BIM Brazil: latest developments and the decree 10.306 / 2020

The state of the art of BIM in Brazil following new regulations and the decree 10.306 / 2020

The BIM adoption in the AEC sector is rapidly growing and becoming the standard concurrently to the number of countries in which specific regulations on this matter together with governments’ mandates are being introduced.

As a matter of fact, different countries worldwide are requiring the mandatory adoption of BIM in public construction projects.whilst the construction industry is becoming largely aware of the benefits it offers, such as the drastic reduction of the risk of errors, costs and timing. It is now evident how BIM technology optimizes the workflow for all the stakeholders involved in a project, and provides a reliable basis for decisions during a project’s life cycle, from design through to demolition.

In this article, we’ll be addressing the fundamental steps of the BIM methodology regulatory evolution in Brazil over the past few years, on the occasion of the very recent come into force of the decree 10.306 / 2020, which establishes the mandatory use of BIM in public construction by 2028.

The evolution of BIM in Brazil from 2017 until today

Here is the strategy for BIM adoption in Brazil, from its early stages until today.

BIM in Brazil 2017: the establishment of the CE – BIM

In June 2017, the federal government created the CE-BIM committee (Committee for the strategic implementation of BIM), composed of representatives of the following Ministries and Institutions:

• Ministério da Indústria, Comércio Exterior e Serviços (Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services);
• Casa Civil da Presidência da República (Civil Chamber of the Presidency of the Republic);
• Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações (Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations and Communications);
• Ministério da Defesa (Ministry of Defense);
• Ministério do Planejamento, Desenvolvimento e Gestão (Ministry of Planning, Development and Management);
• Ministério das Cidades (Ministry of Cities);
• Secretaria-Geral da Presidência da República (General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic);
• Ministério dos Transportes, Portos e Aviação Civil (Ministry of Transport, Ports and Civil Aviation);
• Ministério da Saúde (Ministry of Health).

The GAT – BIM (Technical Support Group) was also established, as well as 6 ad hoc groups responsible for dealing with specific problems on matter of:

1. Regulation and Standardization;
2. Technological infrastructure;
3. BIM platform;
4. Public procurement;
5. Human resources training;
6. Communication.

In the same year, the ABNT (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards) has released the NBR 15-965 standard, which formalizes the Construction Information Classification System.

BIM in Brazil 2018: the BIM BR strategy

Starting in 2018, some Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay) started meetings focused on BIM, leading through to the research “BIM 2020 Vision LATAM – The impact of BIM in Latin America”.

In 2018 BIM officially became a standard in Brazil thanks to Decree 9.377 C6-BIM, which established the national BIM diffusion strategy in Brazil

If you’d like to know more on this topic, read the article “BIM in Brazil and how it is evolving: the 9 main points of the BIM-BR strategy“.

BIM BR strategy phases | © Ministério da Economia, Indústria, Comércio Exterior e Serviços

The government strategy aimed at promoting a suitable environment for investing in BIM in Brazil by means of 3 phases, so that in 2021 the use of BIM processes would be already mandatory for certain public works.

Among the objectives pursued by the BIM BR strategy, we highlight the numerous benefits connected to the use of BIM, the coordination of public sector structures for the adoption of BIM and the creation of favorable conditions for investments, in compliance with the legislation.

BIM in Brazil 2019: the BIM BR platform

In August 2019, the Government issued Decree Law 9.983, which updates the provisions on the BIM BR national strategy and also establishes the BIM BR strategy steering committee. The launch of the BDI BR platform of ABDI, the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development, was also of fundamental importance: a real digital library of BIM objects.

In this regard, ACCA software had the opportunity to sign an agreement and work with ABDI on the development of the platform as a partner, making available its online BIM object library through Edificius software.

ABDI BIM BR platform

COSUD (Consortium for South and South-East Integration) was created on 19 October 2019, i.e. a cooperation agreement between the States of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and San Paolo.

In February 2020, the city of Foz do Iguaçu hosted the 6th COSUD, also taking the opportunity to address the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil and the possible actions to take in the construction industry.

