New European rules make BIM a requirement for major public works

The change is included in the proposal for a new single European Public Procurement Regulation, which is intended to replace the current fragmented framework. Article 65 provides that, for the execution of public works contracts with an estimated value of €25 million or more, public procurers would be required to mandate the use of BIM.

The provision is particularly significant for the Greek construction market. If the final text is adopted in its current form, major infrastructure projects, building projects, hospitals, railway projects and large-scale networks will gradually move into an environment in which the digital model will no longer constitute an additional service provided by the contractor, but an integral part of contract execution itself.

The Commission’s proposal does not treat BIM as an advanced three-dimensional drawing, but as a collaborative digital process for creating, managing and exchanging structured information throughout the entire lifecycle of a public project.

This means that the digital model can accompany a project from design and tendering through construction and, ultimately, operation and maintenance.

The Commission considers that the use of open BIM technologies can reduce project risks and improve the efficiency of design and construction, while also linking digitalisation to sustainability objectives. Construction, after all, accounts for approximately 30% of the value of public contracts awarded in Europe.

Open BIM Rather Than Dependence on a Single Software Platform

The proposal stipulates that collaborative digital processes should use open and interoperable formats. The aim is to ensure that data relating to a public project can be exchanged between different systems and is not locked into a particular commercial software platform or supplier.

For construction companies, this means that adaptation cannot be limited to purchasing BIM software. It requires information-management processes, common data environments, standardised deliverables, and personnel capable of managing the digital model across architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors.

€25 Million May Be Only the Beginning

The European Commission is expected to be granted the power, through delegated acts, to lower the €25 million threshold in the future, provided this is justified by the wider adoption of BIM across the market.

Accordingly, the €25 million threshold should be viewed more as a starting point than as a permanent dividing line.

This development could gradually extend the BIM requirement from major projects undertaken by leading construction groups to a much broader segment of the market: regional projects, schools and public administrative buildings, smaller infrastructure projects, and medium-sized contracts.

Exemptions

Article 65 allows contracting authorities to require BIM only from specific contractors or for specific parts of a contract where universal application would impose a disproportionate burden on economic operators and would not be necessary for the project as a whole.

An exemption or limited application is also envisaged in cases where the creation of a detailed digital model could pose risks to security or public order.

The first exemption is particularly important for smaller subcontractors and specialised small and medium-sized enterprises, which would otherwise have to bear a disproportionate cost of digital transformation.

The Public Sector Must Also Learn BIM

For the new model to work, contracting authorities themselves must acquire the technical capacity to request, receive, verify and ultimately use BIM.

The real benefits emerge when BIM is used to review designs, quantities, schedules and costs, and subsequently to support the operation and maintenance of the asset.

The transition to BIM is not solely about the digitalisation of major construction groups. It concerns design practices, subcontractors and suppliers, but equally the technical departments of ministries, public organisations, regional authorities and municipalities.

From the Greek Roadmap to Mandatory Implementation

The European proposal does not find Greece without institutional preparation. Law 4782/2021 has already introduced into the public works system a requirement for electronic applications compatible with BIM technology, while the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has developed a National Strategy and Roadmap for the gradual implementation of Building Information Modelling in public works.

If the provision requiring the mandatory use of BIM in public works contracts worth €25 million or more is adopted, Greece will need to translate a substantial part of its existing strategic preparation into concrete procedures for the tendering and execution of projects.

In practice, this means that contracting authorities will need to be able to specify in tender documents exactly what they require in terms of BIM, which data must be delivered, in what format, at what levels of information, and who will be responsible for updating and verifying the digital model at each stage of the project.

The change will equally affect contractors. Major construction and engineering companies have already developed relevant capabilities; however, implementing BIM at the level of a public contract requires designers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and technical consultants to be able to operate within the same digital environment.

The role of building-material and equipment manufacturers will therefore also become increasingly important. As BIM moves from design into construction and building operation, products themselves will increasingly need to be accompanied by standardised digital data covering their technical properties, energy and environmental performance, maintenance requirements and, potentially, their entire lifecycle.