Estimates suggest that only 1% of the building’s lifecycle costs occurs on the design and planning phase.

Around 30% of the overall costs occur on construction, and the remaining costs, approximately 70%, will occur on maintaining that building for the rest of its lifetime. Cost on maintenance can be minimised by increasing the attention spent on design. It is for this reason that building owners like Senate, who owns around 9,000 buildings all across Finland, are demanding BIM in every construction project.

At the same time, the latest technological innovations have improved the planning phase dramatically. The potential is there to scope out a building entirely in 3D models before any bricks, mortar, steel or timber are involved. BIM may be understood as it applies to architectural models, but in this whitepaper we’ll set out how the promise of BIM goes far beyond the structural plans.