Don't believe the (BIM) hype: the unexpected corollaries of the UK 'BIM revolution'

The need for technological and administrative innovation is a recurrent theme in the UK construction reform agenda. The power-effects of the Egan discourse have been well-rehearsed, but arguably these generic recipes are beginning to give way to a more focused prescription; Building Information Modelling (BIM). The current strategy - to mandate the use of Building Information Models for all publically procured projects by 2016 - is seen as a way of integrating the design, construction and operation of publically procured built assets to achieve whole-life value. This aspiration represents a partial turn away from a focus on managerial practices towards a belief in the power of digital practices to achieve the aspiration of integrated working, collaboration and innovation in construction. In this paper we subject the so-called ‘BIM revolution’ to critical scrutiny. By drawing on theories of digital exclusion, absorptive capacity and policy cycles, we reveal how reform agendas centered on BIM are unlikely to stimulate innovation on a wider scale, but could act to disenfranchise those who are unable (or unwilling) to mobilize the resources necessary to engage with them. This is particularly the case for smaller firms who remain digitally disenfranchised. We argue that a possible corollary of the reliance on BIM and its differential effects could be the industry developing along parallel, multi-speed trajectories, or alternatively, that BIM might not deliver on the aspirations of the current reform agenda. We therefore question the technocratic optimism, or BIM-hype, which pervades the current reform discourse and raise important questions as to the trajectory of industry development that this arguably creates.