Enabling Building Information Modeling (BIM) Practices in the Canadian Construction Industry: A case for an academic program

摘要

In today's construction industry, we have been seeing a growing number of complex and high quality construction projects all around the world using BIM (Building Information Modeling) technologies. In order to get the most benefit out of BIM, there is a dire need for efficient standards and robust educational programs and courses to train skilled professionals to support the implementation of BIM in the construction industry. BIM enables team collaboration, assisting project managers to more reliably communicate project's intent to all stakeholders in a timely fashion. It promotes accuracy and process optimization, saves time, and reduces waste. It is therefore important for industry and academic institutions to work collaboratively in order to understand the level and skillset required for effective implementation of BIM practices in the industry. Based on a preliminary environmental scan, there is a huge gap between industry BIM needs and available training/educational programs to facilitate effective implementation of BIM tools in the province of Alberta, Canada. Education in the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations) field needs to fill the gaps in BIM training for industry to remain current, responsive and relevant. Although an increasing number of educational institutions offering architecture, engineering and construction programs have started to offer BIM related courses, there is no comprehensive curriculum developed by local academia to address the BIM related training needs of the construction industry in Alberta. Research and case studies advocate that industry stakeholders can use BIM technologies to save time and cost, while improving building quality. Integrating BIM collaboratively among stakeholders will also boost competitiveness and productivity in the building industry. The paper aims to review the current state of BIM training programs in Alberta and recommend a framework of a training program that provides industry professionals with the fundamental skills and knowledge of principles, terminologies, tools, and techniques related to BIM practices. The study suggests that a BIM certificate will help training our professionals better to address the needs of BIM practices in the construction industry. There is a need for a certificate program that provides the required skillset to produce career ready professionals to enable BIM practices in the construction industry. The study findings would be of interest to BIM experts, construction professionals, and faculty involved with BIM education.