Thursday 14 April 2016

NBS National BIM Report 2016

Way back in 2011, when the UK Government's BIM strategy was just starting to be communicated, we decided to do a BIM survey and analyse the findings. Five years later in 2016, we are proud to have just published our sixth report. Looking through all six tells the story of the journey the UK has been through so far.

This blog post contrasts some of the 2016 results with the 2011 results to see some big changes in the industry.
Five years - a long time in BIM
BIM awareness from almost half of the industry never having heard of it being the hot topic in the industry
The primary tool for drawings and schedules production - the fall of AutoCAD - the rise of Revit, ArchiCAD and Vectorworks
(click for bigger picture)
In terms of key charts from the 2016 survey - it is slightly disappointing to see relatively low figures in terms of the use of the BIM Level-2 standards. However, it is expected that these figures will now have an upwards trend in future years.
Will one in three organisations be using PAS 1192-2 this time next year?
One fantastic chart to look at was the one below which shows that two out of three construction professionals is likely to look to NBS for information about BIM. As expected, another big source of information are colleagues and contacts at other organisations.
NBS - A trusted source of information on BIM
As with previous years, in addition to the findings, there are plenty of fascinating and informative articles and comment pieces within the report. Working with Adrian who puts this report together, I source this content through bumping into some really knowledgeable people when out and about with work. Two or three of these are pictured below...
The BIM Task Group's Adam Matthews discusses the EU BIM Task Group
Andrew Moulds from Mott MacDonald discusses the challenges in creating a BIM library
(and the NBS BIM object standard)
...and an article from Stefan Mordue NBS, explaining BIM through the Periodic Table of BIM
So - another super report this year - click below to go to the NBS website and download for free...
https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/national-bim-report-2016

...and if you want to read the 2011 one that's there too.

Friday 8 April 2016

An introduction to NBS Create - Video

As part of the development of our new website we wanted to produce a video that introduces the NBS Create specification system in three minutes. This comes hot on the heels of the NBS BIM workflow video I blogged about in March.

This video may now be viewed below:
- theNBS.com/Create



As with the previous BIM video, again this video introduces the product through telling the story of our own building project and uses NBS colleagues within the movie.
At NBS, our technical authors work together to ensure the quality and structure of the NBS content
This content is then used by thousands of constructional professionals on thousands of projects across the UK
The structure of this content allows for innovative functionality where specifications can be developed from outline to full throughout the project timeline - functionality also connects the specification to relevant standards and manufacturers
The video moves through our new office building looking at specifications from the different disciplines
Where each member of the project team subscribes, the final documentation is consistent across all disciplines
Project teams can strengthen the NBS Create system by capturing their office knowledge within it
The specification must be coordinated with the drawings and schedules - the connectivity within a BIM environment give big efficiency benefits here
...and the video ends as it started with a focus on the NBS people - in this case the support that is provided to customers as part of their subscription
To find out more about NBS Create - please see:
- theNBS.com/Create

Thanks to chartered architects JDDK who have led the building project and are pictured in the video

Thanks also (again) to Soluis who partnered with us to produce the video.
- Soluis.com

Thursday 7 April 2016

Construction News Awards - Twenty years old

This years Construction News Awards is the 20th celebrating the best in UK construction.

As NBS has been short-listed for the BIM Excellence award and was kindly sent a birthday cake by Construction News.
A celebration cake through the post
Construction News also put down the challenge to illustrate changes in the last 20 years at your organisation...
20 years of Construction News
Lots has changed at NBS since 1996. We were digital of course back in 1996 (well at least at the start of our digital journey with floppy disks etc...). But it's fair to say that our digital journey has been pretty significant over that time period...
How NBS has changed since the first CN Awards in 1996
I hadn't quite joined NBS in 1996, I do have happy memories of this though.

Monday 4 April 2016

Official UK BIM Level-2 Website Live

Developed by BSI for BIS
In the May 2011 UK Government Construction Strategy it was stated that 'Government will require fully collaborative 3D BIM (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum by 2016. '
Five years on - the official BIM Level-2 web hub has now been launched. It is introduced as follows:
'Welcome to the new BIM Level 2 website where you will find the best practice standards developed to help Government and the construction industry achieve value and efficiencies throughout construction projects, from initial briefing to handover.'
BIM-Level2.org
The website is a mixture of live content and content that is coming soon...

Currently live:


Coming soon:
Greyed out hyperlinks give an indication to the pages that are being worked on:

  • Guidance - guidance pages for those working in the UK and international visitors wanting to know more about the UK's approach. This area of the site will cover more on the background, the processes and tools, operational and capital delivery and data management.
  • Tools - (presumably) tools that will help users work to BIM Level 2
  • Events, Glossary of terms, FAQS and the ability to feedback

So - great to see a single portal to detail exactly what UK BIM Level-2 is all about. One for the Internet bookmarks...
http://bim-level2.org/