News release 30 June 2010

BSI spells out the case for BIM

Best BIM guide yet

     
The British Standards Institution invited BuildingSMART UK ? the organisation that promotes BIM-enabled smart working ? to produce a straight to the point guide to building information modelling, Constructing the Business Case. The publication sets out the case for BIM adoption and explains the underlying technologies to stimulate uptake in the construction and FM industries. For busy CEOs, a shorter document is also available. Known as the Investors Report, it distils the business case into two pages ? enough to enable senior leaders to understand the principles and direct their staff to the longer publication. Both documents are available as a free download at http://shop.bsigroup.com/bim.

Cost/benefit reflections and examples of successful implementation show how the industry is moving towards higher levels of collaborative working, emphasising that the moment for BIM adoption is right now. The Nordic countries and the US have forged ahead in adopting these technologies and the UK has some way to go.

Against a background of rising client expectations, the publication can play a valuable role. The ideas behind BIM are simple and powerful. Nick Nisbet, BuildingSMART?s technical co-ordinator, says ?It can place the implementation of BIM permanently on the agenda of the executive board, as part of an information strategy and the development of core capabilities.

Very few companies go fully public about their experience of BIM ? it is confidential information and benchmarking is less than straightforward where one project may differ from the next. But a number of case studies are available providing cost/benefit information, and these are cited in the publication.

The outcome of our collaboration with BSI is a clear and concise document that meets a real need,? says Chris Groome, BuildingSMART Business Manager. ?The publication is already meeting with a favourable response. It was sent out for review to the executive membership of Constructing Excellence, one of whom described it as the ?best document of its type I?ve seen on the subject of BIM.

Notes to Editors
1.The publication was co-authored by Nick Nisbet, technical co-ordinator and Betzy Dinesen, editor, BuildingSMART UK.

2.Nick Nisbet is a member of BSIs Committee B/555, Construction Design, Modelling and Data Exchange and was a contributor to BS 1192: 2007.

3.BuildingSMART is a cross-industry alliance dedicated to improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the design, construction and facilities management industries, with an emphasis on information-sharing and BIM. It has developed the open IFC standard (Industry Foundation Classes). The IFC standard was accepted by ISO (ISO/PAS 16739: 2005). Full ISO accreditation is in process.

4.The first Chapter of BuildingSMART (formerly known as the International Alliance for Interoperability) was set up in North America in June 1995, the UK Chapter in January 1996. Other Chapters cover German-speaking, French-speaking and Nordic countries, Iberia, Italy, the Benelux countries, Japan, China, Singapore, Korea, Middle East and Australasia.

Further information from:
Nick Nisbet, nn@buildingsmart.org.uk; +44 7816 168554