The era of digitalization is in full swing and has now penetrated all of our business sectors, including construction. This evolution constitutes a significant challenge that the construction sector is ready to take up; and it is a real opportunity for this sector to advance further in the integration of digital in its approaches.
If we talk about “digitalization” and “construction”, one key subject is unavoidable: the “Building Information Modeling”, commonly called “BIM”, which will revolutionize our profession, the way of conceiving a project and the working habits in a way comparable or even superior to what the introduction of the “computer-aided drafting” was from the 80s.
Indeed, the BIM process is the ability to create added value at different stages of a construction project and to optimize the processes. In this way, we can improve the quality of the building and at the same time increase the effectiveness of the construction actors and the productivity of the whole sector. Moreover, with BIM we will achieve in the medium and long term the objectives set in the framework of the Third Industrial Revolution, in particular by moving towards buildings that meet the requirements of a circular economy. This is why, in the Rifkin study published at the end of 2016, BIM is named as one of the main pillars of future developments in the construction industry.
The transition to the era of “Digital Lëtzebuerg” therefore presents great opportunities that must be seized. I am convinced that the good collaboration between all the actors will be a major asset and will fully benefit the development of the construction sector and even more so our country. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that such a technological evolution can only succeed if it integrates all the parties concerned and not only the contracting authority and the project manager, but also the companies and in particular the SMEs.
This is why the CRTI-B (Centre de Ressources des Technologies et de l’Innovation pour le Bâtiment) created in 2015 a working group bringing together all the Luxembourg construction actors with the objective to elaborate, in a collaborative work, a reference document for BIM collaboration in Luxembourg. This “BIM Application Guide”, proposed to the Luxembourg construction sector, is the first step of a support in the implementation of BIM and the transition of companies to digital.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the partners, institutions and federations as well as all the people involved in this project for their contribution, their valuable work and their efforts that have made the “BIM in Luxembourg” project a real collaborative work between all the actors of the sector, which fully corresponds to the spirit of the CRTI-B! Also, this Guide is the proof that the collaborative work, the sharing and the exchange of competences allow to advance in an optimized way by integrating a high degree of quality and in the long term to make the sector evolve in its totality.