Whilst surveys indicate that BIM uptake in the industry to date has been relatively slow (largely due to a lack of client demand), it is showing signs of improvement.
We expect to see various BIM initiatives commencing early this year following the receipt of £15 million funding in the Chancellor’s budget in April 2015 to cover up to six years’ work.
BIM Level 3
The government’s BIM Tsar, Mark Bew, has announced that the government will be engaging with the industry on establishing BIM Level 3 tools and standards from January 2017, which includes establishing a client team drawn from all government departments to lead on the roll out of BIM Level 3.
BIM Level 3 when adopted would mean full collaboration between all disciplines by means of using a single shared project model which is held in a centralised repository where all parties can access and modify that same model, thus removing the final layer of risk for conflicting information.
There is still a level of nervousness in the industry surrounding issues such as copyright and liability which need to be consider prior to the adoption of BIM Level 3.
BIM Kitemark
In December 2016, the British Standards Institution (BSI) launched a new Kitemark for BIM to act as a seal of approval for companies qualified to deliver projects at the design and construction phase.
The Kitemark was developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders and builds on the verification scheme PAS 1192-2, which is the BSI’s specification “for the capital /delivery phase of construction projects using building information modelling”. It represents excellence in BIM delivery, as well as in design, construction, supply chain management and customer service.
Recent BIM news reported that the first cohort of contractors has been awarded the new BSI Kitemark.
We look forward to upcoming developments in this area.