What the BIM Plan is
The BIM Plan for public procurement is the timeline through which Spain’s General State Administration (Administración General del Estado) makes the use of BIM mandatory in its works contracts and associated services. It was approved by the Council of Ministers on 27 June 2023 and published through Order PCM/818/2023, in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE) of 20 July 2023.
It was drawn up by the CIBIM, the Interministerial Commission for the incorporation of BIM methodology into public procurement (Comisión Interministerial para la incorporación de la metodología BIM en la contratación pública), created in 2018 and chaired by the Ministry of Transport.
Its legal basis is the fifteenth additional provision of Law 9/2017 on Public Sector Contracts (Ley 9/2017 de Contratos del Sector Público), which states that contracting authorities “may require” BIM tools. The law allows it; the Plan turns it into an obligation within the State Administration, as an internal instruction.
Who has to comply
- Mandatory for the General State Administration and its linked or dependent public bodies and entities governed by public law. This includes, for example, ministries, river basin authorities (confederaciones hidrográficas) or ADIF.
- Recommended for the rest of the state public sector: state-owned companies, foundations, consortia, independent authorities.
- Does not apply to regional governments (comunidades autónomas), local councils or private developers. Some have their own timeline —Catalonia approved its own in 2018— and any client can require BIM in its tender documents.
In practice, the one who really feels it is the contractor: the requirements arrive in the tender documents and have to be met in order to bid.
The Plan covers works contracts, works concessions, service concessions that include works, mixed contracts, contracts based on framework agreements and design contests. It also extends to services linked to the works —project drafting, site supervision (dirección facultativa), technical assistance, health and safety coordination— when the works exceed the threshold.
Timeline and thresholds
The BIM level required depends on two things: the estimated value of the contract (excluding VAT; in contracts divided into lots, that of each lot) and the date the procurement file is opened.
| Estimated value | 1 Apr 2024 | 1 Oct 2025 | 1 Oct 2027 | 1 Apr 2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≥ €5,404,000 | Initial | Intermediate | Advanced | Integrated |
| €2,000,000 – €5,404,000 | Initial (recommended) | Initial | Intermediate | Advanced |
| < €2,000,000 | Not required | Not required | Not required | Not required |
Two nuances that many summaries overlook:
- The upper threshold is not fixed. It is tied to the harmonised regulation threshold for works (Article 20 of the Public Sector Contracts Act), which is updated every two years. The 2023 BOE says €5,382,000; since 1 January 2026 it has been €5,404,000, according to the CIBIM itself.
- The €2 million band is already mandatory. Since 1 October 2025, not “from 2026” as is often stated. Today, a €3 million state contract requires the initial level; a €6 million one, the intermediate level.
The contracting authority may bring the BIM level forward in contracts of any value, provided this does not reduce competition or disadvantage SMEs.
What each level requires
The Plan defines five maturity levels —preliminary, initial, intermediate, advanced and integrated— across four areas: strategy, processes, technology and people. In summary:
| Level | Models and deliverables | Common data environment | People |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial | CAD drawings alongside BIM models from which drawings and 3D clash detection are produced | Repository with access control and naming rules | A trained BIM manager at the contracting authority; BIM experience of the bidder |
| Intermediate | Drawings and quantities come from the model, with clash detection | Coordination through the common environment, with work in progress / shared / published states (ISO 19650) | Procedures according to the CIBIM guides; the client’s whole team trained |
| Advanced | Integrated multidisciplinary models, 4D simulation, link to maintenance and asset management | Own common data environment compliant with ISO 19650; issues in BCF | Procedures compliant with ISO 19650 |
| Integrated | As advanced, for any use of the model | Data model accessible through web services | Procedures certified to ISO 19650; at least three years of experience |
The detail is in the text of the Plan and in its executive summary with the table of levels.
What the contract must include
These are the parameters the Plan sets for any contract within its scope:
- BIM information requirements in the technical specifications (pliego de prescripciones técnicas). Proportionate to the subject of the contract and with the whole life cycle in mind, “especially use and maintenance”. The Plan does not talk about “EIR” or “BEP”: it talks about BIM information requirements.
- Open formats. IFC mandatory; BCF and COBie optional. The client may also ask for the native file.
- Information security in accordance with the National Security Framework (Esquema Nacional de Seguridad) and UNE-EN ISO 19650-5.
- Delivery to the IGN (the National Geographic Institute) of the model envelopes at the end of the contract, for the State’s geoinformation databases.
- Optionally, BIM in the administrative specifications: technical capability, award criteria or special performance conditions.
The Plan does not impose a specific classification system or an LOD scale: each set of tender documents sets that. If you are asked for RCEclass, GuBIMClass or a particular LOD, it is explained in our guides to BIM classification systems and LOD levels.
Existing assets: where laser scanning comes in
The Plan covers all works, including refurbishment and maintenance, but it does not say how the model of what already exists is to be obtained. The Ministry spells out that piece for roads: Circular Order (Orden Circular) 1/2025 of the Directorate-General for Roads defines BIM uses for digital survey, as-built model and inventory, and for the survey it requires:
- the point cloud in the open E57 format and in the proprietary format, in the specified geodetic and height reference system;
- colour panoramic images overlaid on the cloud;
- a production report for the cloud: author, process, instruments and software.
This is exactly phase 2 of a Scan to BIM: a registered, documented and traceable measurement before anything is modelled. And it is the reason why, in a refurbishment tender, the model of the current state should start from a scan and not from old drawings: the intermediate level requires quantities to be taken from the model, and a model that does not resemble reality produces quantities that do not either.
How to prepare
- Look at the estimated value and the date of the procurement file before anything else: they tell you which level you will be asked for.
- Read the information requirements in the tender documents and translate them into your own BIM execution plan: which models, which LOD, which classification, which deliveries.
- Make sure of the IFC. Exporting is not enough: check classification and properties in a viewer before delivering; the guide to BIM viewers has free options.
- If the contract starts from an existing asset, ask for or commission a survey with a point cloud in E57 and a registration report. It is what roads already require and what avoids arguing over quantities later on.
If you have a tender with BIM requirements for an existing building or piece of infrastructure, tell us the scope: we prepare the survey and the as-built model with the formats and deliverables the tender documents ask for.