BIM (Building Information Modelling) is transforming the built environment – changing the way multidisciplinary project teams collaborate at every stage of the asset life cycle to deliver significant efficiency and cost-saving benefits.

As familiarity and maturity increase across the globe, BIM is set to influence a new generation of built environment professionals and the high-profile projects they shape.

In the early days, BIM was associated mostly with 3D design. While it’s true that digital visualizations and information-rich models are an important part of the BIM process, this perspective misses the wider benefits. BIM’s overriding strategic advantage is in how it brings experts together, often across borders, to foster innovation through collaboration.

The basis for this collaboration is high-quality project information. A common data environment allows project stakeholders from every stage of a project to communicate and collaborate from the start. Issues such as Coordination clashes, with implications right across the project life cycle, are foreseen and revealed with accuracy before any site work has begun.

BIM provides the means to share quality information in a meaningful way and, at the same time, pools different disciplinary expertise to drive improved project outcomes. It removes traditional boundaries to creativity, leading to agile non-linear problem-solving. Asset information, both current and historical, is available for interrogation and use by all project stakeholders, 24/7.

To read more on the topic of innovation within the built environment, click here.

The standards shaping the future of BIM

Building upon the foundation set by the British 1192 series of standards, the 2019 launch of the first two parts of the BS EN ISO 19650 series, marked an important stage in the global BIM journey.

The first substantive international BIM standards, BS EN ISO 19650 series are set to play an instrumental role in BIM adoption around the world and throughout the supply chain.

It covers information management across the lifecycle of an asset to improve quality while reducing project costs and timescales. The BS EN ISO 19650 series has been designed to help businesses operating within the built environment realize the full collaborative benefits of information management using BIM, whether that’s between engineers, owners, architects, or contractors in a fully integrated project environment.

Beyond the BS EN ISO 19650 series, a broader, standards-led, approach to business strategy and management helps large businesses maintain good practice structures and foundations, whilst allowing flexibility to accommodate innovation and change. For example, BS EN ISO 9001, the international standard for quality management, provides an ideal foundation from which to progressively increase BIM maturity. For smaller supply chain members, looking to secure bids and tenders, the adoption of standards and certification can set them apart in a competitive marketplace.

All members in the supply chain can set themselves up to derive maximum benefit from BIM-enabled collaboration by prioritizing a standards strategy, to build true resilience. It’s often helpful for businesses increasing their BIM maturity to consider how new processes will impact the rest of their operations – particularly those areas which might seem unrelated to BIM.

For instance, BS ISO 44001 provides a management system for collaborative business relationships and is suitable for businesses of all sizes and types working in the public or private sector. It prepares organizations to manage relationships optimally, whether the focus is on a single application between operating divisions or more complex relationships like consortia and joint ventures. In addition, BS ISO 55001 and BS ISO 55002 are standards created to guide asset management good practices. They help businesses develop a proactive life cycle asset management system while reducing ownership risks from a cost and safety perspective.

Finally, understanding that collaboration is at the heart of everything that is transformative about BIM is crucial to fully realizing its potential from a global growth perspective. The BS EN ISO 19650 series is set to aid international BIM adoption and market maturity, presenting a clear opportunity, particularly for smaller supply chain businesses, to explore new territorial markets and build new collaborative relationships.

To prepare your construction business for the challenges of tomorrow, add these key BIM standards to your collection today.

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