Rob Garvey

Does BIM improve client satisfaction? Intuitively, the answer is obvious, however there is a lack of clear objective evidence to substantiate the case. This is a story about how we sought to research whether BIM really does improve client satisfaction for a global architectural practice, The Buchan Group. The evidence that will be presented supports the intuitive opinion, BIM does have a positive impact on client satisfaction. This will outline how objective statistical analysis was undertaken that compares projects that have adopted BIM processes with those that have not and the resultant impact. Most significantly, it was determined that the clients rated the quality of documentation for the BIM projects significantly higher than the non-BIM projects, and this is clearly shown to be because BIM was adopted, and resulted in improved performance for the completed project. The evidence has potential to influence fundamental change within the business where the adoption of BIM processes is becoming business as usual. The audience will be able to use the evidence presented and utilise the framework deployed in this research to undertake their own analysis. We are keen to encourage other organisations to undertake similar research in order that there is an increase in evidence-based work that shows the benefits of BIM; moreover it influences industry stakeholders that, as we already intuitively know, BIM is the way forward.