New McGraw-Hill Construction report shows 52 percent of high-level BIM users report better profits
Building Information Modeling (BIM), a novel approach to design and construction pioneered by early adopters, has gone mainstream for the North American construction industry with adoption expanding from 17 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012.
That’s according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s latest SmartMarket Report, “The Business Value of BIM in North America: Multi-Year Trend Analysis and User Ratings (2007–2012).”
“The results of the survey validate many key trends we are seeing in North America – notably, the strong growth of BIM in construction and adoption amongst owners, architects and engineers,” said Phil Bernstein, vice president, strategic industry relations at Autodesk, a global leader in 3D design software for manufacturing, building, construction and engineering. “The results also point to the increased business benefits that all users derived from using BIM, such as better profits, more accurate documentation, less rework, reduced project duration, fewer claims and the ability to offer new services.”
The increased efficiency of BIM is credited with cutting labor expenses and material costs for engineers and contractors as well as providing offsite fabrication capabilities and better schedule compression.
The report also shows that building owners are driving demand for BIM and increased adoption.
“Over the next 10 years, building owners will demand ever-increasing usage of BIM as a precondition, ushering in a new era of accuracy, quality and sophistication for the building industry,” predicted Patrick MacLeamy, CEO of HOK, one of the world’s most influential architectural design firms.
To quantify users’ level of commitment to BIM, McGraw-Hill developed a BIM Engagement Index, calculated from each BIM user’s skill level, years of BIM experience, and percentage their projects that use BIM.
The BIM Engagement Index found:
- 13 percent of BIM users demonstrate a very high BIM engagement level (e-level), requiring expert skill level, five or more years of experience, and implementation of BIM on more than 60 percent of their projects.
- 67 percent of the very high e-level users report a very positive ROI on BIM (25 percent or higher) versus only 20 percent of low e-level BIM users, two-thirds of whom are at negative of break-even ROI.
- 52 percent of very high e-level users experience increased profits from their use of BIM compared to the 36 percent average for all users.
Jefferies’ MacMillan on Monday raised the stock price target on Autodesk, already rated a ‘Buy,’ from $45 to $47 a share. Autodesk stock was trading up more than 4 percent Tuesday to $41.32. The share price ranges from a high of $42.69 to a low of $27.70.
