The Evolution Of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

November 14, 2023

Construction projects are becoming more complex due to tighter project schedules, increasing cost and quality pressures, and associated continuous change during the execution phase. Technical requirements are also increasing, and the division of work between the various technical experts involved is highly fragmented. This results in construction projects with unreliable schedules, cost overruns, and defects resulting from the lack of coordination on-site.

If you attended a conference or participate in professional development related to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, Built environment, and Sustainability development-related you would surely hear Building Information Modeling (BIM). It’s become a popular buzzword in reference to the many different ways to boost productivity in the AEC industry.

The AEC sector is embracing the digital age, the processes involved in the design, construction, and operation of built assets are more and more influenced by technologies. There are many developments in technologies and innovations that are going on in the world, especially in the AEC industry. Such as hardware, software, more types of sensors, IoT, AR, VR, MR, drones, additive manufacturing, robotics, modern surveying technology, BIM, and digital twin.

BIM Is An Evolution

There is no technology or tool that is developed overnight itself, everything developed over a period of time. Everything started with fundamental knowledge and tools only. The concept of BIM has been in development since the 1970s, but it only became an agreed term in the early 2000s. Development of standards and adoption of BIM has progressed at different speeds in different countries; standards developed in the United Kingdom from 2007 onwards have formed the basis of international standard ISO 19650, launched in January 2019.

The definition of BIM has been changing with time and industry use cases. In every definition, we can find some particular keywords.

Some BIM Definitions Over The Internet Internationally

There are many definitions of BIM. Some say BIM is a type of software, some say BIM is a 3D virtual model of the building while others refer to it as a process. The table below highlights just some of the definitions of BIM currently in circulation.

Brief History Of Famous BIM And Its Supporting Tools

However, the terms ‘Building Information Model’ and ‘Building Information Modeling’ (including the acronym “BIM”) did not become popularly used until some 10 years later. In 2002, Autodesk released a white paper entitled “Building Information Modeling,” and other software vendors also started to assert their involvement in the field.

By hosting contributions from Autodesk, Bentley Systems, and Graphisoft, plus other industry observers, in 2003, Jerry Laiserin helped popularize and standardize the term as a common name for the digital representation of the building process.

Facilitating exchange and interoperability of information in digital format had previously been offered under differing terminology by Graphisoft as “Virtual Building”, Bentley Systems as “Integrated Project Models”, and by Autodesk or Vectorworks as “Building Information Modeling”.

2002 – Revit bought by Autodesk and rest of the things…..We all know well…It is dominating the Construction industry as BIM software.

1970 – BIM term first used,

1982 – First version of AutoCAD released and Graphisoft founded (Graphisoft is a software design company),

1983 – First version of AutoCAD released for Windows,

1985 – Bently founded,

1987 – First version of Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD released,

1997 – Revit founded, the First version of IFC released,

1999 – Revit first released,

2002 – Revit bought by Autodesk

The list goes on...

Thanks & My Presence

Naveenkumar Nagipogu

https://www.linkedin.com/in/naveenkumar-nagipogu/