THE UK government has estimated that the construction industry and its clients could save £2 billion a year through the widespread adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM).
And looking purely on a per capita basis, the estimated savings in Northern Ireland would therefore be in the order of tens of millions of pounds. BIM is therefore a significant tool for Government in the delivery of savings in its infrastructure projects.
So what is BIM? It is the process of constructing an intelligent, data rich, 3D model of a building or an infrastructure project. In essence, BIM involves building a digital prototype of the model and simulating it in a digital world.
It describes the process of designing a building collaboratively using one coherent system of computer models rather than as separate sets of drawings.
BIM combines technology with new working practices to improve the quality of the delivered product and also improve the reliability, timeliness and consistency of the process. It is equally applicable to asset and facilities management as it is to construction.
In its purest form, BIM provides a common single and coordinated source of structured information to support all parties involved in the delivery process, whether that be to design, construct, and/or operate.
BIM changes the traditional process by making the model the primary tool for the whole project team. This ensures that all the designers, contractors and sub-contractors maintain their common basis for design, and that the detailed relationships between systems can be explored and fully detailed.
Like with technology generally, BIM is not a panacea – it remains just as possible to produce a poor model, in terms of its functionality, its constructability or its value, as it is to produce poor drawings, schedules or any other, more traditional, form of information.
Also, in the absence of any pro-active collaborative management effort, models may end up being prepared to suit the originator as opposed to being structured and presented with all parties to the design and construction team in mind.
But like technology generally, BIM is bringing significant change and significant opportunity. Part of the UK Government’s Construction Strategy, BIM is already being utilised by some large commercial organisations, and is set to become the norm, including here in Northern Ireland.
RICS is fully supportive of BIM and the potential benefits to industry by raising awareness and capability in support of the BIM agenda. Big data and BIM are transformational for land, property and construction sectors. RICS encourages micro, SME and global businesses to take advantage of such technological opportunities to improve efficiency and the bottom line.
RICS has developed the first BIM Manager Certification in response to industry requirements to have a standard that demonstrates the skills and competence of construction professionals in using BIM.
As BIM continues to dominate processes across the built environment, certification provides reassurance to employers and clients that the BIM practitioners they use follow accepted industry criteria.
Likewise BIM-competent professionals will be able to demonstrate their abilities to the sector by using a reliable and consistent approach. Developed in collaboration with leading industry figures, the certification is open to quantity surveyors and other construction professionals who already work with BIM.
It is important that the construction industry plugs into the change that technology is bringing and, along with government, gets with the BIM agenda.
:: Ben Collins is director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Northern Ireland, which has 3,000 members employed in the land, property and construction markets and in associated environmental issues.
