🛠️ Tech Weekly · Monday, 2 November 2026
Imagine walking through a building before a single pile goes into the ground, spotting the clash between an air duct and a beam, and fixing it with a click instead of a jackhammer. That is the promise Malaysia’s construction leaders are now pushing, as the industry moves beyond basic 3D models toward live digital twins. Next door, Singapore has already used laser scans to inspect a building for occupancy. The real question is whether our sites are ready.
The minister’s message: move beyond BIM
At the 12th CIDB–CIOB Youth Arena Convention Malaysia (YACM) 2026, themed “Beyond Reality: Metaverse Revolution”, Deputy Works Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan told the industry it is “moving beyond BIM towards the new frontier of the construction metaverse”, according to The Star (1 November 2026).
His argument was practical rather than futuristic. By combining Building Information Modelling (BIM) with virtual reality, augmented reality and real-time data, he said, professionals can “explore building designs virtually, test structures and identify design errors before construction begins.” The Star notes that Level 2 BIM is now common on major public and commercial jobs, but that static 3D models are no longer enough to eliminate blind spots on larger, more complex projects.
The same report links the push to sustainability and off-site construction. A digital twin can be used to test lower-carbon concrete or steel options before ordering, model cooling loads, and feed exact dimensions to Industrialised Building System (IBS) factories so that less material is wasted on site.
The home-grown platform already in use
The tools are not only imported. In March, CIDB’s subsidiary, renamed CIDB Digital Sdn Bhd from CIDB E-Construct Services, launched the Digital Construction Management (DCM) platform (Bernama, 9 March 2026). According to CIDB’s media statement, it brings together:
BIM coordination and design control
site operations management and progress monitoring
data analytics for project governance, shared in real time by consultants, contractors and owners
Two details matter for smaller firms. First, CIDB Digital CEO Sr Nazir Muhamad Nor said the platform is web-based, so project plans can be opened on a smartphone without a high-spec workstation. Second, DCM has already been used on more than 60 large projects in five countries, worth over US$8 billion. CIDB chairman Datuk Yusuf Abd Wahab also pointed to the myBIM Centre in Kuala Lumpur and its 12 satellite centres as the training base, in support of the Construction Action Plan 2026–2030 (CAP30) and the 13th Malaysia Plan.
Adoption is spreading beyond building projects. Water asset company Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad (PAAB) recently hosted CIDB Digital to look at DCM, common data environments and locally hosted deployment for the water sector (PAAB on LinkedIn).
Skills are the bottleneck, so the universities are being wired in
Software is only useful if people can run it. At YACM 2026, CIOB Malaysia signed five memoranda of understanding with digital solutions provider Glodon Malaysia and four institutions: Sunway University, Taylor’s University, UCSI University and University of Reading Malaysia (The Star). The aim is to put cloud-based quantity surveying, digital cost estimation and virtual project management into degree programmes, so graduates arrive ready to work.
CIOB Malaysia president Loi Yew Hua said the future of construction depends “not only on technological advancement but also on the people who will drive that transformation.”
International flavour: Singapore inspects a site without walking it
Singapore shows where this can lead for regulators. In a pilot backed by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), SoilBuild Construction and dConstruct Robotics, a two-person team used a backpack LiDAR scanner to capture the 5.54-hectare Tampines Connection site in about six hours and build a digital twin (dConstruct Robotics, 5 October 2026).
That model supported the first full LiDAR virtual inspection for an industrial project’s Temporary Occupation Permit. The virtual workflow took about four weeks, against up to six weeks for the traditional process. Inspectors could also pin comments to exact locations in 3D instead of writing general remarks.
In the United States, the software giants are moving in the same direction. On 21 October, Procore announced digital twin capabilities, currently in closed beta, built on NVIDIA Omniverse libraries. They let teams simulate extreme weather, sun exposure and crew and equipment movement, and compare drone reality capture against the design (Procore). EarthCam has added AI models that detect trench-safety and housekeeping hazards and verify deliveries from jobsite camera images (EarthCam, 20 October 2026).
What this means on site
Contractors: Start with a common data environment and disciplined model updates. A digital twin is only as good as the as-built data fed into it.
Small and mid-sized firms: Phone-friendly, web-based tools such as DCM lower the hardware barrier. Training at a myBIM satellite centre is a cheaper first step than buying workstations.
IBS manufacturers: Model-driven fabrication is where the waste savings are. Ask clients for coordinated models early.
Developers and authorities: Singapore’s pilot suggests reality capture can shorten approvals. Malaysian local authorities could test something similar for certificates of completion.
The bottom line
Malaysia has spent a decade getting BIM onto major projects. The next step is keeping that model alive through construction, connecting it to site cameras, scans and schedules so problems are found on a screen, not in wet concrete. Watch for more announcements at International Construction Week and BuildXpo Malaysia at MITEC, Kuala Lumpur, from 10 to 12 November.
Sources
The Star – Reshaping Malaysia’s built environment (1 Nov 2026)
Bernama – CIDB Launches DCM To Accelerate Industry Digitalisation (9 Mar 2026)
CIDB – Kenyataan Media: CIDB Digital dilancarkan (9 Mar 2026)
dConstruct Robotics – LiDAR Based Virtual Inspection Project (5 Oct 2026)
Procore – Procore collaborates with NVIDIA on digital twin capabilities (21 Oct 2026)
EarthCam – EarthCam launches construction AI connectors (20 Oct 2026)