BIM Argentina: here is the SIBIM plan
Although behind Peru and Brazil, Argentina has adopted a plan that will lead to the adoption of BIM in all public works from 2025
The Argentine Government, through the Ministry of Interior, Public Works and Housing, presented in 2019 the Argentine BIM strategy, which will be developed through the SIBIM (Sistema de Implementación BIM) plan.
The purpose of this plan is to develop an ordered set of principles, guidelines and procedures to regulate and establish a working methodology for the public works sector involved in the implementation of BIM processes.
This new strategy of the Argentine Government is the result of the constant and coordinated work between the various public administration institutions and representatives of the private sector. This process has found a cornerstone in the development of best pratices.
The strategy of the Argentine Government follows, with some delay, the policies of other Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Peru, which have already started to undertake the digital transition of their construction sector (AEC). Here are some links relating to policies and the state of implementation of BIM in Peru and BIM in Brazil.
August 2019 – official presentation of the Argentine BIM strategy
The BIM strategy in Argentina
The Argentina BIM strategy (Estrategia BIM Argentina EB-AR) has started in 2016 and it envisages that from 2025 most of the Government’s public works and infrastructure projects will fully adopt BIM during the design/construction phases.
In fact, already in mid-2016, the School of Management of the Chamber of Construction summoned the main Argentine institutional representatives with the aim of discussing the real possibilities for the implementation of the BIM in the country. Subsequently, the BIM Argentina Forum, a body gathering the main companies working with BIM in the country that are coordinated by the School of Management, was formed.
The main objective of the BIM Forum Argentina is to promote the use of BIM in the AEC industry, through research, diffusion, training and development of good practices, by guiding its implementation in a responsible way for the benefit of the whole society.
The core of Argentina’s BIM policies is the SIBIM (Sistema de Implementación BIM) program, which is being developed gradually from 2018 to 2023 through pilot projects, technical standards, trainings for operators and dedicated government policies.
BIM plan 2017-2025 in Argentina
SIBIM is a program whose aim is to implement the use of BIM at a national level, to improve the digitization of the construction sector and its efficiency/sustainability in terms of saving time and resources.
The objectives of the plan are:
- promoting the BIM culture through the benefits it offers
- coordinating institutions and public policies to facilitate the use of BIM in public works
- creating optimal conditions for the transition to digital tools, and BIM in particular, in the public and private sector
- developing specific technical standards, guidelines and protocols for BIM
- developing a national BIM platform and library
- encouraging the development of new technologies and tools that are dedicated to BIM
- encouraging the use of collaborative tools (platforms);
- encouraging the use of non-proprietary open formats.
Casa Rosada home of the “Presidencia de la Naciòn”
Currently, the SIBIM plan is still being defined and its final version is soon expected.
Pilot projects are in progress and practical case studies have already been carried out and have led to the creation of protocols and implementing measures. The aim of this programme is to take full advantage of the BIM methodology, i.e. to work with models that make it possible to anticipate possible errors or omissions in the project, reducing uncontrolled cost increases and helping to meet deadlines.
