What is BIM?
BIM is an acronym for Building Information Modelling, or Building Information Model. It describes the process of designing a building collaboratively using one coherent system of computer models rather than as separate sets of drawings. Don’t be misled by the word ‘building’ – BIM is just as relevant to the civil engineering sector.
It offers enormous gains in saving in cost and time, much greater accuracy in estimation, and the avoidance of error, alterations and rework due to information loss. But adopting BIM involves much more than simply changing the software we use. To achieve all the benefits it offers, everyone in the architecture, engineering and construction industries will have to learn to work in fundamentally new ways. BIM is a whole new paradigm.