Sarawak is one of four places in Malaysia with a Building Information Modelling satellite laboratory, and the state's Public Works Department has run a dedicated BIM Branch since 2025. The state's own roadmap requires full BIM integration by 2030 on building projects above RM10 million and infrastructure projects above RM100 million. On the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak, the federal Ministry of Works puts the saving from using BIM at RM157 million.

Those figures come from separate announcements made over almost two years. Together they describe a mandate that already reaches most large public works in the state, served by a training network still being built.

What BIM is, and what it changes about a drawing

Building Information Modelling is the practice of creating and managing information-rich three-dimensional models across a project's whole life, so that architects, engineers and builders work from one model rather than separate sets of drawings, as Bernama describes it.

Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, the Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development, told the state Public Works Department's BIM Day in Kuching in December 2024 that the model carries more than geometry: component information, maintenance schedules and lifecycle costs sit inside it, making it a tool for managing assets the government will own for decades, Bernama reported. Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi has made the narrower case, telling a training centre launch in February 2026 that the value lies in catching technical problems before they become delays, cost overruns or rework on site.

What the Pan Borneo Highway figure measures

Ministry of Works Secretary-General Datuk Seri Azman Ibrahim gave the clearest account of the return so far at Malaysia BIM Day 2026 in Putrajaya on 15 September. On the Pan Borneo Highway Sarawak project, he said BIM had been in use since 2016 and had allowed more than 3,000 errors in design drawings to be resolved, preventing potential delays of up to 10 years. The RM157 million he cited follows from resolving those design clashes, and he framed it as the saving at the time rather than a running total. He added that plan approval had fallen from about 14 days to 48 hours without the use of artificial intelligence, which the ministry intends to add later.

The thresholds Sarawak has set for 2030

The state roadmap, as Uggah set it out in December 2024, has three parts:

  • Buildings: every project above RM10 million on BIM
  • Infrastructure: every project above RM100 million on BIM
  • Deadline: 100 per cent integration by 2030

The department was carrying RM1.3 billion worth of projects the following year, and Uggah cast it as the pioneer for the wider state industry.

Where a contractor in Sarawak can be trained

Access is the constraint. Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said in October 2025 that BIM satellite laboratories existed in only four places, namely Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak, and that the Construction Industry Development Board planned seven more nationwide the following year. He was explicit that CIDB leads that network rather than the Works Ministry, that the laboratories carry computers and BIM software for local contractors, and that siting of new ones would weigh levy collection and project needs in each state.

These centres are modest in scale. The one the Malaysian Bumiputera Contractors Association opened in Shah Alam in August 2025 was equipped with 15 computer units contributed by CIDB E-Construct Services Sdn Bhd, and teaches drone mapping, data analytics and robotic assistance alongside BIM.

Nationally, 9,375 people had completed BIM training through the myBIM Centre and the myBIM Satellite network by February 2026, a figure Nanta said also covered phased programmes run by CIDB, Bernama reported.

Who administers what

  • CIDB Malaysia leads on policy, training modules and technology adoption, and runs the satellite laboratory network (Bernama, Bernama).
  • The Ministry of Works funds them, securing RM83.3 million in 2026 for laboratories nationwide including Sabah and Sarawak, taking the total to 16 centres of excellence (Bernama).
  • The Public Works Department in Sarawak runs the state-level work through a BIM Branch that began full operations in 2025, alongside CIDB, Sarawak Digital Economy Operation and Akademi Binaan Malaysia, the department said.
  • Akademi Binaan Malaysia and CIDB Technologies produce about 4,000 youth graduates a year across construction trades, with employability at roughly 85 per cent (Bernama).

What is paying for it

The money sits inside the 13th Malaysia Plan. Nanta said more than RM430 billion has been allocated for national development across 2026 to 2030, with the Industrialised Building System and BIM named in that plan as instruments for raising productivity and cutting waste, and the construction sector targeted to grow about 5 per cent a year, Bernama reported.

What the thresholds catch in Bintulu

The RM10 million line is not abstract in the divisions where the department does most of its building. In June 2026 it handed the Ministry of Education two new schools in Bintulu worth more than RM100 million between them, among them SMK Samalaju at RM57.62 million, with 36 classrooms, 24 units of teachers' quarters and two hostel blocks, Bernama reported. A single building of that value sits well above the threshold set for 2030. Its statement on the handover credited coordination between the ministry, contractors, consultants and technical agencies, and made no reference to BIM.

Sources