I just returned from a trip to the beautiful Santiago, Chile where I gave a series of presentations about building information modeling (BIM). Representatives from the Chilean Chamber of Construction (Camara Chilena de la Construccion) had visited the United States in October 2010 to learn about what was happening with design and construction technology in North America. They visited several firms, one of which was HOK in New York. I shared with them our passion for the tools and process innovation we refer to as buildingSMART. They were so thrilled with our presentation that they asked me to visit their country to share this information and expand upon my experiences.

The primary focus of the week in Santiago was to deliver a series of presentations to groups within the Chamber including property owners, builders, architects and engineers. For reference, the Chamber is an organization similar to a freelancers’ union in that it provides resources for small companies such as health insurance. They also develop technical standards and training for their members.

While I didn’t have much spare time to tour much of the city, I did visit a few offices of key stakeholders in Chilean construction. I also visited the site of a new 800,000 square foot shopping center currently under construction in the coastal city of Viña del Mar. The project is one of the first to utilize BIM for construction coordination; however, the effort is being undertaken almost solely by the construction manager. Their BIM coordinator is creating the models from 2D design drawings and then must communicate changes from clash resolution back to the architect and engineers as well as inform the trades on site of the modifications. It’s a daunting task when you are performing a three-way translation from flatland to 3D and back. I give the coordinator a lot of credit because he his staying 2 floors ahead of the construction progress.

One of the key factors in Chile’s lag to adopt BIM is the abundance of inexpensive labor. I recently tweeted an interesting quote from one of my colleagues concerning the use of proper planning…”We never seem to have enough time to do something right, but plenty of time to do it twice.” In Chilean construction, this is actually true because it is substantially cheaper to keep the labor forces on site to solve problems than it is to invest in new technology with skilled operators in the planning and design phase. So, where does that leave the state of BIM?…The designers are waiting for the owners to require it and the owners are waiting for the designers to prove the value to them. That said, there are a few pioneering firms such as Rene Lagos who are implementing BIM on some pilot projects in the hopes of setting themselves apart from the pack when virtual design and construction becomes a mainstream activity in their region.

Special thanks go to my host, Roberto Rojas Guzman, who helped me find ‘safety shoes’ for the site visit and to my interpreter, Francisco Troncoso, who was so fantastic – he almost became invisible in my English-Spanish presentations and discussions. If you’d like to see more pictures of the city and my journey, please click here.