29 March 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is “becoming the norm”, according to an academic speaking at an event on information management in FM.

Simon Ashworth, lecturer at Zurich University of Applied Sciences & Liverpool John Moores University, told delegates at BSRIA’s Information Management in Facilities Management event that FM needed to get “on board” with BIM.

He said: “FM is facing a challenge of getting up to speed with BIM. We need to position ourselves to be able to realise its benefits otherwise we run the risk of falling into a ‘death valley of know-how’ in terms of the loss of valuable information and realising BIMs potential added value.”

He reiterated research that indicates 80 per cent of the whole-life cost of building or asset is fixed in the first 20 per cent of early design.

A BSRIA statement said the event showed that there was a consensus that there is uncertainty surrounding the benefits and outcomes of BIM.

Another speaker at the event, Bill Wright, head of energy solutions at the Electrical Contractors’ Association, gave a presentation reviewing the results of the ECA’s sector-wide survey held during August and September, reporting responses from contractors, consultants, main contractors and manufacturers.

The results showed that only 16 per cent respondents think they are ‘fully ready’ for BIM Level 2, while 60 per cent of respondents say BIM is ‘the future for project information’. Fifty-nine per cent agree that BIM is a tool that will help achieve useful change in construction, but 37 per cent say it should not apply to contracts below £100,000.