The bureaucracy of legislation and red tape is often met with resistance, owing to the need for additional resource and the challenging demands of implementation. In 2014, however, Dubai Municipality became the first public authority in the Middle East to introduce the mandatory use of Building Information Modelling (BIM), there was a wave of support in the construction industry across the UAE.
“The main BIM advantage is resolving design clashes between different disciplines –mechanical, electrical, civil – resulting in major savings in time and redundancies,” Khaled Awad, a consultant on the initial designs for Masdar HQ, the zero-waste, carbon-neutral flagship project outside Abu Dhabi, was quoted as saying at the time. Awad added that BIM had been “indispensible” and “is critical in complex structures and without it such projects would incur sizable losses in time and money.”
A common obstacle to BIM deployment in the region is the requirement for cultural change. People think about BIM as a tool for saving time and money, rather than a collaborative process that requires a major change in process and culture. Other potential barriers are resource availability, changes in government spending plans, private sector financing, and risk management.
BIM digital modelling helps everyone to optimise their interactions with the building, resulting in a greater whole-life value for the asset and has the potential to deliver more valued judgements and more sustainable infrastructures for owners and occupants. A quality computer maintenance management system (CMMS) is also increasingly recognised to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the maintenance management in the built environment. Together BIM and CMMS present maintenance managers with a powerful opportunity for the advance planning of buildings and infrastructure as part of a cooperative team with a cross-section of professionals who all have a vested interest. The early involvement of maintenance in design and performance can unlock collaborative ways of working to create improved efficiencies and better reporting data. The integration of information allows BIM to support a built asset from construction right through to operation.
The increased predictability of projects, which can be visualised at an early stage, gives owners and operators a clear idea of design intent so that this can be modified to achieve specified, desired outcomes. Scanning and converting existing buildings to 3D models also allows maintenance engineers to look at the impact of re-modelling, refurbishment or extension options. Adopting BIM within a building’s development strategy results in major benefits by bridging the gap between the team that builds the facility and the owner and occupier who operate the building.
There is massive global potential for BIM and CMMS to operate in the same sphere with a developing understanding and meaningful exchange of information to support the sustainable development of buildings and infrastructure in the Middle East.