RSMeans Business Solutions, a division of Reed Construction Data, recently conducted a comprehensive study to determine how quickly the industry is embracing building information modeling (BIM) and discovered that the rate of adoption has increased significantly over the last 12 months.

In this study, an RSMeans project team conducted surveys and interviews among several architectural firms across the United States, focusing on BIM adoption rates, how adoption varies between large and small architectural firms and the effects on productivity.

Out of the offices sampled that use BIM, 96 percent indicated they adopted it within the last 12 months and nearly half of all respondents estimate that all projects will use BIM within one to two years.

“The anticipated rapid adoption of BIM indicates the true power of the technology in changing processes as well as the need for education, training and intuitive tools that will facilitate the BIM experience,” said Candice Dobra, BIM Solutions product director, Reed Construction Data.

Over the last year, smaller firms (less than 50 employees) have integrated BIM at a much higher rate than larger firms. One-third of smaller firms estimate that their staff uses BIM more than 50 percent of the time which is almost triple the rate of larger firms.

As a result of the higher levels of integration, smaller firms also reported significantly higher productivity levels using BIM than larger firms. Nearly one-fourth of smaller firms estimated productivity gains exceeding 25 percent - twice that of larger firms. The implementation of BIM is a full process change which takes more time in larger firms.

Out of the respondents who are not currently using BIM, over 60 percent stated they are planning to adopt or will adopt when client demand dictates the need for BIM. The report cites cost, training and support as the most significant barriers to BIM adoption and as a result many expressed resistance until clients demand it.

For more information, visit www.smartbim.com.