黑洞社区

Few subjects in construction have attracted such widespread interest and discussion as the implementation of 黑洞社区 Information Modelling (BIM) technology. Still in its infancy, BIM should lead to greater project efficiency and reliability in terms of delivery. After all, if all parties concerned are working on a single, universally available model (see box, overleaf), then the risk of one company scuppering things for everyone else should reduce dramatically. And if something does go wrong, BIM should make it far easier to identify who is at fault and prevent too much bickering.

All this should, the theory goes, have an impact on insurance premiums for main contractors. If risk is reduced, then insurers should worry less about a costly claim. However, BIM is still a relatively new phenomenon - at least when considered from an industry-wide perspective - and insurance companies need some degree of certainty about new methodologies before they are able to reassess projects鈥� risk profiles.

Industry views

With this in mind, 黑洞社区 - together with Zurich Insurance - polled main contractors on their experience of BIM and their insurers鈥� attitudes to the technology to find out just how accepted it has become. The results make for interesting reading.

For instance, when asked how project risk would change over the next two years as a result of the implementation of BIM, a huge majority (about 75%) said that it would make no difference or that it would reduce risk only slightly. Given the theoretical benefits of BIM, that might seem a tad disappointing. However, according to some early adopters, the survey response says more about the saturation of BIM in the industry than it does about the technology鈥檚 potential.

If BIM is still far from everyday practice, then why would contractors鈥� insurance need to change?

鈥淚 think that BIM is still evolving and the industry is still coming to terms with what BIM can do and how it will change the traditional ways in which we鈥檝e been working,鈥� says Roger Bayliss, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Skanska UK. 鈥淭here are still a lot of projects where it isn鈥檛 being adopted and a lot of people who don鈥檛 understand BIM. So they wouldn鈥檛 be able to say anything other than 鈥榥o change鈥�.鈥�

Bayliss adds: 鈥淚f you look at BIM as less of a technological change and more of a behavioural change, where there is a better flow of information, then it should slightly reduce the risk profile of a project. But we鈥檙e still getting to grips with the whole subject and benefits that can be delivered.鈥�

Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, a majority of respondents (52%) to the survey said that they weren鈥檛 reviewing the scope of insurance they required as a result of their greater adoption of BIM. After all, if BIM is still far from everyday practice, then why would contractors鈥� insurance need to change?

Changing insurance needs?

However, some firms are finding that their insurance needs are changing, particularly while clients鈥� specifications regarding BIM remain poorly expressed and inconsistent.

As one contractor, who preferred to remain anonymous, put it: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit of a bespoke response at the moment depending on the project, which is resource and time heavy. The concern from a contractor鈥檚 point of view is that this will be seen by insurers as an opportunity to increase their fees.鈥�

However, Skanska鈥檚 Bayliss reports a far more productive relationship with the contractor鈥檚 insurers regarding BIM. 鈥淥ur approach is that we have a very proactive engagement with our insurance providers,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen the whole subject of BIM was developing, we proactively engaged with them to ensure that they were comfortable with the way in which we were approaching it. The conclusion we came to was that we didn鈥檛 need to change the scope of insurance cover.鈥�

Insurers鈥� attitudes

The fact that the adoption of BIM is still at an early stage also means that insurers en masse are yet to change their working arrangements around the new technology. Asked about insurers鈥� reactions to offering professional indemnity insurance on projects where BIM has been adopted, a majority (87%) said that it hadn鈥檛 made any difference. More worryingly, 8% said that insurers were very reluctant to offer cover on projects where BIM has been adopted, compared with just 5% that said insurers preferred offering cover on BIM projects.

Again, this attitude seems to come from unfamiliarity. Jon Land, broking director at Romero Insurance, says: 鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been a single insurer that has come to us and mentioned BIM in any way, shape or form. I鈥檝e seen nothing from an insurer standpoint that they鈥檙e changing anything as a result of BIM at this stage.鈥�

Premiums

However, opinion is rather more divided when it comes to the impact BIM will have on insurance premiums. Asked how premiums will be affected by the increasing adoption of the technology, 43% expressed the view that premiums would go up regardless of the benefits, compared with 35% that said they would stay the same and just 4% saying premiums would reduce.

It鈥檒l take some time for there to be a proactive discussion about premiums coming down

鈥淭he cynical side of the industry would probably say that they will stay the same,鈥� says Alex Lubbock, BIM development manager at Carillion Construction Services. However, he adds that it is probably too early to expect premiums to come down - after all, the onus is still on construction to prove BIM鈥檚 worth.

鈥淚nsurers are commercial organisations. Premiums should come down as risk decreases. However, it would be difficult at this stage for a company to demonstrate how they鈥檙e performing better than another and to get a preferential rate.鈥�

Bayliss adds: 鈥淚t鈥檒l take some time for there to be a proactive discussion about premiums coming down because we鈥檒l have to prove the benefits. Our view is that, as the insurance industry becomes comfortable with BIM and the rest of the construction industry has got its head around it, premiums will remain about the same.鈥�

Project insurance

Equally, there is much disagreement as to whether single project insurance might provide a solution when it comes to BIM projects. Off the record, contractors agree with the 41% of survey respondents who said that single project insurance provided a solution, but say that in reality it all depends on clients鈥� willingness to accept responsibility for the insurance and to ensure that it is sufficient to provide adequate cover.

If not, contractors will find that they are paying twice. Lubbock says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great idea and it鈥檚 a direction people want to go in. The difficulty for contractors is that one project might go in one direction and another in different direction. So we鈥檇 still have to carry the cost.鈥�

So, it would appear that BIM has yet to break through and make much of an impact when it comes to insurance premiums. However, the consensus among those contractors that have already embraced BIM鈥檚 potential is that the technology should ultimately lower construction risk. The pressure is now on the industry as a whole to prove it.