On October 13 a round table "Anti-BIM": Challenges and current requirements for using BIM in Russia", organized jointly by the Association of European Businesses, the Association of Industrial Parks of Russia and the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, took place. 

The meeting was opened by Olga Silnitskaya, Deputy Director General of the Association of European Businesses. The event was moderated by Peter Chairev, Marketing Director of Astron Buildings, Deputy Chairman of the Industrial Construction Committee of AIP Russia.

In recent years, one of the major topics for discussion in the industry has been the use of BIM information modeling technologies to manage the entire lifecycle of capital construction projects: from the design stage to the construction and operation of the facility. And there is no surprise: in addition to compliance with the general trend to digitalize various areas of human activity, BIM-technologies are also being increasingly integrated into the sphere of state regulation. For example, starting from 2022, objects for all government construction contracts in Russia should be designed in BIM, and the final transition to the use of information modeling is scheduled for July 2024.

However, with all the convenience of digital technologies, there are still questions, controversies, and details that need to be clarified. This is especially important given the current general economic situation. Are there any available tools on the Russian market after a number of IT companies have left, is there enough qualified professionals, how the mechanism of using BIM in public procurement works, and generally speaking, is the market ready for and interested in the digital transition? These questions were discussed by the participants of the event.

In particular, Galina Bauzhadze, BIM-specialist of Saint-Gobain, and Evgeny Kiryan, leading product manager of Renga from Renga Software, told the audience about the specifics of building complex solutions in Russian software, by comparing, among other things, the capabilities of different software. Kirill Sukhachev, managing partner of K4 LLC, pointed out the "anti-crisis solutions" in construction - to improve the transparency of processes, increase the quality of management and planning at the construction site.  Vyacheslav Kochnov, chief architect of Spectrum Group of Companies, spoke about the advantages of using BIM for the construction of commercial real estate - by the example of the project of the industrial-production cluster “Maximikha”. Finally, Kamil Karibov, partner of ADVANT Beiten and the chairman of the Construction and Real Estate Committee of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce, spoke on the difficulties in the system of public procurement in Russia with the use of BIM and shared international experience in the choice of strategies and models for public procurement.

The speeches of the associations' experts caused a lot of additional questions from the audience and provoked a lively and interesting discussion.