Dive Brief:

• Builders may face six-figure expenses for software, hardware and training to bring building information modeling (BIM) into their businesses.
• Because BIM is not big in the home-building part of the industry yet, there are not a lot of experienced people to talk to, which is one factor that keeps BIM from growing in the home-building sector.
• Companies have to adjust to the fact that savings from using BIM will come down the road, not right away because the costs described above and learning different work flows will add to expense initially.

Dive Insight:

BIM is likely to pay back an investment by commercial contractors more quickly because the savings will be bigger from not over-ordering materials and not having to change already-done work when conflicts arise during construction. Another challenge is that many people have to be able to access BIM if it's going to work, but that requires careful access control, which requires expertise.