OpenBIM specialist xbim and property logbook company Chimni have been awarded an InnovateUK grant to re-imagine BIM use in the housebuilding industry
The project was prompted by concerns about the low take up of BIM in housebuilding. The project will examine how to link the data and intelligence created within BIM during design and construction to the emerging generation of property logbooks.
Most importantly it will examine ways to turn the construction data created during housebuilding into useful homeowner information and services.
The project will attack the presumption that there is no use for BIM data in housing after construction. It intends to subvert the normal process of BIM model creation and start with consumer research into the homeowner.
The project will create a series of user cases with accompanying data models that can be incorporated into an Asset Information Model.
We will also look at the apps and services being used by homeowners and test the project assumption that property ‘logbooks’ or ‘passports’ provide a way to deliver construction and product data to homeowners in a meaningful and usable format.
The project output will be a series of case studies, with supporting data models and software examples, plus recommendations for data creation in new build and retrofit housing.
Linking BIM data to consumer-friendly web apps
Chimni’s managing director, Nigel Walley, said: “Our project makes the case that the homeowner should be viewed as a ‘Facilities Manager’ and could use the data if made available to them in consumer-friendly ways.
“We will look at activity around DIY, maintenance, operation and upkeep of a range of property types and examine where this can be supported with better data from construction or refit.”
Andy Ward of xbim, added: “Creating a homeowner friendly way to expand the uses of BIM data has to benefit the whole of the new-build and retrofit housing industries.
“Linking BIM data to consumer-friendly web apps like property logbooks means we can expand the potential of the OpenBIM approach and dramatically increase the ways in which BIM data can be shared amongst users.”
