2016 – The year of the UK BIM Mandate

Happy New year all. It’s 2016 and a big year for the construction industry. The UK government BIM mandate comes into effect.

A lot of companies are ready for the BIM mandate there are still a lot of companies that have not made the jump to BIM for various reasons. In this blog I will try to explain it in plain english.  The UK BIM mandate will have a knock on effect not just in Britain but also on surrounding countries such as Ireland.  

 As part of our training and consultancy I am out working with companies across Ireland and the UK. I hear many reasons why companies have moved to BIM, but I also hear many reasons why companies are not moving to BIM. Some of the reasons I have heard are,

·         It’s too expensive

·         doesn’t affect me

·         I’m too busy

·         just ignoring it

·         I don’t do government work

My answer to all of the above are.

·         It will be too expensive not to

·         It affects everybody in the construction industry

·         You won’t be busy for much longer if you don’t

·         Ignore it if you want but you won’t be in business long if you move to BIM

·         The mandate refers to government projects but private clients are now requiring BIM on   
            projects.

What is the BIM Mandate

The BIM mandate is designed to accelerate the use of BIM in the construction industry. The BIM process must be used in the design and construction of a government projects. This will enable the government to reduce costs of between 15 – 20% . It promotes lean and offsite construction cutting down on waste.

The BIM mandate says that projects should be done in an open BIM format. This means that the project can be done in any BIM software or software's but should be delivered in a file format called IFC (Industry Foundation classes) which is an independent and open format.

BIM Process

BIM is a collaborative process, where multiple disciplines or companies work together and create a single model known as a federated or central model. You can find out more about collaborative BIM by reading our blog on collaborative BIM http://siscin3d.blogspot.ie/2014/05/its-good-to-share.html

The change to BIM for businesses

Many companies think that BIM is about changing the software they use. BIM is not just a software change, BIM is a process. Just because you buy BIM software and send a couple of members of staff on a BIM software course it does not make you BIM ready or compliant.  BIM is a culture change is needed within a company because BIM is a method of delivering a project and managing a building through it’s lifecycle. BIM needs to be implemented from the top down.  For more information, see our previous blog on implementing BIM.

http://siscin3d.blogspot.ie/2014/06/bim-from-top-down.html

 BIM Process

A successful BIM project needs to be planned. But by good planning you will have a successful project .  See our blog on the requirements for a successful BIM project.

http://siscin3d.blogspot.ie/2015/09/requirments-for-successful-bim-project.html

The BIM process does not end with the construction of a building. The BIM process lives on through the life of the building with the Facilities Management team. See our blog on BIM for building owners and facilities managers

http://siscin3d.blogspot.ie/2015/10/bim-for-building-owners-and-facilities.html

We will be running regular courses throughout Ireland & the UK throughout 2016. Please contact us at info@siscin.ie for further details

If you have any questions on anything in this blog or any other blog please feel free to contact me at dan@siscin.ie.

Dan Deery is the managing director of Siscín. Dan has over 20 years in the construction industry and has been using BIM since the mid 90’s. He also worked as a programmer for a CAD software company. Siscín  specialise in BIM Consultany. training & visualisation and animation for the Infrastructure, Engineering, Construction, Facilities and Architectural industries. Check out our Website www.siscin.ie