I am pleased to release the findings of the 2017 BIM in New Zealand report — the fourth year of a five-year programme that follows progress in accelerating the introduction of BIM into NZ.

Thanks to the support of BRANZ, we have again included in the report are the results of a survey of asset owners and managers (clients), in order to understand what progress BIM is having in facilities and asset management. 

The results from the 2017 research give a general sense of maturation in the use of BIM, along with a plateauing of use for industry. The overall proportion of industry projects which use some form of BIM rose slightly from 55% to 57% of projects. Looking back to the first survey in 2014, over four years BIM use has grown from 34% of the industry control group's projects to 57% in 2017.

This maturity is also reflected in the results for the role the government should play as a client in accelerating the development and use of BIM. Respondents reflected that the government's role remains important — although not as vital as in previous years — with comments on leading the way as a client and further support through setting standards and training, softening the strong theme of mandating the use of BIM on all government projects.

View the 2017 BIM Benchmark Survey Report for a detailed analysis of the survey results.

2017 BIM Survey Summary

Results from the client control group again show a lower use of BIM. Only 38% of clients aware of BIM are using BIM-based systems and use appears to be site-specific. Just under one third (31%) of clients who are aware of BIM but not currently using it, plan to start using BIM in the next 12 months. This is similar to 2016 (33%) and suggests the intention has not yet translated into action.

2018 will be the final year in this five-year series. Alongside the industry survey, the client survey will also be conducted to gain an understanding of how the use of BIM is progressing within this group, as well as providing a method of identifying obstacles to acceleration.

The BIM Benchmark Survey report examines the actual use vs. predicted use by the industry control group from 2014 to 2017:

• BIM uses in detail (who is using)
• Most popular BIM uses (what it is being used for) and
• Those uses most likely to grow — the top BIM uses by profession

As well as insights into:

• Client use and challenges in using BIM models
• Barriers slowing BIM uptake
• How to accelerate further industry uptake
• The government's role as a client in accelerating the development and use of BIM
• Predictions of use for 2018