New study on the development of BIM requirements in the public sector
At the Chair of Construction Engineering and Management, a new scientific publication has been published in the international journal Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon). The paper “Information Requirements for BIM: Current Practice and Implementation in Germany” by Martina Mellenthin Filardo, Florinda Ruppert and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Melzner examines the development and quality of Employer Information Requirements (EIR) within the German BIM context.
The study provides a systematic analysis of EIR documents used in public procurement across two time periods (2017–2019 and 2021–2024) and evaluates their structural completeness and content quality based on a comprehensive set of criteria. The results reveal a clear trend toward increased professionalism and standardization of requirements in line with the growing adoption of BIM in Germany.
Key findings include:
- a significant improvement in overall content coverage (from an average of 69% to 92%),
- enhanced standardization of processes, roles, and data requirements,
- and remaining deficits in machine readability and lifecycle-oriented requirements.
Based on these findings, the paper derives concrete recommendations for the further development of EIR documents, particularly regarding standardization, training, and the integration of machine-readable formats. The publication thus contributes to advancing digital procurement and planning processes in the construction industry.
Read the article: https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2026.010