1. Who owns the Building Information Model (BIM)?
- (For the forseeable future) through the design and construction of the building there is not a single BIM owned by one project team member – there are individual BIMs owned by the project team members. For example, a CAD model in ArchiCAD owned by the architect, a CAD model in Revit owned by the engineer, a specification model in NBS format owned by the architect...
- A single interoperable BIM (iBIM) may be created at any time and be used for reporting and analysis. There is no single ownership of this, it can be generated and used by a designer or the contractor.
- At handover to the client an iBIM must be provided. This must contain the key information. The owner of this iBIM is then the client. At the conference Asda made this clear and Paul Morrell made this clear. They both said if you want to be designers/contractors for them then they own the BIM.
2. How can we make money from BIM?
- “We” being the designers can make money through efficiency gains (existing design tasks – done faster - improved margin)
- “We” being the contractors can make money through efficiency gains (scheduling, clash detection, more accurate costing - improved margin)
- “We” being the clients can make money through more efficient/certain design and construction and then through the operating costs through the life of the building (sustainability/fm)
- “We” being the software vendors and data providers can make money through the demand for BIM from the designers, contractors and clients
- “We” being the manufacturers/suppliers can make money though increased usage of our products if in BIM format
3. How can we persuade clients that BIM is worthwhile?
- We need more case studies showing value for money over the operation of the building
- We need more case studies showing greater certainty in knowing what you are getting before it is built
- And this should be a short term concern. BIM will be the way buildings are designed, built and managed in the future – it will be a default expectation, not an option. But it will take significant work and investment to get us to this point.
4. What do we need to do to make BIM happen?
- Bigger clients need to insist on it – great to see the likes of Asda and the Government moving on applying pressure
- The government needs to fund software vendors and data providers to make the UK a leading force in this. BIM is happening, the UK construction industry must lead it and not follow years behind the Scandinavians and the Americans. "The UK construction industry must be equal if not better than any other in the world"
- We have to create software that allows BIM to happen behind the scenes. Let engineers engineer and contractors construct – the software and structured content will take care of BIM without anyone knowing about it.
Stephen; I agree that BIM will only become mainstream and the normal option when clients start demanding/expecting at as the norm. Until then, we all know it's a good idea - but it requires a significant investment of cash and time that is hard to justify in the present climate without the backing of the paying client.
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