Karen Alford, BIM Project Executive at the Environment Agency explains how to gather shareable and verifiable data and its key to asset delivery in a BIM project…
The deadline for BIM level 2 on government projects is getting closer, but what will project and asset delivery look like during 2016.
Building Information Modelling is a term which is interpreted in various ways. For many it brings to mind an inspiring digital 3D representation of a built asset and creates the impression it’s all about some form of clever software. One factor is often overlooked. Software is driven by data. Where the management and structure of the underlying data is not fully considered, the outputs have limited re-use. This has led many in the industry to believe BIM costs money. This is probably because it’s treated as an additional service and not a way of delivering the same service in a more efficient way. This is all about to change.
Level 2 is about embedding common methods and standards for managing data and information to make the industry coherent and data savvy. Shareable, verifiable data can be re-used within a business and across the industry. It becomes easier to utilise the plethora of software and technology with minimal cost. The framework for creating shareable structured data forms the backbone of Level 2.
The government mandate puts the emphasis on the Employer or Client to understand its data and information needs during the project and to support decisions throughout the asset’s life. This is captured in the Employers Information Requirements (EIR) and associated appendices. In considering this the Employer needs to address questions such as:
- What decisions do I need to make during the project and across its whole life (Plain Language Questions (PLQ)).
- What evidence do I need to support the decisions I make on new or future assets (PLQ)?
- What data and information do I need to support the evidence?
- What data standards apply to that data and information?
- What are the technical or engineering standards to support the data?
- Are there existing standards I can adopt?
- What open formats and data structures are needed to facilitate the transfer through the supply chain or brought into our asset management systems?
For most Employers this brings a new perspective to asset delivery and for many it is not something that can be achieved overnight. However, on the plus side most asset owners already commission, maintain and operate assets as part of their business activities and have considerable experience and processes to draw upon.
A good starting point is to capture the documents and data currently exchanged between business units and with the supply chain at the different gateways of a project. For some projects this may only be a small number of documents and data. Once these are collated the intelligence gathering can begin by systematically addressing the questions above. This may involve people within different disciplines within your organisation and your supply chain partners. As the data and information requirements begin to form, so the gaps and overlaps emerge. This may appear daunting at first but as the saying goes ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and Level 2 is all about creating a strong foundation for the industry to move into the digital age.
When the BIM clauses are introduced into a contract, depending on the size of the gaps identified, the Employer’s requirements may start with the application of the standards to documents and files commonly used within a project such as file naming conventions. This relatively small change begins to alter behaviour and elevates the importance of data and information as a project deliverable in its own right.
The construction industry, despite providing 7% of GDP, invests less than 2% of its cost in IT and technology which is significantly lower than other industries within the UK. However, it’s the industry that is responsible for building our homes, schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure and makes a significant contribution to how others deliver their business and social outcomes.
Becoming technology and data savvy doesn’t necessarily mean a significant upfront investment. With the increase in open data, the availability of software on per licence agreements, low cost of apps development and even the use of photo and video capability on a mobile phone can create a step change in the management of information and data and how it is delivered and used to increase the speed of project delivery without additional risk.
The Environment Agency is investing in technology and apps to improve its ability to manage and maintain its £24bn asset portfolio. In the future, like many asset owners, we will broaden the depth of information obtained during the construction phase. We will gradually move away from documents and instead expect specific structured data sets we are able to validate and pull directly into our asset management systems.
The construction industry future is about creating shareable, reusable data about assets that everyone can trust for today and tomorrow. ■
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Karen Alford FCCA
BIM Project Executive
Environment Agency
karen.alford@environment-agency.gov.uk
