Many building services are still not aware of BIM
and push forward the vanguard of a new construction era. Paddy Conaghan of Hoare Lea, and
chair of the CIBSE BIM Working Group, highlighted what he felt was a ‘data disconnect’. Designers use a tool to produce ‘rich’ data models, only to see the contractor completely re-enter the data into a completely different software tool to produce construction details. A proper BIM workflow would lead to a shift in levels of efficiency, with greater accuracy and potentially less waste, he said. The CIBSE BIM Working Group is
looking at how the fundamental defining data can be standardised into a software- independent, common format, so that manufacturers can produce quality assured information usable by any number of BIM- related activities. This could be readily transformed
by end-users to satisfy the needs of proprietary systems and reduce the need for manufacturers to produce multiple formats for their data. Ben Haldin of Fulcro Engineering Services
Reaping the benefits of BIM will require a change in perceptions, practices and expectations across the whole industry
36 CIBSE Journal July 2012
agreed with Conaghan that there is nothing ‘new’ in BIM technology, which is part of the technological evolution of the industry. But the changes in management and underlying processes are only possible by having the right technically capable people leading the organisational
revolution.And he stressed that, by transforming business processes to be inclusive of BIM practices, companies could get a competitive edge. Gary Ross of Capita Symonds lamented the fact that the proposed points in the
project programme where information would be delivered from a BIM system to the client team, could mean that data potentially was also being discarded at each stage – with the risk of thereby degrading the rich data resource that should carry forward to the post-occupancy stage. Other speakers agreed that any standards developed must ensure that data carried forward to the facilities management post-occupancy stage should maintain intelligent access to the technical detail that was evolved during the design process. For BIM success, projects must be built
around standards from their very inception. Standards and protocols – for generation, sharing and maintenance of the BIM model – must be clearly set out and agreed by the project team, and this process should be driven from the highest level. Rudi Klein, a lawyer and chief executive
of the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group, raised the question of who owns data and who is responsible for its maintenance. In English law there is a risk that, as a model is transferred between design teams, anyone who makes subsequent modifications could be at risk of inheriting design responsibility for previous design decisions. Quoting from the Pennsylvania State University BIM Project Execution Planning Guide, Klein said that ‘implementing BIM requires detailed planning and fundamental process modifications for the project team members to successfully achieve the value…’ Klein was convinced that for BIM to succeed, there needs to be clarity on where responsibility lies for the information, and
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