The UK is already BIM territory

Level 2 has arrived in the United Kingdom.   Starting today, April 4th, public works projects must be submitted in BIM,  following the  PAS 1192specification . This was announced by the Government in May 2011, when it published the Construction Sector Strategy (CSS), focused on reducing the cost of public sector assets by 20% by 2016. Under this guideline, the country celebrates its self-declaration as a BIM country on this spring day .Mark Bew, chair of the BIM Task Group UK , declared the achievement of the objectives set out in the Strategy a success: “It represents an unprecedented achievement internationally on the path towards the digitalization of the built environment sector.”According to the Strategy, the Government requires Level 2 work on all publicly funded projects. This requirement was introduced to drive the adoption of BIM processes across the public and private sectors to foster their benefits, which include cost reduction, predictable planning, improved  performance , risk reduction ,  and more.While this requirement was initially introduced for government projects, the benefits of using information management processes and practices  driven at Level 2 can also be realized by private sector clients and projects within the construction industry. But what does it mean to work at Level 2? For  Sam Allwinkle of the  Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists ( CIAT), “Level 2 is the implementation of BIM at a higher level,” adding: “Initially, BIM was seen as computer drawing, digital design, and now we’re seeing the use of BIM to execute buildings, to simulate the construction of a building, taking into account the cost of the models, taking into account the lifecycle cost throughout the process.” THE EUROPEAN OUTLOOK In Germany , the Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure launched a plan in December that “very clearly defines what we mean now when we talk about BIM,” explains Ilka May, Chairman of Planen Bauen 4.0, promoter of the implementation of BIM in the country, who ensures the existence of a “second document aligned with the roadmap, which identifies all the activities we have to do to prepare ourselves for the path towards BIM.” France launched a major project at the end of 2014 calle. Digital Transition Plan, a three-year project with a budget of  €20 million, aimed at convincing stakeholders that BIM is essential for improving their efficiency and ensuring  that there is no digital divide between large and small stakeholders. In Finland , where everyone already works in BIM, efforts are focusing on “delivery information and perhaps making things smarter,” summarizes Tomi Henttinen, president of buildingSMART Finland. Last February,Europe announced the consolidation of the EU BIM Task Group , a group made up of representatives of public administrations from 14 Member States with the aim of bringing together and aligning the efforts of the different European countries.In the words of the Chair of the EU BIM Task Group, Adam Matthews, also a member of the BIM Task Group UK: “As a group, we believe that the public sector will play a leading role in the European Union and help develop a world-class construction sector – one that is digital, transparent, and competitive.”

NEXT OBJECTIVE: LEVEL 3In its 2016 Budget announcement, the UK Government included an explicit statement of its intention to develop Level 3, with the aim of “saving asset owners billions of pounds each year in unnecessary costs” as well as continuing to lead the way in digital construction. The move to Level 3 represents a commitment to the next generation of digital standards for the construction industry, which encourages  full collaboration  between all stakeholders on a project within a single, information-sharing model, widely known as  Open BIM. Spain is making significant efforts to implement BIM at the national level, as evidenced by the launch of the Ministry of Public Works’ initiative, known as the esBIM Commission, whose working groups have already been established. We’ll learn more about the Spanish case in an interview with buildingSMART Spanish Chapter in the coming days.

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