The Concept of BIM
BIM (Building Information Modeling) can be applied throughout the entire life cycle of construction projects. In China, its use should extend from the initial design phase to construction, and further into the operation and maintenance stages. However, many domestic business owners still have questions about applying BIM in the operation and maintenance phase. In my view, integrating BIM systems into this stage is still under discussion. Why is that? Let’s explore the challenges of BIM operation and maintenance in China.
Challenge 1: Who Pays for BIM Operation and Maintenance?
Who will cover the costs? Simply put, it depends on whether the project owner is willing to invest in an operation and maintenance system during the later stages of the project. There is a Chinese saying: “Without deceit, there is no commerce.” While it may sound negative, it reflects a basic truth — “What value can I gain from my investment?” Many domestic enterprises implementing BIM find that the input and output are difficult to measure in the early stages or even after one or two projects. For Chinese owners focused on maximizing returns, investing an uncertain amount of money into a BIM operation and maintenance system—without guaranteed value—is risky. Asking owners to spend substantial funds to build a visible yet intangible “castle in the air” requires careful thought.
Challenge 2: Third-Party Outsourcing
In China, construction projects typically follow the Design-Bid-Build (DBB) method, where each phase is handled by an independent team or organization. Domestic owners often outsource operation and maintenance to third-party companies. Once a project is complete, these outsourced teams assume the operational responsibilities of the owner or client.
If a BIM-based operation and maintenance system is adopted, training and educating the outsourced teams becomes a significant challenge. While BIM has gained traction in China’s design field, with modeling software becoming easier to use, BIM operation and maintenance involves a much longer time frame and multiple stakeholders. Additionally, the lack of domestic and international precedents makes importing BIM systems impractical.
The market is still immature and lacks unified standards. For example, the UK uses the BIM operation and maintenance standard COBie, but China is still a blank slate in this regard. Combined with market chaos and fierce competition, it will take time before BIM is widely applied in domestic operation and maintenance systems. In other words, the use of BIM by operation and maintenance teams to attract more clients is still a distant goal. Here, owners’ requirements for BIM capabilities from these teams are crucial and can help accelerate BIM’s adoption in operation and maintenance.
These two challenges represent my personal perspective on BIM operation and maintenance issues in China. Due to the limited number of reference cases domestically, I have not gone into deeper analysis. I appreciate your understanding and welcome additional insights so we can all progress together.
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