黑洞社区

黑洞社区 readers will know it鈥檚 now only months before the much-heralded government deadline for introducing so-called 鈥淟evel 2鈥� building information modelling (BIM) for all centrally procured public sector work. The BIM roll-out may not stop there, but either way, there will soon be billions of pounds of procurement at stake.

It鈥檚 widely held that building services design and installation, and most notably the mechanical and electrical activity, can typically account for around 40-50% of the cost of a building project. So, with vast sums of public-sector contracts in the offing, the ECA embarked on a major building services BIM readiness survey to find out how prepared the sector is, and what its issues are.     

The survey, developed with major partners CIBSE and BSRIA and with active support from a range of sector bodies, asked 30 key questions, and the results are now in. Interestingly, out of nearly 350 respondents, just under half were building services contractors, meaning that just over half were others associated with the sector - but who clearly felt strongly enough about BIM to complete our survey. These 鈥渟ignificant others鈥� included building services consultants, main contractors and manufacturers. 

Noting that even now, there are various takes on what Level 2 BIM means, we were keen that all the survey respondents had a common view of what BIM is. So, for the purpose of the survey, we gave a working description of Level 2 BIM as: 鈥淭he process of working with digital building information, including data-rich objects, effectively shared between those who are building and/or maintaining the building and its services.鈥� This level of BIM, we added, 鈥渋nvolves using tools such as COBie, BS/PAS 1192, Soft Landings and the BIM Protocols鈥�.  We then asked the respondents if they agreed with this working description. We were pleased (and somewhat relieved) to find that two in three (67%) 鈥渂roadly agreed鈥�, and only 12% thought we were off beam.

One conclusion we draw from the initial findings is that those who talk about BIM Level 3 need to be mindful that those who can handle BIM Level 2 are still in the minority

Having set the tone, we have first set about reviewing the response from building services contractors (BSC). What stands out was that fewer than one in six BSCs (16%) say they are 鈥渇ully ready鈥� to use BIM. Furthermore, many BSCs are struggling with key elements of Level 2 BIM: when asked about a common data environment (CDE), 31% said they were 鈥渂roadly ready鈥� but 20% responded with stunning honesty to tell us that they did not know what a CDE was. Around one in three BSCs said they already had a grip on 鈥渆mployer鈥檚 data requirements鈥� and the 鈥淏IM Execution Plan鈥�, but some 40% did not know what these elements were. 
For those who like their glass half full, over 30% of BSCs say they are in good shape, right now, to deal with BIM. Similarly, 54% of BSCs believed that BIM is 鈥渢he future for building services鈥�, while 47% thought BIM was 鈥渢he future for project information鈥�.

But when over one in three BSCs (35%) also say they are 鈥渘ot ready at all鈥�, it seems that many respondents are telling us that they need help.  On the subject of help, despite all that has been said and written about BIM, 67% of BSCs told us there is not 鈥渆nough practically useful and publicly available information on using BIM鈥�.  The most useful sources of information were cited as 鈥渁 BIM task group鈥� (32%), followed by 鈥淐AD vendors鈥�, 鈥淏IM consultants鈥� and 鈥渃ompany colleagues鈥� (all around 20%), with the ECA and a number of trade and professional bodies close behind. 

Of course, contractor size and capability plays a big part in BIM engagement. Our survey confirms that most of the larger building services contractors are in good shape, or expect to buy in what they need, should they need it - but that the picture changes dramatically for smaller contractors. Some BSCs feel that BIM is not coming their way any time soon: yet contractors will be receiving BIM project tender documents if they want to work on centrally funded projects in the near future.
One conclusion we draw from the initial findings is that those who talk about BIM Level 3 need to be mindful that those who can handle BIM Level 2 are still in the minority. BIM Level 3 - the 鈥渞eally hard鈥� version of BIM - needs to go to the back of the queue.   

There are plenty more findings from our BIM readiness survey and we will be releasing new data in the coming weeks. We are working with our key partners, and others in the industry, to address the survey findings, and to produce targeted outputs to help the sector better understand and become engaged with Level 2 BIM. The first output is likely to be a practical 鈥淏IM ready?鈥� checklist, this November. There are some big gaps to fill as the government鈥檚 BIM roll-out approaches, but ready or not, the only place to start from is right here, right now.

Paul Reeve is director of business services at the ECA