We got in contact with Dipl. Eng. Georgi Totev, MSc to get introduced to the demand & supply of BIM technologies on the Bulgarian market.
Dipl. Eng. Georgi Totev, MSc graduated as an expert in Construction of Buildings and Plant Facilities from the University of Construction Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy in Sofia. He is a Managing Partner of AlphaStruct – a design-engineering company in the business of computation and development of complete design engineering services with the application of BIM technologies. He is an expert in Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, BIM Modelling, and Design Engineering.

The interview is delivered by Sylvia Pavlova, MBA. Sylvia is the Managing Partner of Strategy+ Business Lab. The company specializes in consulting PropTechs in Strategy and Business Development and is the official partner of FUTURE:PropTech for Bulgaria.

1. Approximately how many BIM companies are active in Bulgaria?

Recent years we observe a stable trend. Many companies specialized in providing separate lots of services (architecture, design engineering, HVAC, Water Supply & Sewerage, etc.) start using BIM technologies.

BIM technologies are most widely applied by design engineering companies and professionals. Part of them are major design engineering offices, others are startup companies. The approximate number of such companies in Bulgaria exceeds 15. The most experienced companies in BIM technologies are Strukto, AEC, БИАС-М.

Architecture companies that apply BIM technologies in the process of their services are not more than 5, and all of them are large firms such as AAA architects, IP Architects, Serafimov Architects.

Companies providing services in the other engineering lots are more unlikely to make use of BIM technologies.

2. Which are the major BIM trends in Bulgaria?

Recent 3-4 years there has been a significant increase in business investments in Bulgaria from national and international companies. This trend namely forces all companies involved in design engineering to transform the process of building and plant engineering. Change becomes a must and fosters the application of BIM technologies in our country. There is a rising number of investors and building entrepreneurs who are equally interested in both the quality of processes related to purchasing, sale and funding of buildings, as well as the quality of construction engineering, building, property, and real estate management.

BIM technologies application considerably facilitates the communication and coordination between all sides in the construction process.

3. How do BIM professionals in Bulgaria communicate? Is there a forum or an app you use?

There is no business network, either formal or informal, which unites companies that use BIM technologies. Yet, we feel it mandatory to establish such a network. On one side, it will support companies to become more efficient and will facilitate the exchange of experience and information among companies in the industry. It is most often the case that investors are in demand of an all-around product such as a building, rather than the one-off service typically provided by the separate experts. This is the reason behind the call for bringing experts together. The purpose of such a network is to be geared towards to supply of an all-around service package from investment and design through construction to sales, rent, and facility management.

4. What are the top 5 most successful BIM solutions from Bulgaria?

The basic solutions which BIM design engineering offers are as follows:

A comprehensive concept of plant and equipment

Making adequate computation of billed quantities, thus coming out with a proper cost of the entire investment.

It makes coordinating and managing all construction sides possible.

BIM technologies provide for the creation of a complete information model of buildings and facilities. And this on its turn provides for the completion of a full technical passport of any building that any future buyer and/or tenant can use.