KUALA LUMPUR: All 20 local authorities with city status in Malaysia will be using the building information modelling (BIM) technology in their initial project submissions by 2021, says works ministry secretary-general Syed Omar Sharifuddin Syed Ikhsan.
He said the government planned to run four pilot projects this year through its agency, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), with the collaboration of four local authorities on the BIM eSubmission – a uniform building by-laws auto-checker for building plans.
The local authorities are Putrajaya Corporation, Petaling Jaya City Council, Melaka Historical City Council and the Kangar Municipal Council.
“In the face of fierce competition brought about by market liberation, as well as disruptive building technologies already being deployed in the market, the Malaysian construction industry cannot afford to sit back and allow the tides of time to pass us by.
“The time is now for the industry to pay greater attention to advanced technologies such as BIM, because its adoption is a key changer to ensure the construction industry maintains its competitiveness on the local and international fronts,” he added, before opening BIM Day 2019 here today.
BIM technology facilitates coordination, communication, analysis, project management and even asset management, allowing users to build with more accuracy, fewer errors, less waste, better safety and improved efficiency.
The technology, a better alternative to 3D computer-aided design modelling, also enables developers to cut down on rework and duplication of drawings for the different requirements of building disciplines as the model contains more information than a drawing set, which allows each discipline to annotate and connect its “intelligence” to the project.
At a press conference later, Syed Omar Sharifuddin said given its cost effectiveness, time saving and other positive features, the government might consider making BIM adoption mandatory for all developers, both public and private, in the future.
Currently, the level of BIM adoption in Malaysia stands at 17% compared with 71% in the US, 38% in the UK and 65% in Singapore.
With greater awareness of the technology, the ministry hopes to increase the adoption level to 30%.
CIDB chief executive Ahmad Asri Abdul Hamid said the agency had invested RM3 million to establish the myBIM Centre, a one-stop resource centre for industry players that features state-of-the-art facilities and enable users to model and visualise building projects in a simulated environment.
He said the CIDB had established the RM1 billion BIM Transformation Scheme Fund in 2017, which was used to obtain the BIM software and fund training programmes for this scheme.
In 2018, over RM350,000 was budgeted for the scheme and over 30 companies had benefited, he said.
“This year, CIDB is allocating RM3 million to facilitate 72 companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, in BIM adoption. Through such financial support, we hope to develop a thriving construction development that is anchored on BIM,” he added.