Bismondis – BIM (Project) Matchmaking

From Catering to Construction

This time, our guest is Andre Schlaak. He is a co-founder of Bismondis – a platform where everything revolves around BIM. Whether project-related networking or the exchange of experiences: There is valuable knowledge about digitization in an industry that is generally skeptical of innovations.

Andre originally comes from the hotel industry and studied business administration. Afterwards, he always dealt with the topic of digitization and wanted to bring his findings on user experience into the construction industry.

01 Building design is much easier in a digital way.

Bismondis BIM Platform

As a market network, Bismondis stands between two parties. One is entrepreneurial and is looking for qualified BIM experts for its projects. The other consists of these same people, who are very familiar with BIM and want to offer their knowledge for suitable projects.

Bismondis mediates between both sides and thus contributes to networking. At the same time, the platform is building a community of BIM experts from various countries and levels of experience. If both sides find each other, Bismondis receives a certain percentage from both as a kind of agency fee.

• "When a specific project is requested, we help get the project off the ground with our community, people, and knowledge."

The international exchange within the BIM community also plays a very important role on the platform. Countries like Norway or the Middle East are so much farther ahead than we are when it comes to BIM. Sharing this knowledge and developing it together is something that you will not find in the traditionally conservative construction industry.

02 Teamwork is the top priority for BIM.

Problems with BIM and Bismondis as Solution

Of course, we wonder why BIM is still not as widespread as it should be. Since we have already dealt with the topic of BIM in various episodes, we will discuss some of these findings with Andre.

For example, it is difficult to find a BIM expert without a platform like Bismondis. It starts with the question: What is a BIM expert? After all, this is not a universal definition or a correct standard. The job titles range from BIM manager to BIM designer to BIM coordinator. How do I find a suitable BIM expert for my project? Companies and builders deal with this question mostly for weeks or months.

Germany is a country of certificates and documents. Only with this, you believe someone has a certain amount of expertise. However, reality shows: There is often a lack of practical experience here. Practical experience is infinitely valuable, especially in the field of BIM. We ask Andre what a real BIM expert has to bring with him/her. He tells us the most important basics:

• Software skills to also be able to execute processes
• Practical experience with responsibility and references

Even for the BIM experts themselves, it is not always easy. Since there are not too many of them yet, they sometimes work on very different projects. As a result, they can seldom define a clear frame of reference from experience, by which a company can immediately recognize: This one has already proven the skills we need for our project. Here, each portfolio is still very individual and often without a clear line.

03 Knowledge exchange is a central aspect of the new development.

Another problem that we have already mentioned is the numerous training opportunities. Such a thing is good in itself, of course, but without uniform standards, even twenty great certificates are of little use. In the end, that says nothing about the actual expertise of a BIM expert. Here, Bismondis is already working on research that should help bring some order into this chaos.

Many BIM experts work as freelancers, often internationally. Here, Bismondis is also there to help – be it for legal factors that need to be considered, or simply to acquire customers.

As we see, Bismondis set out to solve the most striking problems of BIM. So we ask Andre: Why should we use your platform? As a conclusion, we find his answer more than appropriate and convincing.

• “Regardless of the case, you will get added value from our community."

Future of Construction Industry

Sooner or later, BIM will also become established in Germany, we agree. But why are we so far behind? Andre explains that he spoke to over 100 BIM experts about exactly this topic as part of a study.

It is true that we are rather retrograde across the board. However, the willingness and motivation of people and companies just entering the market is incredibly high when it comes to promoting modern working methods, such as BIM. In the case of established companies, on the other hand, this change is rather slow, but it definitely gives hope for the future.

When it comes to the future of construction, Andre also talks about sustainability. After all, the construction industry is a very large producer of greenhouse gases and CO₂.

• "You can't achieve sustainability if you don't design digitally. You can't have one without the other."

04 Sustainability is an important issue.

That's exactly what we think. Digitization is an absolutely necessary step if we want to achieve more sustainability. The construction industry not only has to go digital, it also has to keep evolving. BIM is the perfect opportunity to gather knowledge and work together on solutions.

In other countries, such as Norway, which are a lot farther along, large companies have come together and decided that they will implement digitization. The drive here came directly from the public side in order to achieve a common goal.

In Germany, awareness of such things has already been in people's heads. However, we are holding ourselves back by outdated standards, such as our building code itself. There is only a shallow description of the digital processes, or it is not included at all. Here, the change has to come from above.

He is particularly interested in new construction methods, such as timber or modular construction. He is also fascinated by the CO₂ binding in concrete, as has already been researched in Switzerland. He wants young professionals to benefit from the expertise of others and develop them further. In the future, the willingness to digitize and be sustainable should remain consistently high. This creates innovations that will all help us in the future.

Andre, what is your favorite building?

05 Opera House in Copenhagen

Andre is not directly involved in the construction industry, but we also ask him our final question. He tells us about the Copenhagen Opera House, which opened only a few years ago. A very fascinating building placed directly on the water, which almost exudes a futuristic aura and yet blends in perfectly with its surroundings. The acoustics inside, he tells us, are also absolutely unique. Thank you for visiting us!

Would you like to listen to the full episode? Then take a look at our  Start Listening! – you can find it there. All episodes are listed there, too. We look forward to you!