BIM ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION TRENDS IN SA’S AEC INDUSTRY

In the realm of the global construction industry, which was valued at US$11.1 trillion in 2018, building information modelling (BIM) has emerged as a gamechanging innovation, driving cost savings and efficiency. Yet, in South Africa’s construction sector – valued at R430 billion the same year – BIM adoption lags, despite its proven benefits.

By David Prinsloo*

This disparity, amid a five-year decline in the South African architecture, engineering, and construction (SAAEC) industry, presents a compelling case for investigating the progression of BIM adoption in South Africa.

BIM is a process that uses computer-aided design (CAD) technology to integrate all building design information into a virtual 3D model. It enhances design visualisation and collaboration among project team members. This improved communication helps to alleviate many issues currently plaguing the construction industry, such as late and costly design changes, and delay claims, all of which negatively impact project delivery. However, despite these advantages, the construction industry has experienced little productivity change over the past 50 years, as resistance to technological innovation in the industry seems to remain prevalent.

BIM benefits

The benefits of BIM adoption and implementation (A&I) are numerous, including improved project performance and quality, enhanced productivity, waste reduction, faster delivery, and lower construction costs. Despite this, several barriers impede its adoption, including a steep learning curve, lack of skilled personnel, high implementation costs, lack of government support, and concerns about data ownership and legal issues.

Globally, BIM has found success in countries like Australia, Brazil, China, Canada, the UK, USA and Europe (as seen in Figure 1), yet in South Africa, BIM adoption rates fall far behind. While countries that have actively adopted BIM for decades have seen significant progress, those without government support, like South Africa, have not. This disparity underscores the necessity of national leadership in implementing BIM strategies.

SA studies

The South African studies conducted up until 2021 on BIM in the SAAEC industry have been limited in scope and size, focusing on various locations across the country. These studies have, however, indicated an increasing trend of BIM adoption over time, with usage primarily in the planning and design phases. Contractors were found to have the lowest awareness of BIM, with little utilisation during the construction phase. The main barriers to BIM adoption in South Africa echo those found in international literature and other countries in the early stages

FIGURE 1 BIM adoption rates per country

of BIM adoption. These include a lack of awareness and skills, high setup costs, lack of demand, and poor support from policymakers. However, one emerging driver of BIM adoption is the increased competitive pressure among organisations to keep pace with advances in technology. The study aimed to determine if South Africa’s BIM A&I aligns with an innovation diffusion model in an attempt to provide a valuable forecast about future BIM A&I in the SAAEC industry.

The study combined a mixed-methods approach to investigate the rate of A&I of BIM in the SAAEC industry. The research utilised primary data from 283 survey respondents, enriched by secondary data from interviews and an extensive review of relevant literature, providing a comprehensive understanding of BIM awareness, use, collaboration, drivers and barriers.

BIM awareness versus application

Initial results show that BIM awareness in the SAAEC industry is commendably high, with 73% of respondents acknowledging familiarity with BIM. This suggests that efforts to popularise BIM as a key tool for the construction industry are on the right track, but the findings also reveal a disparity between BIM awareness and application. While 57% of participants reported using BIM, only 27% said they regularly employ it for collaboration purposes. This gap highlights a disparity in the maturity of BIM A&I; most users are at the basic usage level, with full collaborative capabilities yet to be harnessed across the industry.

Another key part of this study was the identification and analysis of the top 10 drivers and barriers to BIM A&I, as these factors play a crucial role in shaping the industry’s progress. The top drivers, as per previous research, were improved collaboration and enhanced project and design visualisation. These drivers were consistent across all disciplines and both public and private sector organisations. However, new drivers emerged, including easier access to information, the role of a new generation of tech-savvy professionals in pushing BIM implementation, and increased competitiveness among organisations. In particular, young professionals were found to be key to driving BIM adoption in their respective teams, often initiating BIM awareness and championing adoption efforts.

