The construction industry in the developed regions is on the cusp of digital transformation aimed at accelerating technology adoption at varying levels across delivery and management of projects. There has been an increased effort in collaboration and partnerships amongst national building construction organizations and government agencies to facilitate a coordinated effort between stakeholders for development of national digital standards for construction processes, digital information management, and technology implementation. For instance, the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB) – a UK government-funded body, has been closely working with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) – a non-profit and non-governmental organization established in the USA.
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Digital process standardization
Recently, these two organizations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the US national Building Information Management (BIM) program. The MoU envisions the development of a roadmap for the US construction industry aligned with the international BIM standard – ISO 19650. Prior to the MoU, NIBS had emphasized the continued challenges faced by the industry on their journey to digital transformation in the form of data interoperability, limited stakeholder coordination, and lack of data & process standards. The National BIM Program plans to include a set of solutions aimed at a national scale; as per NIBS, this will focus on facilitation of digital standards for:
- Streamline business
- Accelerate the effectiveness of the supply chains
- Provide predictable processes
- Improve project outcomes
- Drive efficiency. and
- Foster innovation
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Innovative BIM program for uncertain market conditions
CDBB established as a partnership between the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Govt. of UK and the University of Cambridge in 2017, has directed around £5 million towards UK BIM and Digital Built Britain Programmes. As per the head of CDBB (International Stream), this spending has led to 33% lower costs through a reduction in the initial cost of construction and contributed to a 50% increase in project delivery of built assets in the UK. The adoption of technologies weren’t limited to experimentation of innovative digital applications like BIM and others (incl. sensors, advanced data-analytics, data-driven manufacturing etc.,) under the UK BIM Program, but were used to drive savings in different stages of construction.
The application of information management processes to increase efficiencies in both design and construction processes has become the need of the hour, given the uncertainties across the construction industry’s value chain. The UK construction market witnessed productivity as low as 20% during the last year’s COVID-induced lockdown, with construction product manufacturing operating at 15-25% capacity as per the Cast Consultancy Report. The report suggests the importance of modern methods of constructions (MMC) like the design for manufacture & assembly (DfMA) and the need to facilitate digital workflows with digitally configured designs to manufacturers for overcoming the challenges of uncertain market conditions.
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UK BIM framework
The development of the National BIM Program for UK had to formulate a sound framework to implement BIM and manage building information as per the ISO 19650 series. BS EN ISO 19650-5:2020 is considered a standard specification for the security of information management; the standards aim to reduce the security vulnerabilities due to increased use and reliance on digital data exchange and technologies. The British Standards Institution (BSI), CDBB, and the UK BIM Alliance have developed the UK BIM Framework, which is set to gradually replace the BIM Level 2 notation followed by the industry. The Framework facilitates organizations in the UK to migrate from BIM Level 2 to the updated standards based on BS EN ISO 19650. As indicated earlier, CDBB has partnered with NIBS to draft the National BIM Program of the US, similar to the UK BIM Program, with the experiences gained in migrating BIM Level 2 to ISO 19650.
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National BIM program: Digital construction
The US holds the largest share of construction technology start-ups and drives the VC-led investments in innovative technologies in design and construction services in the global marketplace, as per the GEOBIM Market Report. However, the US faces significant productivity challenges, design-to-execution efficiency problems, and a lack of sustainable asset management. These challenges have pushed the industry to seek a nationwide solution to draft sustainable industry practices, similar to the UK BIM Program. A National BIM Program set on the ISO standards will significantly reduce the risk of information loss and modification (misuse) of sensitive data, which will impact the resilience of assets, products, built environment, and construction services.
Digitalization of construction processes with BIM has seen a surge in recent times across the project lifecycle, from the pre-construction stage (conceptualization) to post project handover (O&M). BIM for the digitalization of workflows has resulted in increased stakeholder collaboration, project transparency, (real-time) asset monitoring, and data exchange. These benefits can be achieved by the development of the National BIM Program, which will provide a standard framework of BIM application for stakeholders across the industry’s value chain.
Geospatial World is organizing a series of virtual discussion series on ‘GIS & BIM Integration for Sustainable AECO Industry Practices’. These discussions will be held with stakeholders across North America, Europe and Asia regions aimed at advancing the AECO industry perspectives towards sustainable project delivery using an integrated application of GIS and BIM solutions. Click below to know more!
