What Will BIM Be?

This chapter takes a speculative look at the future of BIM: where it can go and where it is already headed. It will show what BIM will become in the coming years, as well as theorize on who will use it and how it will change the design and construction community.

To begin, BIM will replace CAD. This isn't necessarily a prediction or speculation. CAD had its heyday, just as the pencil or pen's use in construction documents was once the accepted technology prior to CAD. Our current world moves fast and is connected to seemingly infinite amounts of information that can be accessed in a matter of seconds, and if you don't make the move to new technology, the industry will blow right by you. This simple fact applies to many other industries than the construction industry. Widespread BIM adoption has begun to take hold and sophisticated owners, such as the GSA, see the value of BIM and are demanding it on their projects. As the market continues to adopt BIM as a standard, BIM will continue to flourish. Indeed, what is so promising about BIM is that it is not CAD, it is not drafting, and it is not lines on paper representing the outline of a building. Rather, the model is the building.