The Second National Survey to benchmark the level of Building Information Modelling (BIM) adoption in Ireland revealed that 76% (67% 2015) of respondents possessed confidence in their organisation’s BIM skills and knowledge. 79% of the sample also reported an increase in demand for BIM in Ireland.

The survey participants were industry leaders. 90% of respondents reported that their role was at Director, Principal, or Associate level within their company. This research is good news for the Irish Construction Industry with BIM growing in popularity in the global construction industry.

The report was prepared by Dr Alan Hore, Co-founder of CitA, Dr Barry McAuley, BIM Innovation Capability Programme (BICP) Postdoctoral Researcher and John Hunt, Senior Market Advisor for the Construction Sector at Enterprise Ireland.

BIMIreland.ie spoke to Alan about the survey. We asked him what the key questions of this survey were. Alan said, “The questions were broadly the same as in 2015 enquiring about the leaders confidence in both their BIM knowledge and skills presently, their use of standards/guidelines, challenges in the wider use of BIM in Ireland, client demand for BIM in Ireland, UK BIM mandate and how representative bodies can better support adoption of BIM in Ireland. New questions added this year included the leader’s awareness of CitA, influence of the UK mandate, how the Irish Government should encourage and support transformational change and how the leaders see the potential development of a road map for Ireland.”

Alan outlined the key findings of the survey. “76% of respondents possessed confidence in their organisation’s BIM skills and knowledge compared to 67% in 2015. Surprisingly, only 47% of respondents stated that it had an influence on their businesses. Increased use of publically available BIM standards and guidelines like PAS 1192: 2 (2013). 80% of respondents reported an increase in demand for BIM among clients. 66% of the sample believed that Ireland should follow the UK footsteps and BIM mandate compared to 50% in 2015. 74% agreed that any potential National BIM Programme should be a joint government and industry initiative.”

We asked what were his predictions and hopes for BIM adoption in 2017. He said, “I believe the BIM capability initiatives introduced by Enterprise Ireland i.e. BIM Enable, BIM Implementation, BIM Innovation Capability Programme, coupled with the roll out of the National BIM Council Implementation Programme will all signal an important and decisive move by Ireland to occupy the digital construction agenda making our industry a smarter and more innovative sector in which to work in.”

Click here to read the Second National Survey on BIM adoption in Ireland.

First National Survey on BIM adoption in Ireland: http://tinyurl.com/hnld4ol

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