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Expert publications. About us. Drawing on the insights of our partners around the world, Agacad is examining the status and specifics of BIM use in different countries. Japan is no stranger to modern technology and process efficiency. In many industries, Japanese firms have written the book on workflow optimisation. As in other countries, the document says, BIM guidelines should be based on ISO but customized for the local situation.
The main uniqueness seems to be the tradition in Japan of general contractors preparing and coordinating all design documents and shop drawings. For that purpose, they generally retain their own in-house architects and engineers. As a result, decisions tend to be made rather late in projects, which reduces the potential for productivity improvements by using BIM.
Moreover, major contractors tend to have their own, proprietary IT systems for managing building information. Those are generally based on 2D CAD.
Making the systems work with 3D models, BIM methods and the related software packages is a big challenge. Given the extra costs and complexity of getting benefits from BIM in this situation, neither design firms nor contractors nor clients have much incentive to go that road. The Japanese government has made efforts over more than a decade to put BIM on the agenda of the building industry, publishing a variety of roadmaps and guidelines.
