Terry Mundy, Lloyd’s Register outlines what BIM Level 2 entails and what firms need to do to become compliant…
Whether you are an organisation with mature BIM related processes and competencies, or whether you are an organisation with aspirations to enter into the sector, understanding the applicable standards, protocols, collaborative working requirements and classification systems and the extent to which they may apply to you in your role/intended role within the BIM process can be quite daunting.
All companies have different starting points as well as varying client expectations and project types and therefore potentially different routes to become BIM Level 2 compliant.
Lloyd’s Register recognise this and will help direct you towards your Level 2 compliant goal by performing a one-day gap analysis, based upon interviews and discussions with key members of your team. This process allows us to understand the context of your business and map across your descriptions of what you do and how you do it, to establish BIM compliance.
The gap analysis is the starting point – no documentation is required. Depending on the maturity of your BIM processes and systems, a full implementation audit and certification may follow. In the case of less mature systems, an iterative gap analysis may be needed, supporting your route to certification on a staged basis.
Lloyd’s Register (LR) is the only Third Party organisation offering BIM Level 2 Business Systems Certification across the range of scopes of BIM involvement throughout the supply chain, to facilitate ease of access to BIM projects.
LR is a global brand, and its certification represents international recognition of assurance and technical credibility.
The LR BIM Level 2 Certification Scheme was developed with the intent of achieving a balance between rigour of assessment and pragmatism. We require no documentation to be provided in advance of the assessment, as we have found both the collation by the client and the review in isolation from the client, to be too time consuming for both parties and not cost effective.
The assessment process is detailed in the LR BIM Guidance document which can be found on our website, the link for which is www.lr.org/bim but the principle areas of assessment are as follows:
- BIM competencies
- IT infrastructure and tools
- BIM project risk management
- PAS 1192 compliance
- Documented processes and implementation against a live BIM project
The initial stage of the LR assessment is the Gap Analysis. During this phase one-to-one interviews with key staff, with responsibilities across the full spectrum of the required BIM scope of accreditation, will be undertaken. We have found this to be the most effective and efficient means of understanding the context of the processes under assessment and culture of the organisation which helps to build confidence, supporting our risk based approach to certification.
The benefit of this approach is that it provides the freedom of the interviewees to explain their BIM management processes without concerning themselves with how the described system meets PAS 1192 — it is the responsibility of the auditor to map across the described processes to the applicable standards.
The objective of the one-day Gap Analysis is to identify at a high level, any major gaps against the applicable standards and scheme principles and report any such gaps /identified weaknesses.
The Gap Analysis concludes with a report which initially takes the form of verbal feedback, the focus being on how the organisation can introduce changes which will take them closer to a BIM level 2 compliant system. The Gap Analysis feedback is followed by a detailed report of the findings and discussions around measures to address the identified gaps.
When the organisation under assessment is satisfied that the reported gaps/weaknesses have been closed, the next stage is the implementation assessment.
The implementation assessment will initially focus on the findings of the Gap Analysis and the associated closure of such identified gaps, but will additionally seek evidence that the BIM Management system fully conforms to scheme requirements, and this assessment is undertaken against a live BIM project. If a live BIM project is not available to be assessed, then, subject to confirmation of a compliant system, partial certification may be awarded, with full certification being awarded once effective implementation of the assessed systems could be verified against the live BIM project.
An important area to be examined at this stage is the relationship of the organisation under assessment with his supply chain. This is to ensure that the cultural shift from the traditional contractual adversarial relationship to one of collaboration is being progressed.
Provided that upon the conclusion of the implementation assessment against a live BIM project, no major deficiencies are outstanding and that an action plan has been established to address any outstanding minor deficiencies then BIM Level 2 Business Systems Certification can be awarded.
An LR BIM Level 2 certificate will be awarded, upon successful conclusion of the assessment process and also a listing on the LR website of the organisation. The scope of the Level 2 award may comprise one of the following; Tier 1 BIM Provider, Tier 2 BIM Provider, BIM Project Designer/Architect or BIM Engineering Consultant.
The successful Level 2 organisation may also use the LR BIM Level 2 Mark: The validity of the awarded certificate is for a three year term, during which a surveillance programme will be undertaken. The surveillance programme serves to not only verify the maintenance of the standards, competencies and processes, against which certification was originally awarded, but also to verify management commitment to continuous improvement as measured against adherence to the action plan to close out the minor deficiencies, agreed prior to award.
Lloyd’s Register BIM Level 2 Business Systems Certification represents independent confirmation of BIM Management systems conformity to recognised good practice leading to best practice through defined continuous improvement milestones, set over the three year accreditation term. A confirmation delivered by a brand with global assurance credentials.
For further information on the Lloyd’s Register BIM level 2 Certification contact Terry Mundy email:terry.mundy@lr.org or visit our website at www.lr.org/bim
Terry Mundy
Lloyd’s Register
terry.mundy@lr.org
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