BIM Uses

Twenty-five BIM Uses, organized by project phase of project development, were identified through numerous interviews with industry experts, analysis of implementation case studies, and review of literature. A summary level description of each of these BIM Uses is available on the BIM Execution Project website. The descriptions were developed to provide a brief overview for project team members who may not be familiar with the BIM Use, and to provide additional information that the project team may find valuable during the selection process. Each description includes an overview of the BIM Use, potential benefits, required team competencies, and selected resources that can be referenced for additional information about the BIM Use.

The Frequency and Benefit of each BIM Use

In December of 2009, a survey was taken to help determine the frequency by which organizations use each Use and the benefit to the project of each Use. While the BIM Uses of 3D coordination and Design Reviews were both the most frequently used and most beneficial based on the survey results, all of the Uses in the survey are being used to a degree on projects and are perceived beneficial  (Kreider et al. 2010).

The majority of the survey focused on one two-part question: “How frequently does your organization use each BIM Uses defined in the BIM Project Execution Planning Guide and what is your organization's perceived level of benefit to the project for each use?” The first portion of the question gave the response options of 0%, 5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 95%, and 100%, while the second portion of the question gave the response options of very negative, negative, neutral, positive, and very positive. Below is a graph showing both the Frequency and Benefit of Each BIM Uses and a table showing the ranking of the BIM Uses.

Bar Chart Comparing Frequency of Use Relative to Perceived Benefit (Kreider et al. 2010)

Table of BIM Use Frequency and Benefit with Rank Out of Twenty-Five Uses (Kreider et al. 2010)

More detailed analysis of the survey results can be located in the conference paper: "Determining the Frequency and Benefit of Applying BIM for Different Purposes on Building Projects"

Ralph Kreider, John Messner, and Craig Dubler, “Determining the Frequency and Impact of Applying BIM for Different Purposes on Building Projects,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Innovation in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) (Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA, 2010), http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/AEC2010/.