Insights into the Data Gap:

BIM and Facilities Management

Sectors, 2021

During April and May 2021, IMAGINiT Technologies conducted its fifth survey to identify trends in building information
modeling (BIM) and facilities management. This survey has been conducted on an annual basis between 2016 and
2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey was suspended in 2020 and resumed in 2021.

This report is designed to help you better understand the industry landscape and to provide the insights needed to
guide your planning and investment in BIM and facilities management solutions in 2021 and beyond.

The key takeaways from the survey results include:

• BIM adoption is accelerating among owners and the AEC sector.
• Owners are increasingly leveraging FM technologies.
• The Internet of Things has gained momentum.
• Owners are seeking new ways to enhance the power of BIM.
This year’s survey suggests that key stakeholders continue to find ways to address unforeseen challenges like the
pandemic and to make more data-driven decisions. Both AEC firms and building owners appear to see the benefits
of obtaining more information earlier in the project lifecycle. As the gap between building information modeling and
facilities management continues to close, we will continue to monitor trends.

About the survey respondents

Over a period of two weeks, 742 people responded.
As in 2019, close to half of the survey respondents What is your primary discipline?
work in architecture and building design, while the
remainder work in engineering and analysis, facilities
management, building ownership, or construction. A 6.7%
notable difference between 2019 and 2021, however, Construction

is an increased number of respondents from the 16.2%

Engineering/Analysis
facilities management/building owner category. 45.4%

In 2019, 13.4% of survey participants worked in this Facilities Mangement/Building Owner

sector, compared to 31.7% this year.
31.7%
Architect/Building Design
The 2021 survey results represent a larger volume
of data, given the increased number of survey
respondents overall and the increase in the number of
building owners responding to the survey.

Solutions Beyond Software

IMAGINiT Technologies, a division of Rand Worldwide, helps architects and engineers become more proficient in the use of
3D technologies to design, develop and manage complex engineering projects faster and more cost-effectively.

info@rand.com www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050

BIM adoption is accelerating among owners and the AEC sector
• Owner adoption of BIM is growing rapidly. The percentage of survey respondents who require BIM on their
projects always or very often increased from 21.6% in 2019 to 66.7% in 2021. At the same time, the percentage
of survey respondents rarely or never requiring BIM decreased from 27% in 2019 to 11.8% in 2021.
• Increased adoption of BIM was also reflected on the AEC side. Significantly more AEC firms indicated that
they write a BIM Execution Plan for each project – 65% in 2021, compared to 21% in 2019.

AEC Firms that Write a

BIM Execution Plan for Each Project

80
70 65.0%

60
50
40
30 21.0%
20
10
0
2019 2021

As more owners require BIM on projects, it’s perhaps not surprising that the percentage of survey respondents
integrating BIM data into facilities management systems “always, very often, or often” increased to 55.7% in
2021, compared to 40.5% in 2019. In addition, half of the participants (50%) are converting existing CAD data to
BIM “always, very often, or often” this year, compared to 29.7% in 2019.

Survey Respondents Who Always, Very Often, or Often ...

60 55.7%
50.0%
50
40.5%
40
29.7%
30
2021
20 2019

10

0
Integrate BIM Data Convert Existing CAD
into an FM System Data into BIM

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On the AEC side, the percentage of respondents indicating that they work on BIM projects always or very often
increased in 2021 compared to 2019. Those working on BIM projects often or every now and then also increased
compared to 2019. This may be due, in part, to the pandemic-related “work from home movement” in 2020
which motivated firms to leverage collaboration platforms like Autodesk’s BIM Collaborate Pro.

AEC Firms That Work on BIM Projects ...

60 56.0%

50
37.9%
40 34.9%
29.7%
30
2021
20 2019

10

0
Always or Often or Every
Very Often Now and Then

Owners are increasingly leveraging FM technologies

• The use of several types of electronic methods for tracking space and assets increased in 2021, notably
IWMS, EAM, and CMMS. As smart buildings and digital twins move from concept to reality, organizations
are increasing the use of technology to manage their facilities more effectively.

