BIM is a standard, a way of working, not a task, says Matt Samways of AIMIS. Here he explores the future of BIM compliance
“Oh, BIM? Yeah, we do BIM.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this. As soon as I hear the term “do BIM” I know the respondent misunderstands what BIM is. They’re thinking models. When they say “we do BIM” what they mean is, we have someone in our office who creates models or that they have an outsourced expert who creates models for them.
What is BIM?
BIM is about communication, information management and collaboration. It’s about working with a culture of sharing digital information across your businesses and every other business you’re working with on a project.
BIM is about data. The collection of data and the ability to store and share that data easily. Some construction project data comes in the form of models but also in many other forms. A planning application contains data. A building product spec sheet contains data. A labourer’s timesheet is data.
BIM enables a collaborative way of working, where anyone involved in the project has access to data from any stage in the project to assist them in their stage.
This approach to information sharing ensures the delivery, operation and renewal of the built environment, making the process more efficient, more sustainable and safer.
The most important element of a BIM-enabled project is the quality of the data which is held for that project. That data should cover the project’s whole lifecycle, from brief to planning application through to a digital O&M manual and into building use.
Imagine if the Grenfell Tower had been constructed as a BIM-enabled project. The inquiry would have been very different. Much of the answers would have been held in the construction data. More so, the errors and oversights made in construction would not have been able to happen if the project had followed the ISO19650 standards and maintained the golden thread (albeit this standard was not out at the time), and no one would have been able to turn a blind eye.
This is why the new Building Safety Act came about and this is why the Grenfell tragedy will hopefully never be repeated.
Last year, the Building Regulations Advisory Committee produced a paper setting out the principles of the golden thread to encourage centralised digital recordkeeping to reduce the risk of fire and improve compliance data to ensure the right people have access to information when needed, and consequently make buildings safer for residents.
The best reason for working to the ISO 19650 standard are the users’ safety, but also to save time, minimise risk and increase your profitability.
In today’s world, digital management of data allows repetitive tasks to be automated, increasing efficiency and ensuring accuracy. Introducing structure and search functionality allows for reliable data at handover, but it also ensures ease of access to data which can be used and re-used for multiple purposes throughout the project lifecycle.
BIM compliance will:
- Allow all project information to be easily searchable.
- Ensure all information is reliable.
- Ensure all information is current and up to date.
- Ensure all information is suitable for its specific purpose.
- Ensure a full information audit trail exists.
- Allow for collaborative behaviour between all parties.
Changing the way in which you work through digitising your business has so many benefits and will ensure your business is futureproofed. Soon you will need evidence of BIM compliance to be involved in almost every project.
Matt Samways
Managing director
AIMIS
Tel: +44 (0) 1227 517 797
