Compliance and Regulation – Building Information Modelling

Digitisation is spearheading a transformation of the built environment and creating a space where digital and physical built assets interact. At the heart of this shift is the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM).  BIM facilitates the virtual production, analysis, evaluation and optimal development of an asset in a digital environment. This allows us to build twice - once virtually - co-ordinating and optimising methodology, then again flawlessly in the real world.

The construction sector is now awash with boundless data and digital connectivity, and through the use of BIM and advanced analytics we have the ability to capture, manage and analyse large amounts of data. BIM workflows allow designers and constructors to improve the accuracy and quality of the information they produce while reducing the time needed to deliver that information to clients.

When coupled with real-time capability of the Internet of Things, Telemetry and the Internet of Services, we can use predictive analytics and algorithms to provide immediate insights on asset performance. This includes predicting failures before they occur or before a service is interrupted, creating significant savings across the total expenditure of a project or program.

These additional benefits are helping to accelerate the adoption of BIM. In some countries it is starting to become embedded through national digitisation programs such as in the UK, where Level 2 BIM is mandated on all centrally procured government projects. Working groups such the EU BIM Task Group are exploring the optimisation of the full life-cycle of public works and how BIM can improve the efficiency, effectiveness and value for public money where they believe there is 35% of construction costs wasted in unproductive activities. Globally BIM is also starting to feature in the regulatory process with the likes of Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) having introduced BIM e-submissions as part of its compliance process.  

In Australia there is significant movement in BIM and a wider Digital Engineering agenda, and AECOM is leading the way on iconic projects such as the Sydney Opera House, where we are integrating various asset data sources with a building model to provide a single portal from which the building operations team can better manage the facility. 

The cost-saving benefits of BIM have been recognised by the Australian Federal and State governments, and the mandating of BIM for the procurement and delivery of government projects has consistently appeared in key publications including:

• Productivity Commission - Inquiry Report into Public Infrastructure – July 2014 (Recommendation 12.5)
• Infrastructure Australia - Australian Infrastructure Plan - Priorities and reforms for our nation’s future – February 2016 (Recommendation 10.4)
• Queensland Government - State Infrastructure Plan - Part B: Program - March 2016 (Implementation Action 15 and Opportunity 10) House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities - report on the inquiry into the role of smart ICT in the design and planning of infrastructure (March 2016)

The report on the inquiry into the role of smart ICT recommended:

“The Australian Government, as part of its infrastructure procurement processes, require BIM to LOD500 on all major infrastructure projects, exceeding $50 million in cost, receiving Australian Government funding, including projects partially funded by Federal Government in partnership with state, territory and local governments, and that it focus on tendering mechanisms that will facilitate this outcome, on a project-by-project basis, with a view to ultimately establishing BIM as a procurement standard.”

In Queensland, the State Infrastructure Plan Part B: Program (March 2016) reads:

“In partnership with industry, build Queensland’s public and private sector capability to move towards a mandatory adoption of BIM on building projects by 2020 and on major infrastructure by 2023.”

In our view, BIM will shortly become a compliance issue in Australia, as it already has in the UK where organisations will need to demonstrate capability and capacity to deliver on the Government’s digital information requirements. In some cases this will necessitate upskilling to ensure that information standards can be met at the various levels: individuals, project teams and at an organisation level. At the same time, it is essential that academia prepares new entrants to the industry and ensures that they have the digital skills and knowledge to lead us into a digitised era. 

In the UK the government has commissioned a working group BIM4Regs to explore the integration of regulations into BIM to simplify compliance and enable building regulations and planning applications to be made using 3D computer models. The objective is to eventually incorporate building regulations, planning and health and safety requirements into BIM. The initiative will embed regulatory information within BIM software so project teams can instantaneously determine if designs conform to set rules.

This is an exciting time for industry world-wide as we move towards a data-centric approach to the creation and care of our built environment, however, we must prepare and mobilise to ensure that we realise the benefits.

This article has also been published in Consult Australia’s ‘Consulting Matters - Winter 2016’ eMagazine. See the full publication here for other articles on infrastructure compliance and regulation.