How Are You Currently Tracking Your Space & Assets?

2019 2021
60
50.5%
50 45.9%
42.2% 42.7%

40 35.1%
32.8%

30 27.0%
24.5%
21.1%
18.9%
20 16.2%
13.5%

10 6.4%
2.9% 2.9%
0%
0
IWMS EAM CMMS CAFM Excel Homegrown Workplace Other
System Management

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The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained momentum
• The percentage of facilities with automation like “smart systems” or linkage of room usage to electrical/
heating/cooling systems increased significantly from 54.0% in 2019 to 84.8% in 2021. This increase could
be due to the pandemic, as FM teams may have turned to smart systems to manage building conditions
remotely. In addition, the percentage of owners linking their building automation systems with their
facilities management systems increased from 18.9% in 2019 to 72.6% in 2021.
• The number of firms that currently have implemented the Internet of Things (IoT) in their buildings today
or that have actively integrated IoT into their facilities also grew dramatically between 2019 and 2021. The
price of IoT devices has decreased quite a bit over the past two years. With the pandemic winding down
now in the United States and employees slowly heading back to offices, occupancy sensors and other IoT
devices are being deployed to determine where and when employees are working onsite.

Are You Leveraging IoT for Facilities Management?

2019 2021 59.5%

60

50
41.7%
40
32.4%
28.9%
30

20 14.7% 14.7%
10 5.4%
2.7%
0
Yes, we have IoT Yes, we are actively No, but we're hoping No, we're not planning
in our buildings today integrating IoT into to have an IoT on doing IoT in
our facilities project this year the near future

info@rand.com www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050

Owners are seeking new ways to enhance the power of BIM
• As acceptance of BIM has grown, many owners appear to be turning to complementary technologies to
increase the power of this information. This year, more survey respondents indicated that they were either
already using or have just started to use solutions like facilities IT systems (e.g., IWMS, CMMS, CAFM, EAM),
augmented or virtual reality devices/software/models, reality capture and scanning, Revit add-ins, and
cloud-based data and project management solutions to expand their BIM processes.

Already Using Technologies to Support/Expand BIM Processes

2019 2021
60 53.9%
50 43.6% 45.7%
38.2% 38.3% 40.2%
40 35.8%

30 26.5%
23.7%
20 16.0%

10

0
Facilities Augmented/ Reality Capture/ Revit Add-ins Cloud-Based
IT System Virtual Reality Scanning Data/Project
Management

Just Begun Using Technologies to Support/Expand BIM Processes

2019 2021
20
16.4% 16.1% 16.3%
14.9% 15.3%
15
13.9%
12.8% 12.5%
11.9%

10
9.0%

0
Facilities Augmented/ Reality Capture/ Revit Add-ins Cloud-Based
IT System Virtual Reality Scanning Data/Project
Management

info@rand.com www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050

 • More widespread adoption of IoT will make “digital twins” a reality. In the AEC and FM sectors, digital
twins can be thought of as up-to-date replicas of physical assets that unify design, construction, and
as-built data. As the information gathered through IoT and integrated with HVAC and building systems
accelerates, it will be easier for firms to develop digital twins by moving data from CAD to Revit.

Longer-Term BIM and FM Trends

This year IMAGINiT took the opportunity to review survey data from previous years and analyze longer-term
trends in the BIM and FM sectors. Here is what we found:
• On the owner side, IWMS and EAM usage is up, while Excel spreadsheets and homegrown systems
are down. Adoption of IWMS for facilities management and EAM systems for asset management has
been steadily trending up since 2016 among facility owners, while reliance on Excel spreadsheets and
homegrown systems has been trending down. In our experience working with clients, we have found
that system integration has improved between different types of facilities management systems, which
enables systems to share data more easily.

How Are You Currently Tracking Your Space & Assets?

