{"id":21294,"date":"2015-11-23T09:56:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T09:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=21294"},"modified":"2019-07-26T14:58:56","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T13:58:56","slug":"3-key-pillars-bim-adoption-uk-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/digital-construction-news\/bim-news\/3-key-pillars-bim-adoption-uk-3\/21294\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 key pillars of BIM adoption in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Peter Hansford nears the end of his Government Chief Construction Adviser role, he provides a retrospective look at the adoption of BIM highlighting 3 key areas that have enabled the UK to become a world leader<\/h2>\n

As I approach the end of my term as Government Chief Construction Adviser and the 2016 BIM mandate looms large, it seems a timely opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made with BIM over the last five years.<\/p>\n

The adoption of BIM \u2018technology\u2019, a complex fusion of ICT technology, process and cultural changes with applications across a wide span of project types, should, perhaps, more correctly be called \u2018Digital Engineering\u2019 or \u2018Digital Construction\u2019. However, whatever it is called, its adoption must rank as one of those \u2018once in a generation\u2019 watershed events, that is starting to change the way the industry operates and the way projects are delivered.<\/p>\n

It is perhaps useful to reflect that although the UK was not the first adopter of BIM \u2013 five years ago it was a relatively unknown in the UK, and much of the software does not originate from the UK (although this is changing) \u2013 there is a growing international consensus that the UK is a world leader in how to deploy BIM in a structured and managed way. I would like to pick out three key themes as to how, within the space of five years, we have come from a relatively unknown technology to being in a commanding position.<\/p>\n

Firstly, as we came out of the economic down-turn there was a palpable sense within the industry that things needed to change. However, simply recognising a need for change is only the starting point so we needed the industry and government to \u2018step up to the plate\u2019 in making that change a reality. BIM was therefore mandated for use on all centrally procured government construction projects by 2016, as part of the Government Construction Strategy that was published in May 2011.<\/p>\n

Subsequently in July of 2013, the industrial strategy for construction, \u2018Construction 2025\u2019 was launched. Construction 2025 placed BIM, not as a discrete or stand-alone technology but as central to the overall contextual narrative of the \u2018change and benefits\u2019 for the sector.<\/p>\n

Secondly, we had a first class adoption plan. Six years ago under the Department of Business, a disparate group of BIM enthusiasts from software, construction (clients, contracting and product manufacturers), government and technical experts from BuildingSMART and a range of sector research institutions, met to consider how the UK could adopt BIM within the space of one Parliament. This work was led by Mark Bew from the Government BIM Task Group and was a real tour de force. It struck the right balance between the client and the supply chain\u2019s aspiration and ability to adopt BIM within the short time frame.<\/p>\n

The crucial elements of the plan were:<\/p>\n