Efforts underway to educate BIM system
“Under the Construction Industry Transformation Plan (CITP), the BIM ecosystem has been developed to set up a sustainable environment and to maximise the use of technology, optimise mechanisation, increase skilled workforce which will reduce the cost of the construction industry and prolong the life cycle of infrastructure through five main areas.
The give main areas are: mandating BIM usage in public projects valued over RM100 million; promotion and awareness programmes; assistance towards players for adoption and integration; creation of training programmes to develop BIM personnel and the enriching of BIM resources through the establishment of MyBIM.
To develop BIM personnel, the works minister highlighted that efforts were already underway and that 7 BIM training modules have been developed and endorsed by a panel of industry experts in 2016.
The modules are currently available at the six building academies (akademi binaan) across Malaysia and six universities – Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Pahang, Universiti Malaysia Sabah in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Swinburne University in Sarawak.
Not only do these courses teach the concept and theory of BIM for architectural and structural modelling, they also provide modules on BIM coordination and management. Other institutions like polytechnics, public skills training, and Giat MARA are also offering their own BIM courses in efforts to help produce more BIM professionals.
The creation of MyBIM under CIDB is also one of the main intiaitves to building and ecosystem and CIDB guides that the platform is designed to be a one- stop resource centre that will provide the industry with a cost- effective avenue for implementing the 3D design process.
“It features state- of- the- art facilities that enable users to model and visualise building projects in a simulated environment and houses the National BIM library where users can download and use any of the BIM objects and materials listed in the library.
“As of today, the total number of BIM components including pre-approved plans, industrial building systems and medical and manufacturing products are approximately 7,400 components,” said Ahmad ‘Asri.
And to increase accessibility of BIM and its resources for smallercap players, Ahmad ‘Asri added that there are plenty of subsidised trainings offered at the MyBIM centre in KL and subsidies available for companies in their efforts to train their employees or purchase BIM software.
“Industry players also have the option of using BIM software on a pay-per-use basis at the CIDB MyBIM centre, instead of purchasing the software,” he added.
“Moreover, subsidised trainings are also on offer at MyBIM Centre, which covers numerous levels of BIM proficiency trainings.
“These subsidies are provided by the government as a means of reducing the high- costs of BIM adoption, particularly for SMEs looking to adopt BIM in their processes.”
With plenty of avenues for learning, it seems like our construction industry is all set for an upgrade but change doesn’t happen overnight and it might still be a ways away until the entire industry is on board with the new technology.
To this end, Baru guided that his Ministry will continue pushing the agenda through the continued collaboration with industry stakeholders.
“The Ministry will intensify our collaboration with other ministries, agencies and private sectors not just to provide the expertise and skilled workforce but to also ensure that experts and skilled workers are available in the market to meet the demand of the industry.”