2016 2017 2018 2019 2021

60
50.5% 44.2% 46.0% 44.2%
50 35.1%
42.2% 42.7% 27.0%
42.3%
40 18.9%
32.8%
16.2% 13.5%
28.8%
30 11.5% 24.5%
21.1%
15.0%
20 17.5% 28.8%
15.4%
10.2% 8.1%
10 6.1%
2.9%
0
IWMS EAM CMMS CAFM Excel Homegrown Other
System

• Digitalization of processes on the owner side is affecting deliverables on the AEC side. Since 2016, fewer
AEC firms are providing owners with hard copies of project documents. In addition, the number of firms
“always or very often” printing PDFs to check against project progress has decreased since 2018. Although
the use of PDFs isn’t going away, generating paper copies of them is waning.

At the same time, the number of firms providing owners/facilities managers with a model as a deliverable
either always, very often, or often has grown steadily since 2018. This is consistent with the fact that more
owners are taking advantage of data integration capabilities in their FM and asset management systems.

Since 2016, there has been a slow but steady increase in the delivery of point clouds to owners.

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 On Your Current Projects, What Deliverables Do You Give to Clients?

2016 2017 2018 2019 2021

95.7%
100 93.0%
70.0% 93.10%
74.6% 72.1% 66.7% 67.1%
80 56.4%
66.2% 60.7%
55.5%
57.5%
60 48.0%
42.6% 41.5%

40 12.1%
10.4%
17.4% 12.5%
20 9.0% 6.4% 6.2%
5.8% 2.9%
0
CAD Drawings BIM Model Hard Copies PDFs Point Clouds Other

Print PDFS to Check Project Progress?

2018 2019 2021

59.0%
60 49.3%
50
34.2% 33.3%
40 31.4%
25.6%
30 22.3%
13.1%
20 11.5%
7.2% 6.2% 6.9%
10

0
Always/ Often Every Now Rarely/
Very Often and Then Never

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 Provide Owners/FM a Model as Deliverable?

2018 2019 2021

40 33.1% 33.5% 38.6%
35 32.4% 28.1%
21.0% 26.9%
30 22.6%
25 13.5% 20.9%
20 13.3% 16.1%

15
10
5
0
Always/ Often Every Now Rarely/
Very Often and Then Never

• The Internet of Things has reached a tipping point. There appears to be a perfect storm which is driving
adoption of IoT for facilities management. As IoT sensors have become more mature, prices have decreased
to a point where they make sense for mass market applications. At the same time, the post-pandemic return
to offices has driven companies to focus on reservation systems and occupancy sensors to support new
hybrid work models. Since 2016, there’s been a clear trend toward IoT adoption among survey participants.

Are You Leveraging IoT for Facilities Management?

2017 2018 2019 2021

80

70 63.2%
43.0%
60 59.5%
41.7%
50
28.9%
40 24.0% 32.4%
24.0% 5.4%
30 10.0% 21.1%
14.7% 14.7%
20 2.7% 10.5%
5.3%
10

0
Yes, we have IoT Yes, we are actively No, but we're hoping No, we're not planning
in our buildings today integrating IoT into to have an IoT on doing IoT in
our facilities project this year the near future

info@rand.com www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050

About IMAGINiT Technologies
IMAGINiT is a provider of facilities management software and services solutions designed to help organizations
improve operations efficiencies, optimize design processes, and drive adoption and use of new technology.

As an Autodesk Platinum Partner and provider of Archibus solutions, IMAGINiT provides building owners and
operators with software, implementation and training services to create unique facilities management solutions that
benefit corporations, healthcare facilities, higher education campuses and government agencies.

Our clients count on us to deliver deep industry intelligence, and capitalize on IMAGINiT’s extensive experience in the
Autodesk AEC Collections, BIM 360 Ops, Archibus and the entire building lifecycle.

About IMAGINiT
As an Autodesk Platinum Partner and provider of Archibus solutions, IMAGINiT provides building owners and operators with
software, implementation and training services to create unique facilities management solutions that benefit corporations,
healthcare facilities, higher education campuses and government agencies.

info@rand.com www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050