Finally, in November there was the launch of the BIM Brazil Forum, sponsored by CBIC and SENAI, with the aim of promoting improvement in terms of country’s BIM maturity level.

BIM in Brazil in 2020: latest developments

On April 3, 2020, decree 10.306 / 2020 was finally issued, requiring the mandatory use of BIM in the construction of direct or indirect work by entities or bodies belonging to the federal public administration.

The decree intends to define relationships, the actors involved, their respective roles, the actions to be implemented and the deadlines to be respected: a real transition from theory to practice!

According to regulation:

1. starting from 1 January 2021, BIM will be used in the development of projects relating to existing buildings, extensions or renovations;
2. from 1 January 2024, its use will also be extended to the execution phase – direct or indirect – and building operations;
3. from 1 January 2028 BIM will also include building’s management and maintenance.

BIM in the Brazilian federal states

At present, the states of Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná have excelled in adopting advanced measures with regard to BIM.

BIM adoption in the Brazilian Federal States © SENAI (Serviço Nacional de Aprenzidagem Industrial)

In the State of Santa Catarina, BIM speeded up the construction project of the Tapera Municipal School in the city of Florianópolis and the Cardiology Institute of São José, as well as the renovations of the Florianópolis airport.

In the State of Paraná, the Paraná Edições construction company led the construction of the Marialva Protection Council and that of the Foz do Iguaçu Tourist Assistance Center.

It is also worth to mention the many events that the various States have dedicated to BIM knowledge sharing.

In 2019, the states of Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul reached the 3rd and 4th editions of their state seminars on BIM, respectively. In the same year, the state of Sergipe hosted its first BIM state seminar, to which ACCA had the opportunity to participate.

Prof. Eduardo Toledo of São Paulo university during the 1st State Seminar on BIM in Aracaju, Sergipe

At a national level, the efforts of the CBIC (Brazilian Chamber of Building Industry), CBIM (Brazilian Chamber of BIM) and Sinduscon (Union of Civil Construction) have enabled the creation of fairs and seminars dedicated to BIM.

Particularly important is the seminar “BIM na prática: experiências aplicadas à arquitetura e à construção” sponsored by ACCA software, CAU / BR (Brazilian Architecture and Urbanism Council), CAU / DF (District Architecture and Urbanism Council Federal) and CBIM.

ACCA software in Brazil

ACCA has been operating in this country since 2011, actively contributing to the development and promotion of the Brazilian construction sector.

ACCA software collaborates with various universities and training institutions in Brazil through its Educational program and making its solutions available to teachers and students.

Furthermore, ACCA has partnered up with LaBIM of the State of Santa Catarina, led by Eng. Rafael Fernandes.

As for the BIM research groups, ACCA has started a collaboration with the GEBIM (BIM research group) of the Federal University of Juiz da Fora coordinated by Prof. Maurício Aguilar and with the GEBIM of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

During 2018 and 2019, ACCA also organized some ACCA Incontrus (software live demonstration) in various Brazilian cities, such as Palmas, Brasília, Natal, Cuiabá, Vitória and Salvador.

At the ACCA Incontrus in Salvador da Bahia, held from 22 to 25 October 2019, various BIM operating methodologies were presented, including 4D BIM (work scheduling) and 5D (cost estimation), as well as the CDE data sharing environment. Finally, in August 2019, ACCA participated to the BIM Day in Teresina and Brasilia.

Conference held by ACCA software on the occasion of the BIM DAY in Brasilia

Since 2018, ACCA has also been participating to the ABNT / CEE-134 – Special Study Commission for BIM – meetings, and has recently become a member of the Sinduscon (Syndicate of the Construction Industry) of Rio de Janeiro.

It goes without saying that, BIM remains one of the most important technological trends in the construction sector worldwide.

By firmly believing in the potential of this revolutionary methodology and of the Brazilian construction sector, ACCA is committed to boost the adoption of BIM in this country, promoting innovative research projects and working on the development of tools that meet the needs of academics and of professionals in the construction sector.