BIM Maturity Levels Explained
Contributing Author: Lot Kaduma
Maturity Levels, Level of Information, Level of Detail, 2D to 8D or even beyond — there are various terms associated with Building Information Modeling (BIM) that are often mixed, confused, or even misused. Following on from our last blog post on BIM Level 2 and BIM adoption in the UK construction industry, we want to provide a little more clarity on the different levels associated with the construction industry’s most promising technology. More specifically, for this article, we will look in depth at the concept of BIM Maturity Levels.
What is BIM Maturity Level?
In our blog post titled ‘Introduction to BIM: Making sense of THE Buzzword’, we described BIM as a collaborative process that involves creating and managing digital information about a building throughout its entire lifecycle, from design and construction to operation and maintenance.
BIM maturity level can be described as ‘milestones’ for measuring the level of BIM adoption in a project, organization, or the construction industry within a specific region.
The key ingredients for understanding BIM maturity can be grouped into the following:
Collaboration: the level of connectivity and data exchange between people and organizations involved in the various stages of the building’s lifecycle.
BIM Data Management: the level at which BIM models are used to create, visualize, and manage digital information about the building throughout its entire lifecycle.
Lifecycle Integration: the level at which BIM data is integrated across the different stages (i.e., design, construction, operation, and maintenance) of the building’s lifecycle.
What are the types of BIM Maturity Levels?
BIM maturity levels range between four distinct levels: Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
Level 0 (Low Collaboration; No BIM)
Level 0 of BIM maturity refers to the stage where an organization is not using Building Information Modeling (BIM) at any phase of the building’s lifecycle. At this stage, information management in projects occurs using traditional methods such as 2D CAD drawings and manual documentation. There is no digital representation of the building’s physical and functional characteristics, and no centralized data exchange between project members.
This level of BIM maturity is characterized by a lack of integration between different project phases, resulting in increased potential for errors and rework. Project outcomes and cost savings are limited, as there is no way to easily access and share information throughout the project lifecycle.
Level 1 (Partial Collaboration; BIM for visualization)
Level 1 of BIM maturity refers to the stage where 2D CAD drawings and 3D models are created with the aid of BIM tools and are primarily used for a visual representation of the building data. Here, the BIM models are created separately by each team member, but the models are not centrally linked together.
The difference here is that partial digital collaboration occurs because teams can access all information in a common data environment (CDE) such as Dropbox or Google Drive. Nonetheless, there is minimal integration between each phase of the construction process.
Level 2 (Full Collaboration; BIM for visualization, collaboration, and data management)
Level 2 BIM refers to the stage where all project teams create and use 3D models. The data in the models are linked through an open format such as the IFC (industry foundation class) and merged into a single ‘federated’ model. It enables the use of BIM models for visualization (3D), scheduling and construction planning (4D), and cost management (5D).
At BIM Level 2, a common data management system links all BIM and project-related data together and allows project members to access and update building information in real-time. The focus here is on the use of the BIM process for collaboration and data management. This leads to improved communication and coordination between project members and allows for more efficient and effective decision-making during the design and construction stages.
Currently, this is the most acceptable stage that is currently regarded as being ‘fully BIM compliant’ in the construction industry.
Level 3 (Full Integration):
Level 3 BIM is the most advanced stage of BIM maturity where all teams work simultaneously online in the same shared model space. Imagine working on a report on Google Docs where different people can access and edit the work at the same time. Teams and organizations participating in a construction project become fully integrated as a result of combining cloud-based, open data, IoT and automation technologies into the BIM process. This allows real-time data capture and exchange across all aspects of the construction process.
BIM Level 3 is the level where BIM is fully integrated into all aspects of the project lifecycle, including operation and maintenance. At this level, building information is used to plan for future maintenance, upgrades, or expansions and to make energy-efficient decisions. By removing the barrier of sharing information between project teams through full interoperability, Level 3 BIM opens the opportunity of connecting the entire construction supply chain with the integration of 6D (sustainability) and 7D (facility management) data — all focused on the building’s entire lifecycle.
What are the setbacks with measuring BIM maturity?
The challenge with measuring BIM maturity stems from the very fragmented nature of the construction industry. It is common to find that the design, construction, operation, and maintenance phases of a building’s lifecycle are coordinated separately by different organizations and thus, tend to conduct their own BIM processes individually. For instance, a General Contractor might implement BIM for 4D (time management) and 5D (cost management) purposes without coordination with the design and operation teams of a building project. Although this is closely related to Level 1 maturity, the lack of a common data environment for direct exchange with the design team makes the concept much blurry to define. In this case, the BIM implementation by the General Contractor would best be described as a ‘Lonely BIM’ or ‘Little BIM’ approach. As such, we would like to highlight that maturity levels should not be considered as the single means of measuring BIM adoption.
Concluding thoughts:
As a cautionary note, it is important to try not to fall into the usual trap of confusing maturity levels with other aspects of the BIM process such as Levels of Detail (LoD) or BIM Dimensions (3D, 4D, 5D, 6D, xD). Although these three concepts are interrelated with each other, it becomes easier to differentiate when we consider our description of BIM as a process or product. The difference is BIM maturity focuses on looking at BIM from the macro perspective and its impact on the entire ‘business process’ (i.e., BIM process) while LoD and BIM dimensions are focused on the ‘micro level’ (i.e., models). As such, our upcoming blog posts will focus on providing further elaboration on these concepts with the hope to provide clarity on the subject moving forward.
[1] “Introduction to BIM: Making sense of THE Buzzword.”, Specter automation Insights, July 14 2022, https://medium.com/specter-automation-insights/introduction-to-bim-making-sense-of-the-buzzword-b73d556a9e01
[2] “Digital collaboration”, Wikipedia, Retrieved January 16, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_collaboration
[3] “BIM maturity levels.”, Designing Buildings BIM Wiki, 13 Jan 2021, https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/BIM_maturity_levels
[4] “BIM maturity levels: from stage 0 to stage 3”, Biblus, October 8, 2019, https://biblus.accasoftware.com/en/bim-maturity-levels-from-stage-0-to-stage-3/
[5] “BIM levels explained”, thinkproject, July 28, 2019, https://thinkproject.com/blog/bim-levels-explained/
