There is an increasing interest and trend in adopting Building Information Modelling (BIM) for property and infrastructure development projects in Middle East region. Increasing numbers of job vacancies are posted for BIM Modellers and BIM Managers for the region. Recent developments include the Qatar government funding for a research on how BIM can be used for saving billions of dollars in their massive development plans. The Teesside University of UK has been granted with 900,000 USD by the Qatar Foundation, under the Qatar National Research Fund. This shows that the government is serious about it. 10 billion USD of overall saving is predicted during next 10 years by implementing projects with BIM.
It has been evident that the state or the government has played the key role in promoting BIM in almost all BIM mature nations. The Qatar BIM initiative is likely to spread across the region when the benefits become evident in practice, or it may happen much earlier merely due to perceived competition among states. When states take the lead, BIM will become the standard in near future.
When projects are implemented using BIM, obviously the participants will be required posses BIM skills. Currently, Sri Lankan professionals, especially the Quantity Surveyors, enjoy an unmatched demand in the region. Will they be able to retain it once BIM becomes the standard?
