The Scottish BIM Task Group is set to conduct a survey, which will help develop the next stage of the BIM strategy in the nation…
Building information modelling (BIM) is undoubtedly an integral part of the construction process and is being embraced more frequently in the public sector, in particular. In October 2013, the Scottish Procurement paper set out the BIM Strategy for Scotland.
The paper stated: “To implement BIM in Scotland successfully, the Scottish Government will need to identify resources to drive forward its introduction across the public sector.
“Many practical questions around implementation will need to be answered and communities of interest developed, building on existing BIM structures in Scotland, such as the BIM regional hub, as well as learning lessons from the UK BIM Task Group.
“The possible impact on planning and building control frameworks will also need to be considered.
“There is already Scottish representation on the Construction Industry Council’s BIM4SMEs group and strategies to help support this part of the industry should be developed collaboratively.
“We also know of some major Scottish public contracts where BIM is already being used such as the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow and the Western General in Edinburgh and the experiences and lessons learned from these should be built on to help drive forward successful implementation.
“We are strongly of the view that resources expended on this approach can result in significant savings and that it is crucial to establish a current baseline and evaluation process in order that these savings can be properly quantified over time.”
In a bid to further develop the strategy a new survey has been launched by the Scottish BIM Task Group. The data collected during this survey of construction professionals is expected to feed into the next stage of BIM strategy.
David Philp of the UK government BIM Task Group and the Scottish BIM Task Group will work alongside the Scottish Futures Trust to set out the details of the strategy. The aim is achieve a Level 2 by the proposed target date of April 2017.
To gain Level 2, a number of different elements must be in place. The survey will look to address where the issues and barriers to achieving this status lie.
Respondents to the survey will be actively encouraged to pass it on to other contacts in all parts of the construction sector.
The paper put forward a number of recommendations, which the survey will no doubt look to address.
It stated: “The use of BIM should be introduced in central government with a view to encouraging its adoption across the entire public sector.
“The objective should be that, where appropriate, construction projects across the public sector in Scotland adopt a BIM level 2 approach by April 2017.
“A programme plan for BIM implementation by 2017 should be developed, along with guidelines and advice on the use of BIM. Suitable trial projects should be identified ahead of the 2017 target date and their management co-ordinated centrally.
“When deciding if BIM will add value to a project, public sector clients should undertake an assessment of the likely return on investment from its use. This will not necessarily correlate directly with project value but may relate more to project complexity and longer-term functionality.”