Investment in BIM should be viewed as a
long-term investment that yields returns through cost savings, time savings, and quality improvements throughout the life cycle of the facility.
The payback and return on investment (ROI) in BIM can be characterized by the following stages and indicators:
1. The adoption curve (“J-curve”): first decline, then growth The implementation of BIM does not yield immediate profits. At the initial stage, there is a short-term decline in productivity:
- Productivity Drop: When switching to a new technology, organizations often experience a 25-50% drop in productivity. This includes the cost of software, hardware, and training.
- Recovery Period: On average, organizations take 3-4 months to return to their previous level of productivity. After going through this stage, more than half of companies report a productivity increase of more than 50%.
2.
Return on Investment (ROI) Companies that actively track implementation effectiveness report very high ROI rates:
- The return on investment (ROI) can reach 300-500% of the initial investment.
- BIM is considered an investment capable of increasing the net present value (NPV) of a project by approximately 25% by reducing risks and the discount rate.
3. Time frame for obtaining economic effect- Long-term effect: The real economic effect often becomes noticeable only after a few years of using the technology, since the “one-time investment” model assumes income over the following years.
- Early payback: With the right organization of work, the use of technology can become economically profitable and pay off at an early stage (design stage).
What is the payback? The financial benefit consists of loss prevention and process optimization:
- Error reduction: The error in estimating the cost of construction and installation works is reduced by 10–15%. The number of collisions and errors in documentation is reduced by up to 40%.
- Time savings: Construction times can be reduced by 20–50%, and coordination and approval time by up to 90%.
- Total cost reduction: Construction and operation costs can be reduced by up to 30%. For example, the use of BIM in water supply design can reduce design time by 27.7% and reduce the total investment cost of the project by approximately 2%.
- Change cost reduction: According to the principle known as the “McLeamy Curve”, major efforts and costs are transferred to the early stages (design), which allows you to avoid expensive rework during the construction phase, where the cost of changes is much higher.
Thus, although the initial stage requires costs and time for adaptation, investments in BIM pay off many times over by minimizing risks and rework in the later and more expensive stages of construction and operation..