A New Reality
As dawn broke on 24 June 2016, the world woke up to a new reality: the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union by a majority.
For the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector of the economy, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is causing worries and investment in the sector has slowed. Tim Moore, economics associate director at IHS Markit, states:
“Commercial construction activity fell at a steep and accelerated pace during August, which more than offset the softer rates of decline in house building and civil engineering work.”
(Inman 2019)
There is one beacon of light among all the uncertainty: Building Information Modelling (BIM).
BIM Level 3 in the UK
The UK was the first country in the world to establish a BIM standard. The original British Standard (BS) 1192 led the way when it was published and eventually became the benchmark on which the current international standard on BIM, ISO 19650, was written.
As already discussed in a previous Cloudalize blog post entitled BIM Landscape: Europe, the implementation of BIM in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland is very fragmented. While Scandinavia, Ireland, Spain are well advanced, other countries in central-eastern Europe have yet to adopt a national standard.
This level of advancement is mostly only to BIM Level 2. However, the British government announced the implementation of BIM Level 3 as part of an overall national strategy called Digital Built Britain in 2015 (HM Government 2015). To drive BIM Level 3 implementation forward, the British Government allocated GBP 5.4 million (USD 6.4 million) to create the Centre of Digital Built Britain in conjunction with the University of Cambridge (University of Cambridge 2017)
What is BIM 3?
BIM Level 3 connects all aspects of a building project in the Cloud. Companies which successfully adopt BIM Level 3 gain sufficient advantages in creating added value for their partners and clients. These advantages include:
- Reduction of rework: files are no longer converted to be emailed or transferred by electronic means. Everything is stored in a single repository stored in the Cloud and accessible to all project stakeholders;
- Reduction of repetitive tasks: BIM Level 3 eliminates multiple Requests-for-Information (RfI) because all the stakeholders in a project will have the appropriate access rights;
- Increase data-driven decisions: Any stakeholder can make better decisions within a richer data context and, as a consequence, maintain greater control over the quality of the finished product;
- Enable remote-access: project stakeholders can access the project files remotely;
- Reduction of costs: there is only one integrated model from which all the operations, data and generic objects can be verified during the construction or years later during maintenance work.
Are you ready for BIM Level 3?
BIM Level 3 on Cloudalize
In these times of economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit, few things are certain but one is: BIM Level 3. With BIM Level 3, you can stay ahead of the competition, be assured that you are compliant with a mandatory Government regulation and encourage future business growth.
Cloudalize can help you get there. The Cloudalize platform enables BIM Level 3 by creating one ecosystem on which you can store all your designs and protect data safely and securely on the Cloud; collaborate remotely with your team and partners any time when required and reduce project costs and rework.
Author:
Koenraad Willems
References:
- HM Government (2019) Get ready for Brexit Available. Accessed: 17 September 2019 Available: https://www.gov.uk/brexit .
- Inman, P. 2019. UK construction reports biggest fall in new work since 2009 The Guardian, 3 September 2019 (online) Accessed: 17 September 2019 Available here: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/03/uk-construction-builders-brexit-uncertainty
- HM Government (2015) Digital Built Britain Level 3 Building Information Modelling – Strategic Plan, London: HM Government (online) Accessed: 17 September 2019. Available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/410096/bis-15-155-digital-built-britain-level-3-strategy.pdf
- University of Cambridge (2017) £5.4 million centre will help transform the UK’s construction sector for the digital age [Press release]. 30 November 2017. (online) Accessed: 17 September 2019 Available here: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ps54-million-centre-will-help-transform-the-uks-construction-sector-for-the-digital-age
Editor’s Note: Updated on 30 July 2020 to reflect the latest developments between the EU and the UK.