BIM Mandates and Scan to BIM Are Not the Same—They Should Be Considered Separately in Practice
*This article is a supplement from the perspective of a practitioner, written after reading Naoki Kawamoto's "How Far Has the World Come with BIM Mandates? The Current State of Japan, the West, South Korea, and Vietnam."
Kawamoto's article provided a clear overview of the status of BIM adoption and the flow of regulations in various countries.
However, reading it from the perspective of someone who has been involved in practical work, there are a few points I would like to add.
These are that "BIM mandates" and "Scan to BIM" are not the same topic, and that there is a slight difference between the impression conveyed by the word "mandate" and the actual regulations.
"BIM mandate" is a rule for information management in new projects, and
"Scan to BIM" is a means of digitizing existing buildings.
What does "BIM mandate" mean?
When people hear the term "BIM mandate," they tend to assume that "from now on, everything must be submitted in BIM."
However, in reality, it is not that simple.
Regulations vary by country; some countries only target public works, while others only target buildings above a certain size. There are also cases where requirements differ depending on the client.
In Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has made BIM/CIM mandatory in principle starting from fiscal year 2023, but this mainlyapplies to civil engineering work and construction projects under the direct jurisdiction of the MLIT, and
it does not mean that BIM has become mandatory for all building confirmation applications nationwide.
In other words, while it is true that the system is moving in the direction of utilizing BIM, it does not mean that anything other than BIM is disallowed for all projects.
The purpose is different from Scan to BIM
Another thing that is easily confused is Scan to BIM.
Discussions about BIM mandates are, in most cases, based on the premise of new construction projects.
The idea is to create design information for buildings to be built in the future using BIM, and to manage and hand over that information.
Naturally, it is impossible to scan a building that does not yet exist.
In other words, it is common for new construction projects not to be based on point cloud data.
On the other hand, Scan to BIM is a technology that targets existing buildings.
For renovation work, remodeling, equipment upgrades, and maintenance, the current state is first measured using laser scanning or LiDAR, and a BIM model is created from that point cloud data.
Even though both share the word BIM, their starting points are different.
Just having point clouds does not make it BIM
There is also one point about Scan to BIM that is easily misunderstood.
Point cloud data is merely the result of three-dimensional measurement.
It can only be utilized as a BIM model once unnecessary points are cleaned up, walls, columns, floors, and equipment are modeled, and the necessary attribute information is added.
Point clouds are not a substitute for BIM, but rather materials for constructing BIM.
In other words, Scan to BIM does not refer to "acquiring point clouds," but to "converting point clouds into BIM that can be used in practice."
It is easier to understand if you consider regulations and technology separately
As BIM mandates progress, the importance of engineers and environments capable of handling BIM will likely continue to increase.
At the same time, the demand for Scan to BIM is expected to steadily expand for the renovation and maintenance of existing buildings.
However, these two have different purposes and targets.
The movement to require BIM as a system and the technology to convert existing buildings into BIM have developed in separate contexts.
Just by grasping this difference, the way you view the term "BIM mandate" should change significantly.