The driving force behind BIM adoption primarily comes from governments and property owners. Due to the unique characteristics of Chinese design firms and the rapid growth of China’s economy, the design industry holds immense market potential. This has led some leading design companies to leverage BIM as a strategic advantage, expecting it to boost their profitability in future competitive markets. From an owner’s perspective, if BIM is only used to enhance design efficiency and quality, they are unlikely to pay extra for it. While some owners may invest in BIM proactively, this cannot be considered a sustainable revenue model for design firms based solely on BIM services.
Since BIM has initiated a reengineering of the engineering workflow, design firms must take into account two key points:
1) BIM will gradually become the basic entry requirement for design companies to offer services to owners.
2) Design companies must benefit from innovations in their service models. BIM generates data and insights that traditional 2D methods cannot provide, encouraging firms to transition from simple design services to comprehensive “turnkey” solutions. Thus, BIM does not operate independently from design services but rather enhances them. For design firms, BIM’s value is not an addition to profits but a multiplier.
(1) Three key elements shape BIM planning for design enterprises: talent, process, and delivery method. In recent years, the industry’s growing adoption of BIM has led many design firms to develop BIM experts, often converted from BIM enthusiasts. These specialists have tackled issues such as incomplete BIM tools—especially the lack of localization—and have applied BIM partially or fully on projects, often producing results rich in BIM visualization. Consequently, the scale and quality of works in industry BIM competitions have improved annually. However, very few design firms have integrated BIM as an organic part of their productivity system.
While external factors like tool maturity, owner readiness, and BIM standards are important, Chinese design firms must adopt a forward-looking approach to enterprise-level BIM planning due to the continued rapid growth of China’s construction industry and the vast market potential. It is clear that three essential elements—talent, process, and delivery method—are indispensable in BIM planning and must be considered systematically and comprehensively.
(2) Establish BIM design behavior standards tailored to your company:
When it comes to enterprise BIM design standards, BIM modeling standards are the most common focus. However, the core of design behavior standards should be the reengineering of the design process. The changes BIM brings are not only reflected in the final deliverables but, more importantly, in the design workflow itself. This concept of process change goes beyond formal information system processes; it represents a fundamental shift in design behavior. While design, verification, and review processes exist in both traditional 2D and BIM modes, the definitions and implementations differ significantly.
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