Current state of BIM in the major countries of the world

BIM (Building Information Modeling) has changed the way architects share information for construction projects. Now, you can have more information about products that will be used as well as the design, logistics or maintenance of the project. Many countries are still at the very beginning of developing and deploying their own BIM strategies. Let’s have a look at how BIM adoption is progressing in some of the major countries of the world…

• UK: the world leader in the implementation of BIM

UK has become a world leader in the implementation of BIM thanks to the government support. Since April 2016, all centrally-procured construction projects in the UK are required to achieve BIM Level 2. Nowadays, BIM has been deployed on pilot projects such as the UK Ministry of Justice extension of Cookham Wood prison in Kent where they got a measurable reduction in capital costs, project delivery time and carbon usage. 

• USA: 72% construction firms are using BIM

The US General Services Administration has formulated the BIM program for all Public Buildings Service projects since 2003. Today, 72% construction firms in the USA are believed to be using BIM for important cost savings on projects. Several US states, universities and private organizations are adopting BIM standards. 

• France: 500,000 houses designed with BIM in 2017

The French Government has deployed BIM within the housing sector on 500,000 houses by 2017. Le Plan Transition Numérique dans le Bâtiment task group is responsible for the French BIM strategy which aims to achieve sustainability and reduce costs. 

• Germany: 2020 is the great challenge

In Germany the government is playing a big role in promoting the BIM technology. The emphasis is more on commercial and residential buildings in order to implement BIM on all infraestructure projects by 2020.

• Spain : public infrastructures get BIM in 2018

Spain has also introduced a BIM mandate on public sector projects for 2018 and further mandatory use in infrastructure projects by July 2019. The Spanish Commission for the implementation of BIM methodology has been set up to promote the implementation of BIM in the Spanish construction sector.

Nordic countries were the earliest BIM adopters. For example, Finland began using the Building Information Modeling in 2002. BIM has been used for complex infraestructures such as Helsinki metro line. 

In summary, BIM is a relatively new technology and the industry has only begun to realize the potential benefits of Building Information Models. Nowadays, most countries have made BIM the global building industry standard. So the rest of the world will need to take on this technology in the next few years.