THE DETAIL

Data and comments courtesy of JOHNSONBIM

At JohnsonBIM, we talk to employers and employees about salaries every day so the data in the BIM salary guide is well researched.
Although it looks like salaries have remained relatively stable over the last year, there are subtle happening on that will have a significant impact as demand increases. We look at the detail behind each individual role, what the trend has been over last year, the differences between the Build (major contractors) and DESIGN (Architecture, Engineering) sectors and regional variations.

To make the BIM Salary Guide more useful, and accurate, each role is divided into the different levels of competency from Expert to Novice:

• EXPERT: Has an authoritative or deep holistic understanding, deals with routine matters intuitively, able to go beyond existing interpretations, achieves excellence with ease.
• PROFICIENT: Has a deep understanding, sees actions holistically, can achieve a high standard routinely.
• COMPETENT: Has a good working and background understanding, sees actions at least partly in context, able to complete work independently to a standard that is acceptable though it may lack refinement.
• ADVANCED BEGINNER: Has a working understanding, tends to see actions as a series of steps, can complete simpler tasks without supervision.
• NOVICE: Has an incomplete understanding, approaches tasks mechanistically and needs supervision to complete them.

These levels of competency align with the BIM Career Map.

FIRMWIDE DIGITAL LEADER

LEGEND:   Decrease on last year   Same as last year   Increase on last year

SUMMARY:

• As firmwide leaders are not project funded, in all but thriving and forward-thinking businesses, they have been let go. Those retained have seen salaries frozen with rises and profit share deferred;
• Top end salaries for experts have dipped slightly where there has been any demand in London, the Midlands, North West and South West as supply has increased;
• Salaries for all competency levels at main contractors decreased slightly with increased supply.

BUILD vs DESIGN

• No significant change. Disciplines: Design consultancies can be up to 20% less for senior level roles. The wide gap will continue due to the broader digital remit with tier 1 contractors and the higher level of competition for rarer experience.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

• London is still paying higher than the rest of the UK
• Demand is slowly increasing in the Midlands and the North West but salaries have decreased at the higher level as supply has increased – temporarily;
• The South West is still paying relatively well due to the shortage of supply caused by the size of the region and major projects like Hinkley power station;
• The North East, Wales and Scotland have remained the same due, primarily to very little demand.

BIM MANAGER

LEGEND:   Decrease on last year   Same as last year   Increase on last year

SUMMARY:

• ‘Expert’ salaries slightly down on last year due to the lack of demand and OK supply at a reduced salary level when there is any demand;
• To keep costs down, there has been less demand for ‘Proficient’ BIM Managers;
• Salaries stable or rising in- demand, ‘Competent’ BIM Managers;
• Design salaries have remained stable due to a lack of demand matching supply.
• Salaries rising for ‘Advanced Beginners’ with Contractors in London as the supply of affordable, Competent BIM Managers reduces;

BUILD vs DESIGN

• Contractors are still paying 10 to 20% more for BIM Managers;
• Salaries showing early signs of rising with Contractors as delayed projects go onto site quicker than new projects hit the drawing board.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

• Outside of the capital, Manchester has the largest amount and highest value of construction projects in the UK. With Birmingham close behind. This is increasing the demand for BIM Managers but dwindling supply is driving salaries up or experience down (see trends).
• Although demand remains low in the south west, projects have a limited catchment area and limited supply. This is keeping salaries higher.

BIM COORDINATOR

LEGEND:   Decrease on last year   Same as last year   Increase on last year

SUMMARY:

• Demand has remained strong for affordable BIM Coordinators in London;
• Supply is more limited in London, forcing salaries up but only to a maximum threshold of £50k. This has increased demand (and salaries) for the less experienced. See Trends.
• ‘Experts’ are only in demand if they are within budget. There has been a decent supply of experts either made redundant or keen to move – hence salaries have dropped. This is temporary.

BUILD vs DESIGN

• Contractors are still paying c.10% more for BIM Coordinators;
• Salaries stable across the board with design teams as demand has remained low to stable and supply is stable.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

• Demand is slowly increasing in Manchester and Birmingham. Supply is just about matching demand. The budget cap on salaries is driving more demand for the less experienced (see trends).
• Although demand remains low in the south west, projects have a limited catchment area and limited supply. This is keeping salaries higher.

BIM TECHNICIAN

LEGEND:   Decrease on last year   Same as last year   Increase on last year

SUMMARY:

• With the exception of a slight increase in demand for Competent level Technicians in the capital, supply has met the low demand elsewhere;

BUILD vs DESIGN

• The build columns are blank because most main contractors try not to do too much modelling and leave this to the design teams.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

• London continues to pay c.10% more than the regions.

BIM TRAINEE

LEGEND:   Decrease on last year   Same as last year   Increase on last year

SUMMARY:

• London continues to pay c.10% more than the regions.
• Since last year, salaries across the board have increased slightly, bring the averages up by c.10%;
• Demand in early/mid 2020 has been the main driver;
• Demand has decreased recently but salaries have remained stable.

BUILD vs DESIGN

• The design columns are blank because design teams bring in novice BIM Technicians as their trainees.

REGIONAL VARIATIONS

• London continues to pay c.10% more than the regions.