Report: International BIM market to hit $12B by 2022

Dive Brief:

A Research and Markets study found that the international building information modeling (BIM) market will reach $11.7 billion by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.6% between 2016 and 2022.
The research firm said it expects the Asia-Pacific region to experience the most growth in demand due to its rising construction activity and the push of BIM mandates.
BIM is growing in all areas of construction around the world, and adoption — especially in Asia — has been driven by emerging BIM mandates, a thriving real estate market and acknowledgment by contractors and other industry player of the benefits of BIM. .

Dive Insight:

Research and Markets also said that BIM's capabilities are challenging traditional CAD software's place in the industry, particularly in the areas of cost control, handling of data and the ability to integrate other processes. The company also predicted that some of the primary global BIM players will include Trimble Navigation, Autodesk, Beck Technology and AECOM.

Industry leaders have praised the U.K. BIM mandate that went into effect earlier this year. According to the Royal Institute of British Architects’ National Building Specification (NBS), certain contractors doing work for the U.K. government must implement Level 2 BIM, which requires construction project stakeholders — architects, contractors or suppliers — to have the capability to exchange project data via a common file format.

While there are some U.S. BIM requirements from agencies like the General Services Administration, Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Veterans Affairs, experts agree that there likely is no U.K.-comparable mandate in the near future for the U.S., partly due to the fragmentation of the U.S. construction industry. Even so, a McGraw Hill Construction 2014 Smart Market Report revealed that BIM adoption by contractors in North America grew from 17% in 2007 to more than 70% in 2012, meaning that it's not so much an "if BIM" scenario in the U.S. as it is a "when" scenario.