BIM laggards 'holding construction back'

Three quarters of surveyors believe non-adoption of BIM could seriously hinder the UK construction sector over the next year, according to research published by the RICS.

The RICS survey also finds that although a large majority of surveying firms have considered the business case for BIM adoption (74%), there is still a large proportion of firms (49%) not using BIM in the day-to-day aspects of their work.

Of those not currently using BIM within their organisation, 68% of respondents said that they don’t think there is enough information available for small companies in order to aid them with adoption.

In addition, 31% of surveyors claim that there is not a need to use the technology in their organisation, while over a quarter (26%) stated that they don’t feel their firm has the technical skills in place to implement the technology.

Over half (55%) of those members interviewed said that they are currently working with architect firms that are using BIM. In addition, half of these respondents said that the architects they have collaborated with have been encouraging them to adopt BIM within their own organisation.

Alan Muse, global director of built environment professional groups at the RICS, said: “Our research clearly shows that the importance of BIM is not being lost on the UK’s surveying sector with 73% identifying that non-adoption is likely to have a negative impact on the industry as a whole.

“It’s clear from the research that the industry needs to be doing more to help smaller surveying firms - as well as the wider industry - in getting up to speed with the technology, particularly when it comes to how they can implement the technology across their organisation.”