Building Information Modeling Update

March 18, 2008

Building Information Model (BIM) is a set of information generated and maintained throughout the life cycle of a building. The American Institute of Architects has further defined BIM as "a model-based technology linked with a database of project information", and this reflects the general reliance on database technology as the foundation.

BIM is currently employed by professionals on various building types and provides the potential for a virtual information model to be handed from Design Team (architects, surveyors, consulting engineers, and others) to Contractor and Subcontractors and then to the Owner, each adding their own additional discipline-specific knowledge and tracking of changes to the single model. 

SDC Session #23 will focus on the issue of BIM, and its potential in the concrete industry. With presentations to provide information on what BIM is and isn’t, together with case studies of actual projects, the SDC will facilitate break-out sessions to allow its members to explore the impact this emerging technology will have on design and construction. 

From technical questions to legal questions, it is time for the concrete industry to address this issue. What obstacles are in the way of assuring that the technology known as BIM enhances the design, construction, and use of concrete?