The article discusses Dodge Data & Analytics SmartMarket research which “demonstrates that mechanical contractors are sophisticated users of BIM software who have seen the benefits from that use… [and] that the ability of these contractors to fully leverage the value of modeling technologies is hampered by training and manpower issues, along with the challenge of getting other project stakeholders equally engaged in BIM.”
Apparently one challenge we’ve got to address in the HVAC trades is training employees – on Revit design and detailing, for example – so they can create BIM models. Normalizing BIM in training was a topic of conversation during the MEP Force 2020 Virtual trade organizations panel breakout session on August 31. It was agreed that, among the trades, mechanical contractors have been the drivers of BIM because they saw the most benefits historically.
There’s another challenge that is widely acknowledged. It is the struggle across project teams to fully engage with BIM. Other trades haven’t embraced BIM like the HVAC trades have. Nor, in many instances, have the other stakeholders on projects – perhaps the engineer, the architect or the general contractor. The BusinessWire article states, “poor quality BIM use by other stakeholders is also presenting significant challenges.” That’s unfortunate.