Barriers to BIM A&I, however, have not seen much change, with skill shortages, organisational resistance to change, and high setup costs remaining the primary obstacles. Interestingly, BIM awareness climbed up as a barrier, suggesting an issue with converting awareness into practical application.

Private versus public sector adoption

A key finding was the comparative analysis between private and public sector organisations, revealing that private sector organisations lead BIM A&I, pioneering ahead and not waiting for government initiatives. Public sector organisations were shown to have extremely low BIM A&I, and largely attribute this to lack of government support. Yet, there is significant potential for government intervention to expedite BIM A&I, a gap currently not sufficiently addressed. Figures 2 and 3 indicate the disparity between public and private sector organisations’ BIM use and skill levels.

The study also modelled South African BIM A&I rates, revealing a good fit with the standard diffusion model S-curve. If the current trend continues, it is estimated that BIM usage will reach approximately 80% by 2026 and 90% by 2028. However, the current trend also suggests that BIM collaboration will lag, presenting an area for targeted intervention. Figure 4 shows current and projected BIM use and collaboration rates over time.

The study highlights that BIM awareness has risen impressively since the inaugural 2014 research on BIM in the SAAEC industry. However, while familiarity is high, it is clear that there is a significant difference between awareness and application. Just a quarter of respondents reported using BIM for collaboration, suggesting a gap between understanding and practical use. This distinction is particularly clear among contractors, who show lower BIM usage rates compared to consultants, likely due to on-site skills shortages on construction sites.

A striking finding of this research is the stark contrast between BIM A&I rates in private and public sector organisations. Private sector organisations are leading the charge, with higher rates of BIM use, skill levels and collaboration compared to their public sector counterparts. The private sector is proving to be the primary driver of BIM A&I in the SAAEC industry, independently tackling barriers and pioneering adoption without waiting for government support. Conversely, public sector organisations, crippled by the lack of governmental support, show alarmingly low BIM usage and almost zero collaboration.

International benchmark comparison

When benchmarked against international standards, South Africa’s BIM A&I rates reveal a concerning lag. South Africa trails seven to eight years behind the international average of 11 developed countries, as shown in Figure 5, many of which have mandated

BIM use on public projects and have governmentissued national BIM standards. This clear lack of government support is posited as a major factor contributing to South Africa’s lagging BIM A&I rates.

In terms of drivers and barriers to BIM A&I, the research identified improved collaboration and enhanced project and design visualisation as the top two drivers. However, the industry is still grappling with persistent barriers, including skill shortages, organisational resistance to change, and high setup costs, which have remained largely unchanged over the past decade. The inability to overcome these obstacles poses a real threat to future progress in BIM A&I in the SAAEC industry.

Strategic policy implementation

The implications of these findings are clear: robust government support and policy intervention are critical to advancing the industry’s BIM A&I. Strategic policy implementation, including mandating BIM use on all public projects and publishing a national set of BIM standards, could act as a catalyst for BIM adoption, accelerating current implementation rates and closing the gap with international standards.

Conclusion

These findings offer vital insights for professionals in the industry as well as policymakers, providing an impetus to drive legislative changes to eliminate barriers and enhance BIM usage. Future research can extend this knowledge by employing larger surveys to improve result validity and by investigating the gap between private and public sector organisations, further enriching the understanding of BIM A&I in the SAAEC industry.

By harnessing the power of BIM, South Africa’s infrastructure engineering sector can look forward to a future of improved collaboration, efficiency and competitive advantage.

*Graduate School of Technology Management, University of Pretoria

The vision of the BIM CoDE•SA www.bimcommunity.africa/bimcodesa

(Convention for a Digital South Africa) is to commence with the process of developing a BIM policy, by the South African AEC industry, for adoption by the Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa. The policy should define the road map for meaningful implementation of BIM in the built environment of South Africa, for the benefit of its citizens. We invite you to join us and help define the policy.