first decided to implement.  

While larger companies with departments dedicated to BIM can typically justify a full-time BIM manager, mid-size and smaller firms cannot. Frequently smaller companies don’t have the internal resources to devote to full-time BIM management and can’t justify carving out the budget to add a BIM manager, especially at the beginning when they’re not yet seeing an ROI.

Instead, sometimes a “power user” is tasked to spend some time during their day serving as a part-time BIM manager, while still trying to be efficient at performing billable work. But it’s hard to schedule blocks of time for BIM management in place of billable work, because you never know when a BIM issue is going to crop up, and billable hours figure so prominently in a company’s business framework. The resulting BIM management may lack the important features of:

• attention to the budget and deadlines
• overseeing quality and flow of information
• monitoring data accuracy
• regulatory compliance
• adherence to BIM standards

If the BIM implementation stalls or struggles to progress, the company can fall behind the competition and need to play “catch up” as technology starts to pass it by. And catching up can be as challenging as the initial implementation effort: evaluating what’s in place, determining what has worked, and deciding what needs to be removed, replaced or repaired.

In this respect, the need for BIM management is just as important for smaller companies as it is for the larger ones.

This is where companies can find a logical way to compromise by outsourcing their BIM management. A company can partner with a trusted, knowledgeable resource to perform key BIM management tasks that are causing internal struggles, including:

• tool assessment
• support, training and mentoring
• model review and quality control
• custom development or third-party tool integration
• standards, content and template development

This can be your answer to your quest for a BIM manager. Applied Software, Graitec Group offers the expertise of highly qualified BIM specialists well versed in BIM management tasks. Your company can benefit from BIM management with a flexible BIM management contract, based on a budgeted amount of monthly hours of service. The contract monthly budget can be adjusted at any time to accommodate changing needs.

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Contact Applied Software, Graitec Group today to discover the ways the knowledgeable, industry-trained BIM management specialists can support your BIM process, move your implementation forward and keep your firm competitive.

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