165 Research Article Scope of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in India J. Vinoth Kumar * and Mahua Mukherjee Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Received 4 June 2009; Revised 3 November 2009; Accepted 2 December 2009 Abstract The design communication is gradually being changed from 2D based to integrated 3D digital interface. Building Informa- tion Modeling (BIM) is a model-based design concept, in which buildings will be built virtually before they get built out in the ield, where data models organized for complete integration of all relevant factors in the building lifecycle which also manages the information exchange between the AEC (Architects, Engineers, Contractors) professionals, to strengthen the interaction between the design team. BIM is a shared knowledge about the information for decisions making during its lifecycle. There’s still much to be learned about the opportunities and implications of this tool. This paper deals with the status check of BIM application in India, to do that a survey has been designed to check the ac- ceptance of BIM till date, while this application is widely accepted throughout the industry in many countries for managing project information with capabilities for cost control and facilities management. Keywords: Building Information Modeling, digital interface, Survey. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review 2 (1) (2009) 165-169 JOURNAL OF Engineering Science and Technology Review www.jestr.org Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the documentation proc- ess consisting of information about different phases of any project like design, construction planning, construction, facility manage- ment and operation. It is one holistic documentation process ben- eicial for operational visualization, and construction application such as estimating, scheduling and design coordination. Main advantage of implementing BIM application is the visual coor- dination of the building systems such as MEP (Mechanical, Elec- trical, and Plumbing) systems and it also identiies the possible conlicts between the building systems. By detecting the conlicts, problems can be resolved before actual construction which in turn saves money and time invested, (Damian, Han Yan and Peter (1)). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), re- ported (NIST, 2004 (2)) that the lack of adequate interoperability cost the U.S facilities industry about $15.8 billion per year. In In- dia, the BIM application is not widely practiced till now has scope to use this technology in a much wider scale. 2. Structures Architectural Documentation With BIM, Architectural Documentation process has reached maturity. Systematic documentation can be traced back during Renaissance, when Filippo Brunelleschi represented the plans for Santa Maria del Fiore in Italy in the drawings’ format to make the patrons understand how the building would look like. Through ages, Architectural Documentation has evolved. Availability of computers opened scopes for creating a data model for a complete design process starting from conceptual phase to the operational phase. In the following section a brief sketch of the evolution has been depicted. I phase – Till early 1980s: Before 80’s design documents are made traditionally by drawing lines to represent a building. These documents like plan, section and elevation are the main source to describe the building to be built. In these traditional drawings each line meant to convey design so that a building can eventually be constructed. II phase – 1980s to Late 1990s: With the introduction of comput- ers, the major switch over started from manual drafting towards the computer aided drafting, which helped in producing drawings faster. As buildings became more complex, specialization in the design and construction process emerged, which in turn lead to more elaborate forms of information. Use of computers, espe- cially for 2D drawings and reports are revolutionary changes into Architectural Documentation. III phase – Beginning of the 2K: In the present day, buildings are much more complex than ever before. The numbers of people * E-mail address: vinforce@gmail.com ISSN: 1791-2377 © 2009 Kavala Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction