This article is originally from the official account: BIM Center of Guangdong Heavy Industry Institute.
In recent years, BIM has emerged as a key player in China’s construction industry, supported by government policies, industry backing, and IT outsourcing. While various stakeholders are rapidly upgrading BIM tools and enhancing their skills, BIM has also captured significant public attention. Drawing from my experience as a frontline BIM practitioner, I would like to share my thoughts on several common perspectives surrounding BIM.
BIM Technology Is Too Inefficient and Difficult to Use!
It’s true that BIM technology can initially impact efficiency.
When design firms evaluate new technology, they look for improvements in both quality and efficiency. Ideally, both would improve simultaneously. However, early adoption of BIM often leads to a perceived drop in efficiency. This is partly because traditional 2D drawings simplify information and exclude many details, while BIM software, being newer and less mature than CAD, requires users to climb a learning curve. Due to these factors, some rumors suggest BIM reduces efficiency.
Nevertheless, with a well-implemented BIM strategy, firms can greatly enhance quality while minimizing efficiency losses, ultimately boosting productivity throughout the entire design process.
BIM Is Just About Model Checking—No Real Value
Model checking is actually an important part of BIM.
Critics often dismiss model checking as “BIM for BIM’s sake.” However, this process offers clear benefits by improving drawing accuracy and building confidence in BIM. Essentially, model checking simulates construction: if any details are missing in the drawings, those parts of the model cannot be built. Design flaws also become immediately apparent within the model. This helps identify errors, omissions, or missing elements, replacing much of the manual verification work.
Moreover, modern BIM software offers user-friendly modeling tools that are easy to learn and implement, allowing users to perform model checking without extra workload. For large projects, targeted local modeling or focusing on complex nodes can effectively uncover issues that traditional 2D drawings might miss.
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Is This Really the Era of “Phasing Out CAD”?
CAD remains a vital part of BIM’s 2D information layer.
China’s BIM development now seems to embrace widespread adoption, with industry experts making significant breakthroughs. Many people associate this trend with the “phasing out CAD” movement of the 1990s, believing that we are entering a new era where CAD becomes obsolete.
Whether this era has truly arrived depends on two key questions: Has CAD hindered construction industry progress, and can BIM software fully replace CAD?
After years of development, CAD has established a comprehensive design ecosystem and remains mainstream. While BIM offers some efficiency advantages, CAD still meets the needs of most construction projects. BIM software is relatively new and still faces challenges integrating with energy analysis, structural calculations, and regulatory review processes, making full CAD replacement difficult at this stage.
Therefore, design firms are encouraged to use CAD and BIM software together during BIM’s early adoption, leveraging each tool’s strengths at different design stages. Ideally, CAD should be integrated into the BIM platform, serving as the 2D data layer within the BIM model.
As a BIM editor who has worked through BIM’s growth from its infancy to widespread use, I have witnessed doubts, persistence, observation, and practice. As the saying goes, “Though the journey is long and arduous, only after overcoming the harshest conditions can one find gold.” We firmly believe BIM technology will continue to evolve, expand, and flourish, becoming the future of the construction industry.
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